Beware - Zeal without Knowledge

By John groves

Winchester, UK

In our world, to be ‘cool’ is the goal of every aspiring young, and not so young, person! Being ‘cool’ does not suggest ‘enthusiasm and eager striving’ (two definitions of zeal). Actually, our aversion to zeal goes a lot deeper than a modern trend; the world in general is often scornful of ‘zealots’ and ‘enthusiasts’.

Is it good to be zealous or is it actually bad? Ambiguity seems to follow the word around wherever it goes. If you are told someone is ‘a bit zealous’ it does not convey a totally positive image. Words like enthusiastic, keen, hot headed, lacking wisdom, scary etc tend to come to mind!

The fact is, ‘zeal’ is mentioned in the Bible many times and the very same word can be linked to a good example such as Jesus himself (John 2:17) or a bad example – pre-conversion Saul (Phil. 3:6). In classical Greek the word group translated ‘zeal’ or ‘zealous’ sometimes carries a positive sense and sometimes a negative sense; the same applies to the New Testament.

The word ‘zeal’ speaks of an energy, an ardency, an enthusiasm, an eagerness that can be channelled to a good end or a completely misguided one. Paul sums it up in Galatians 4:17 and 18, ‘It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good.’ Actually, in the right cause it is good to be constantly zealous as Matthew Henry quaintly puts it: ‘It is good to be zealous always in a good thing; not for a time only, or now and then, like a heat of an ague fit, but like the natural heat of the body, constant.’

However, zeal must be based on knowledge, knowledge of truth, knowledge of God’s word (Rom. 10:2). Zeal without knowledge is not merely useless it is positively dangerous (Prov. 19:2). This was seen amongst the Galatians where legalists zealous for rules and regulations were tying the people up and causing Paul to cry in anguish, ‘What has happened to all your joy?’ Without a proper knowledge of the grace of God and the work of Jesus Christ, zeal was only bringing people into bondage and destruction.

Yet it would be equally wrong to think that the answer to destructive zeal is no zeal at all! Jesus made it perfectly clear to the Laodician church that ‘luke-warmness’ makes him feel sick (Rev. 3:15-16)! In Romans 12:11 Paul unequivocally asserts, ‘Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.’ So the answer to false zeal is true zeal, or zeal in the context of serving the Lord and submitting to His Word.

Sometimes the best way to illustrate a teaching is through a story, so let’s look at the stories of King Saul and the apostle Paul to clarify the issue.

Saul: A Zealous King

We easily forget that King Saul was God’s choice
(1 Sam. 9:15-17) and he started his reign well. In the first phase of his leadership Saul was God-centred and Spirit-empowered. He has a zeal for God’s name and for God’s people that is vividly illustrated in his deliverance of Jabesh Gilead from the Ammonites (1 Sam. 11 – especially verse 6).

Unfortunately, Saul’s zeal soon developed a self-centred focus rather than a God-centred one. He never became a cold, passionless man but he did allow sinful natural emotions such as fear, impatience and pride to mix with his zeal. In 1 Samuel 13 we read of pressure building on Saul as the Philistines line up to attack Israel. Incredibly, Saul took on himself the priestly role of making burnt offerings as fear gripped the soldiers.

When Samuel challenged this blatant disobedience of God’s commands, Saul explained that he wanted to seek the Lord’s favour and could not wait any longer, ‘so I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering’ (1 Sam. 13:12). Saul was so keen to get on with things, so driven by other people, emotions and expectations, that he felt that it was alright to do something that was obviously wrong according to God’s Word.

This is a salutary warning. We can get so emotionally wound up and zealous for God and His people that we can ignore God’s clearly revealed Word and ways. Human zeal alone does not achieve the purposes of God. God can often appear slow to us but He is in charge and it is His timetable we work to. Zeal and patience are not contradictory states of mind – not if the zeal is godly. So often we want God’s blessings but we want them now! We can easily get our zeal mixed up with anger, fear, panic and other people’s expectations. We need a firm commitment to the psalmist’s exhortation, ‘Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord’ (Ps. 27:14).

Human Zeal is Dangerous

Saul’s enthusiasm never diminished but it always seemed to be diverted to the wrong ends. In 1 Samuel 15 he attacked the Amalekites as directed by God but decided it would be a great idea to keep the best to sacrifice to God. This directly contradicted God’s judgement on the Amalekites which required all of them to be destroyed. We find Saul brimming with enthusiasm, setting up a monument to commemorate his victory (v12) and cheerily greeting Samuel with assurances that he has done all God required (v13). In fact he had done what he and the people wanted to do and not what God had clearly commanded.

