Tonight we reached the end of the alphabet in our ‘A-Z of Christian Faith’… Z is for Zeal. Zeal is defined as ‘great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective’.
Synonyms include:
Zeal is fuel for the journey. It’s the thing which will keep us going when the going gets tough. Without zeal, we can easily either burn out from exhaustion or become discouraged and disheartened and give up. Paul told the Romans, ‘Never be lacking in zeal, but always keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord.’ (Rom 12:11) Life is like a marathon,and if we are to run the race with perseverance (Heb 12:1-3) and finish well (see 2 Tim 4:7), we need to have the fuel of God’s Holy Spirit in our lives, helping us to reflect God’s image (for God is a zealous God – see Is 9:7, 2 Kings 19:21, Is 37:32).
We can, alas, be fuelled by the wrong kind of zeal (‘ignorant zeal is worthless’. Prov 19:12 tells us). Paul is a prime example of this, for before his conversion, he was the most zealous of Pharisees, persecuting the church (Phil 3:20). It was only as he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus that his zeal was redirected in the right direction. Zeal has to be married to truth; it has to be aligned with the whole counsel of God. The wrong kind of zeal can be extremely harmful; ignorant zeal, zeal that is not based on the solid foundation of Christ and His teachings, will not lead us into fruitful service. Jesus urged us to look at the fruit to determine the state of the tree: ‘every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognise them.’ (Matt 7:17-20)The Galatian church were almost led astray by false teachings that were being given to them by very zealous people. (Gal 4:17) We need to be careful to pursue God’s zeal, not the world’s.