There have always been those who object to zeal, calling it a rash and heady temper that hurts more than it helps, and a harsh and fiery spirit that blindly burns up everything in its path. It’s strange, however, that those who argue against zeal are themselves zealous. It could be their political persuasion, favorite sports team, reputation as the one who ‘never loses,’ pursuit of riches, or being ‘the best dressed’ among their peers, whatever it is, it’s safe to say that we’re all zealous about something. We all love something enough to make considerable, if not foolish, sacrifices for it. So it’s not really zeal itself which is opposed, is it?
But there’s another side to our zeal. While it’s true that we’re all zealous for what we most love, it’s just as true that we’re all zealous against that which we most hate. Chances are pretty good that if we strongly love one political party, we strongly hate the other. And what if that party won the election? Wouldn’t our zeal ablaze against them, decrying their policies, slandering their candidates, and mocking their promises? And what if, for all the years we won the golf tournament, we not only lost, but we lost to the rookie? Wouldn’t our zeal be set against him, maybe even stooping to accuse him of cheating or claim that we were suffering from a headache for the whole game?
You see, zeal runs in all our veins. Why then are so many opposed and averse to a zeal for God? Can there not be zeal in Christianity? If by the Christian religion we worship God, enjoy reconciliation and communion with Him, and enjoy His blessings, isn’t this something to be about!? It was wisely said of our relationship with God, “In other objects fear excess; here no ecstasy is high enough.” Why, then, when we see someone zealous for God, do we call them a fanatic or a radical and say “he takes it too far”? Or, when a sympathizer to Christianity questions us about an inconsistency between what we ‘preach’ and what we ‘practice,’ why do we have a litany of excuses and objections for why it’s better to walk a more moderate path and not go “overboard” with our religion. Many Christians wonder if the zeal which consumed and enabled a bygone era of Christians is even necessary today. They offer “moderation” as the wiser and more practical course in religion.
If Christ was set ablaze for God and His house (Jn 2.17) and if His disciples were set ablaze in their labors with the love of Christ (2Cor 5.14), then should we not be ablaze for the same things? Christian zeal is that grace which invigorates and inflames all our affections toward a holy purpose. It is that gracious propensity given to the soul by the Spirit of God which inclines all our affections toward God and His Kingdom. It is that divine grace which brings the once barren affections to righteous fruition in every area of life. Without it, rather than pressing into the Kingdom, we make our way at a snail’s pace; rather than take heaven by a holy violence, we carry on as if someone will run the race for us; rather than our affections burning with a desire for Christ that refuses to be denied or put off, they are as good as asleep, flowing thick and heavy within and hardly moved by anything without.
Can we turn this tide? Can we enliven the hearts of today’s slumbering Christians with a zeal for God? Can we fan the flame in the heart of God’s people until they’re consumed with a zeal for God and His House (Jn 2.17)?
Zeal is acquired the same way we obtain all other graces and gifts of God, namely, by asking for it in Jesus’ name, trusting that, “God will give His grace and Holy Spirit to those only, who with sincere desires continually ask them of Him, and are thankful for them” (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 116). Luke 12:32 says that it’s the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, and Luke 11:13 promises us that the Father will give the Holy Spirit, and all His good gifts, to those who ask Him.
The chief thing that stands in the way of our receiving this gift, then, is our failure to ask for it. Js 4:2 says, “you do not have, because you do not ask.” What stands in the way asking for zeal is unbelief, the great enemy of zeal. If we sincerely yearn to be inflamed with zeal, we must humble ourselves before God, believing His Word to be true; acknowledge our need and His bounty, confessing our sin and His mercy; and ask Him, for the sake of the Lord Jesus, to enliven our affections and inflame our hearts by the light of His Word and work of the Holy Spirit, that we may begin to live not only according to some, but all the commandments of God, hating all sin, and delighting in all righteousness, and doing the things He commands for His glory, for our comfort, and for the salvation of others.
May God cure us of all coldness and lukewarmness in our Christian walk and grant us the fiery zeal that marked the life of our blessed Saviour. He was known for His zeal and in Rev 3.19 He says to His church, “Be zealous!”
For more about Christian zeal see my book Living Zealously.