Repeatedly we find Saul full of passion and energy, but in a total mess! There was the time he ordered the soldiers to fast while they fought a battle and then nearly ended up executing his son Jonathan. Then there was the strange mixture of love and hatred that he had towards David. Jealousy and envy are zeal run amok. Saul’s self-centred passions became a consuming envy and hatred of David. The older Saul grew the more foolishly he behaved. Still energetic, still impetuous but completely wayward, we find him agitatedly consulting a medium to try to receive some spiritual counsel from the dead Samuel!

Saul never lacked energy or zeal but he completely lost the ability to direct it aright. He treated God’s clear commands lightly and increasingly disobeyed the revealed will of God as he was driven along by his passions. Can that happen today? I am sure it can. Nowadays in an age of intense activity of the Spirit and in a time of much greater emotional freedom it is more important than ever to have zeal based on knowledge. Do not lose your zeal but do harness it to a total commitment to obey God’s Word and ensure it does not drive you outside the parameters of Biblical revelation.

A Zealous Apostle

Another Saul, Saul of Tarsus, was also extremely zealous. In his case he
was zealous for the traditions of his fathers (Gal. 1:14). In his misplaced zeal he actually persecuted God’s people, the church of Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:6).

However, this Saul’s zeal was wonderfully recalibrated. There are two key questions in his conversion encounter with Jesus that show us all how to realign our lives:

1. ‘Who are you Lord?’ (Acts 2:28). We need to answer this question and have an unshakable conviction about who Jesus is.

2. ‘What shall I do Lord?’ (Acts 2:10). This is the only appropriate response to the truth about Jesus and putting our faith in Him. We make Him Lord in our lives.
These two questions indicated two major adjustments in Saul’s (soon to be Paul) life that meant his natural zeal was directed into godly channels. Listen to this godly zeal resonating in an almost random selection of quotations from Paul’s letter to the Romans:

‘I am bound both to Greeks and non Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome’ (Rom. 1:14-15).

‘I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us’ (Rom. 8:18).

‘I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel’ (Rom. 9:2-3).

‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship’ (Rom. 12:1).

‘It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation’ (Rom. 15:20).

Christ-Centred Zeal

Paul was wholehearted and zealous in all his work for God. His zeal never waned but it stayed totally Christ-centred. Apparently one definition of zeal is ‘to boil’. Paul was always on the boil for Jesus! As you read his letters you get a sense of a mind aflame with the truth of God, a heart ablaze with the love of God and a will fired with a passion for the glory of God. Romans 12:11 is a personal exhortation from the very heart of Paul himself.

Notice he exhorts us to ‘spiritual fervour’. The Amplified Bible translates it, ‘Be aglow and burning with the Spirit.’ We can and do cool off so we need the fire of the Holy Spirit to warm us up and ignite our passion again. No wonder we are exhorted to keep on being filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18-20). Paul knew that he needed the constant oil of the Spirit to keep his own lamp of zeal burning!

Paul’s very personal testimony in 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 gives us an additional, interesting angle on the zeal issue. Paul had extraordinary, ecstatic experiences in the Spirit. This certainly leaves an indelible mark on a man but it can ruin him, especially if he has a strong, passionate temperament. Paul was subject to something that distressed him and handicapped him. He felt it limited his ministry and curbed what, in his zeal, he wanted to do for God! However, it was revealed to him that this ‘thorn in my flesh’ would not be removed. Instead he would be given sufficient grace to handle it.

The whole thing kept him aware of his weakness and his dependence upon God. This was the wisdom of God because zeal linked to extraordinary spiritual experiences can easily lead to pride and conceit. Men of vision must be men of grace! That means they must stay God-centred and humble, not thinking of themselves more highly than they ought to think (Rom. 12:3).

Healthy Zeal

In order to stay healthy zeal needs to be accompanied by a sense of God-dependent weakness. In practice this is often achieved by being open to the input of other people, both friends and critics. Zeal without submission to others is dangerous!

Paul’s godly zeal was infectious, it inspired devotion to Jesus Christ in those who knew him and worked with him. Someone who is passionate, loving and on fire for Jesus cannot help but ignite those around them. Paul is a man constrained by the love of Christ who felt himself to be a bond slave to the Lord Jesus. That sort of zeal either repels or attracts, you do not feel neutral about it. The people we lead need to feel a similar unavoidable heat from us. Nobody wants a lukewarm leader! Let us be encouraged by the example of the apostle Paul. It is perfectly possible to live a whole life of undiminished zeal and approach its end with passionate statements such as:

‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith’
(2 Tim. 4:7).

May this be the experience of us all.