Am I a religious fanatic?

“Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Mal. 3:1).

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matt. 7:15).

What does “fanatic” mean? And what does it not mean? In other words, a word can have a perceived meaning, a hidden connotation, etc., or be a colloquialism from a culture other than my own. In other words, what you understand a word to mean may not be the way I understand it. for instance, I’ve heard that “fan” comes from the word “fanatic”, but we don’t put usually those two words together. I just googled “Fan etymology” and one result of “fan” was:

“‘Devotee,’ 1889, American English, originally of baseball enthusiasts, probably a shortening of fanatic, but it may be influenced by the fancy, a collective term for followers of a certain hobby or sport (especially boxing); see fancy (n.). There is an isolated use from 1682, but the modern word likely is a late 19c. formation. Fan mail attested from 1920, in a Hollywood context; Fan club attested by 1930.

‘Before the close of the republic, an enthusiastic partisan of one of the factions in the chariot races flung himself upon the pile on which the body of a favourite coachman was consumed, and perished in the flames. [Lecky, ‘European Morals’]”

The person referred to in the chariot races of “European Morals” must have been overly fixated on his or her chariot celebrity. Couldn’t that person’s priorities be considered to be narrow? But, fanaticism leads its devotees to destruction. That devotion, worship, adoration of a sinful human leads to self-sacrifice of a very different order than what Paul spoke of by being crucified with Christ? Does crucifixion with Christ, does self-denial, cause such a narrow view of life? The two may look somewhat alike, but they aren’t at all the same. What is the difference? I think the biggest difference is that that Roman pagan fans were fixated on a corrupt human, and it left them empty of the Spirit of God that could lead them to lay their life down for the truly needy of this world. But anyone who is crucified with Christ is fixated on a pure loving, only begotten Son of God, who made Himself a sacrifice for an infinitely greater purpose—our shield from eternal destruction, and our deliverance from the wicked and fiercely vindictive adversary of the holy God. He gave us a living pattern to follow when we had such difficulty grasping the abstract principles of the Law of God.

Loosely, one could say that the principle of the fanatic’s sympathizing for another is the very similar to the Christian’s sympathizing with the crucified Son of God, and following his Master to crucifixion. But actually the two have vastly different motives.

Being crucified with Christ means taking up His cross for the crucifixion of self, the total forgetfulness of self. Is that what the Roman fan did? We can’t read his heart and motives; we can’t even know him by his fruits, since we can’t personally know someone who lived 2,000 years ago. But, we do have a principle that says we must love God, not a Roman charioteer, with all our heart and soul and strength. Full devotion and adoration must go to our Creator, not to a creature. Yet, the destroyer traps his victims into rejecting the greatest commandment, loving and adoring a creature above the Creator, which cannot reconcile the sinner to its Maker, and restore in him the infinite Spirit of his Creator. Crucifixion with Christ means allying with a supra-perfect example of truth, the truth of total self-sacrifice. It means a race and a purpose to which not even the most exciting chariot race in this self-centered world can compare. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isa. 55:9).

I was reading about some “Christian” religious fanatics, who did the complete opposite to what Jesus did. Rather than “being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are in Christ Jesus, unto the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:11), they were “filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” (Rom. 1:29-32). In the name of Christ, they have killed millions of people for speaking against their religion, their brand of Christianity, a Christianity which doesn’t sound Christian at all. Needless to say, they are fiercely protective of their religion. This is true fanaticism.

But, as I was reading about them, I thought, Could I be a fanatic, like one of those fanatics? Could I, do I “steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10)? Is my resumé listed with the worst examples,

“Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

Their feet are swift to shed blood:

Destruction and misery are in their ways:

And the way of peace have they not known:

There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom. 3:13-13).

It has been a moment of truth deep down in my conscience. It has had an awakening to new reality. I have had to keep asking, “Lord, is it I?” (Matt. 26:22). And the context of that question had to do with a disciple betraying Jesus, the King and beloved Master teacher.

“Ye are not all clean.” “Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray Me.

 (John 13:11; Matt. 26:21). “And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto Him, Lord, is it I?” (Matt. 26:21).

What made Judas a traitor and a murderer (accessory) of the Son of God? What turns misdirected religionists into fierce murderers and thieves and destroyers? How might I fit that billet? Can I look clean on the outside, and yet be filthy on the inside, and not know it? Were the disciples guilty of not knowing their condition?

“And sent messengers before His face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for Him.

And they did not receive him, because His face was as though He would go to Jerusalem.

And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?

But He turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.

For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Luke 9:52-56).

Why should it come as a surprise to us if Jesus has to rebuke our “fervor”, our furious, Jehu-like righteous indignation against unbelievers? “And he [Jehu] said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD.” (2Ki. 10:16).

But, you say, “Jesus had a zealot for a disciple!” Yes, He did. But, after Jesus was finished training Simon the Canaanite, that zealot changed from a murderer for God to a martyr for God. Except for John, every disciple of Christ died a martyr. They laid down their lives unto death, and they did so willingly, if others could come to Jesus like they had had the privilege. So grateful were they for God touching their hearts, and for making them His special agents to undo the violent kingdom of Satan, that they were glad to go into dangerous enemy territory that was claimed by the fiercest murderer this world has ever seen.

So, what makes one fanatical? I’ve been accused of being a religious fanatic. However, my accuser’s description of a fanatic was someone who spends all his time, money, and energy at being a Christian. But that can’t be the definition of an unbalanced Christian fanatic, otherwise Jesus and Paul and the other apostles would have been fanatics. I don’t come close to being what they were, especially Jesus. They suffered and did not complain. Yet, I could still be a fanatic, so I couldn’t disagree with my accuser.

“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” (2Tim. 2:3-5).

“Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him:

If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us.” (2Tim. 2:10-12).

“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God.” (2Tim. 1:8).

I can only wish for 2 Timothy 1:8 to be the epithet on my gravestone, “a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God”.

But, look at Jesus, and how He lived every day, and every moment, of His life here. Is that fanaticism?

“And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest Thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:36-38).

Jesus would “not fail or be discouraged.” (Isa. 42:4). He was so driven to reestablish truth in the earth that He taught all day and every day until each day was almost over. His friends must often have had to drag Him into the boat, whereupon He promptly fell into a deep sleep. “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much.” (Ecc. 5:12). He daily received from His Father “beloved sleep.” (Ps. 127:2).

Jesus knew what it meant to be driven and exhausted and totally spent. But, He was not a religious fanatic. He came to save men’s lives, not destroy them. Can the same be said of the zealous assassins who wage war for their Church?

So what makes a religious fanatic? The mystery of that iniquity can be drawn from the words of Christ:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,

And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.” (Matt. 23:23-30).

A fanatic is anyone who accept the lie that he can be pure on the outside, but filthy on the inside; hot on the outside, but cold on the inside. They do not depend on Jesus; all of their thoughts are not with God. Their actions are not motivated by the Spirit of Christ. No matter how vehemently they seek to prove their loyalty to God, because His Spirit is not in their heart their works are unacceptable to God. They haven’t fallen on the Stone, and been broken and humbled. They can have no peace from God.

“What is justification by faith? It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself.” Testimonies to Ministers, p. 456.

The religious fanatic has never known peace with God by falling at the feet of Jesus in total humiliation before the Law’s undeniable definition of sin, and in total hope that Jesus will be merciful to their sinning.

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before Me, and the souls which I have made.

For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid Me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.

I have seen his ways, and will heal him: I will lead him also, and restore comforts unto him and to his mourners.

I create the fruit of the lips; Peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, saith the LORD; and I will heal him.

But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” (Isa. 57:15-21).

“Now we know that what things soever the Law saith, it saith to them who are under the Law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Rom. 3:19).

Everyone who refuses to go to God’s Law and let His Law size them up, seize their conscience, and lay their glory in the dust, can never be good enough for God. He will not bless them with His Spirit of peace. Their long prayers and energetic worship and tithe paying and evangelism and upright life and witnessing and good deeds and smiles and enthusiasm and strong handshakes and clean-cut look and healthy body and good behavior and good track record, etc. etc., are all in vain. He cannot accept those fanatics. He will have to say, “I never knew you.” Could that be us today?

“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the Law [from the prophet of God], even his prayer shall be abomination.” (Prov. 28:9).

“Nevertheless they did flatter Him with their mouth, and they lied unto Him with their tongues.

For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they stedfast in His covenant.” (Ps. 78:36,37).

Their heart. Their heart was not right with their God. Oh, how often is this the case today! They were hot on the outside, but their behavior meant nothing to Him if their heart was not right with Him. Their life was only fig leaves—they had fig leaf religion. Their hearts were dried wine sacks, unable to receive new wine. The expanding pure, spiritual truth of heaven could not be contained in their heart. Their hearts would rip to shreds.

“Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt. 7:21-23).

So, if we are a fanatic, when our heart is far from submitting to a knowledge of the love of Jesus for us personally, and far from being merciful to the poor, regardless of our profession. He looks at our heart and sees wickedness. He sees a murderer and a destroyer. He sees a ravening wolf. They would not hear the word of the Lord; they would not stand before the Law of God and be ransacked by the Spirit of truth.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.… In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:1,4,5).

“This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (John 3:19,20).

Jesus’ light and the light from His prophets exposes our self-exaltation and self-glorification. He lays our sin out for us to see what He sees. “Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.” (Jer. 6:15).

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb. 4:12).

“But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:21).

Will we come to the light, or will we hate the light and reject it? Will we bow to our conscience, or blow it off. These questions are what determine whether we have honest and genuine service to the God of truth and love, or fanaticism and vehement and destructive religion, despite our profession and outward appearance.

Will we, or will we not, be drawn to the light? Even if it hurts to be guilted and shamed by the prophets, even if it makes us sweat and bow in fear before God, do we suffer this first work being driven to have the hope of divine acceptance that we see in the Law of God and in the crucifixion of Jesus? Do we yearn to be accepted and be made right with God?

Let the world give its own judgment based the goodliness of our outward deeds—but what does God think of our goodliness? They may say, Yea or Nay concerning my condition, but what does God say? What says Him who discerns the thoughts and intents of my heart? Can I rest satisfied to know that I am judged by the low standards of this world? Or, despite the pain of it all, do I remain fidgety and unsatisfied until I am judged by the Ancient of days, the great Judge of the highest court in the universe, whose judgment I can trust, although it hurts my pride?

“Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool: where is the house that ye build unto Me? and where is the place of My rest? For all those things hath Mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at My word.” (Isa. 66:1,2).

Will I tremble before His words? Will I endure the fear of having committed the unpardonable sin a million times when I stand before the infinitely pure and holy God? Do I prefer the scourging, cleansing work of the living God of perfection, or the dead, unresponsive heart and mind to His power to convict me of my sin? Will I be willing to tremble before God and let Him change my heart so that it can eventually be a mercy seat for the cloud of His presence (see Leviticus 16:2), His footstool, His resting place? Or will I prefer the empty heart that eventually burns with fire and smoke and brimstone?

“They [the priest of Baal] have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.… Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” (Jer. 6:14,16).