Being zealous for something
that God approves of is obviously a good thing. When we are motivated to seek
out and do His will, it is certainly pleasing to Him.
However, like most things,
zeal can sometimes get out of control and actually end up causing problems.
There are times when being overzealous can lead Christians to do or say something
extreme.
Overzealous in reacting to false
teaching
One common way in which
Christians can be overzealous is by overreacting to a distortion of the
Christian faith. The following often happens:
False teaching of some kind
occurs. A Christian is rightly distressed by this and wants to oppose it.
However, instead of keeping things in proportion they get carried away and go
too far. They end up opposing one extreme by going to another extreme.
As an example of what I
mean, take the reactions of some Christians to the movement that is known as
the “social gospel.”
According to followers of this movement,
the heart of the Christian faith is about bringing change to society by helping
the poor, downtrodden and abused. Those who accept
this teaching have no time for the idea that people need to be saved from God’s
judgment. In their view, although Jesus’ death on the cross served in some way
to demonstrate God’s love, it was not a sacrifice for sins. And they reject the
idea that people in their natural state are on course for punishment after
death.
It is quite right for genuine
Christians to vigorously oppose this movement. These views are far removed from
the Christian faith of the Bible and are thoroughly heretical. In reality, the
social gospel is not Christian at all.
However, in their
opposition to this movement, it is common to find Christians overreacting. Many
go to the other extreme and end up neglecting the importance of giving to
charity. This is a serious error, since the Bible is full of teaching on
helping the poor.
Overreacting when opposing
the social gospel is just one example of how Christians can be overzealous when
responding to false teaching. There are many other ways too in which the same
sort of problem occurs.
Overzealous in following the
letter of biblical instructions
Christians can also
sometimes be overzealous when obeying biblical instructions. There are rare
occasions when following the letter of what the Bible teaches can mean denying
its spirit.
I can think of a good
example of this from my own experience as a young Christian, when I overzealously
followed Romans 14:23.
In this verse Paul writes:
“But the person who doubts stands condemned if he eats, because he has not acted in faith. And anything that is not done in faith is sin.”
Paul is saying here that if
a Christian has doubts about whether it is morally OK to do something, they
should not do that thing.
There was a time many years
ago when I was unsure whether it was morally acceptable for Christians to go
shopping on every day of the week, or whether there was a day of the week when we
shouldn’t do this.
I knew that many Christians
say it is wrong to buy things on a Sunday. I was pretty sure that this view was
mistaken, but I wasn’t completely sure. I also knew that some Christians say
that we shouldn’t buy anything on a Saturday. I was even more sure that this was
a mistake, but, again, I wasn’t totally sure.
So I wasn’t completely sure
whether it was morally acceptable to go shopping on a Saturday or a Sunday. Then
I looked at my situation in the light of Romans 14:23, which says that we
shouldn’t do something if we have doubts about the morality of it. So I decided
not to buy anything on a Saturday or a Sunday in order to follow the
instruction in this verse.
I think I kept this up for
about two weeks, if I remember rightly, before I said to myself how absurd I
was being. By strictly following the instruction in this verse in Romans, I had
in fact become trapped by a big burden that I had put on myself. I had been following
the letter of this verse at the expense of its spirit.
I therefore started to
allow myself to buy things on any day of the week, even though this meant that I
was no longer strictly following Romans 14:23. I realised that if a situation
arose where it was not possible to follow both the spirit and the letter of the
Bible, spirit must be preferred over letter.
It’s worth mentioning that
today I don’t often buy things on a Sunday. This is not because I believe it is
wrong to do so in itself. However, I think the more that Sunday becomes just
like any other day, the more difficult it will be for Christians to meet
together for the main Sunday worship services. So I want to do my bit to stop
this problem arising. However, I don’t make a strict rule of not shopping on
Sundays, because I believe that would be to go too far.
This example from my own
life is just one of various ways in which Christians sometimes overzealously follow
the letter of biblical teaching.
I should point out,
however, that it is far more common for Christians to go wrong by not being
zealous enough in following biblical commands. Many believers take a much too
laid back approach to what Scripture tells us to do.
But sometimes we can fall
into the trap of being overzealous. And that is something to watch out for.
Overzealous in sharing the
faith
Another way in which
Christians can sometimes be overzealous is when they are sharing the faith.
I can remember a time when
I witnessed a Christian woman sharing the gospel with a young man with far too
much zeal. They were both sitting down and she was leaning towards him,
earnestly trying to persuade him to accept Christ. His reaction was to lean
away from her as far as he could, with a kind of dazed expression on his face.
It was actually quite a comical sight.
This woman’s heart was in
the right place. She really wanted the man to receive salvation. But her
approach was all wrong. She was too zealous and it was hindering what she was
trying to do.
Again, it is worth noting
that in Western countries today it is much more common for Christians not to
have enough zeal when sharing the faith.
But sometimes Western
Christians are overzealous when doing this, as they are in other parts of the
world too.
Overzealous in correcting the
views of other Christians
Christians can also
sometimes be overzealous in correcting the views of other believers.
Of course, it is quite
right for us to want our fellow Christians to believe what is true in every
area. And there is a place for lovingly intervening at times when we see a brother
or sister with wrong ideas about things.
However, sometimes this can
go too far. Some Christians make it a habit to constantly correct the views of
those they disagree with.
The result of this is
usually that people are afraid to relax in this person’s presence. They are
wary of opening their mouth. And relationships of any kind with this person
become difficult.
Overzealous in denying
ourselves
Another way in which
Christians can sometimes be overzealous is by denying themselves too much of
the normal things of life.
Some impose unreasonably
harsh routines on themselves in things like fasting and sleep-deprivation.
It is true that there is a
place for these sorts of self-denial in the Christian life. The Bible does
encourage us to fast (Acts 13:2-3; 14:23) and it seems to encourage voluntarily
going without sleep too (Luke 6:12).
However, some Christians
can do so much of these things that they become big burdens on them. If that
happens, then a line has been crossed.
Final words
The examples I have given
are only some of the ways in which Christians can fall into the trap of being
overzealous. There are other ways too.
It is important to recognise
that there is never anything wrong with zeal itself. Being motivated to do the
will of God is always a good thing.
The problem comes when zeal
is treated like a blunt instrument without the subtlety that is necessary. Instead,
zeal needs to be controlled and channelled wisely. Failing to do this will
usually have unhelpful consequences.
See also:
