The Dangerous Mix of Excitement and Ignorance

Zeal is great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or objective.

We should be enthusiastic about God, but our enthusiasm must be grounded in Truth.

You can be sincere, but sincerely wrong.

When it comes to truth, everyone cannot be right.

God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.Romans 3:4

For Christians, being right doesn’t come from a place of moral superiority, but a place of trust in the Word of God.

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.1 Thessalonians 2:13

You can be incredibly dedicated to the wrong thing.

Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.Philippians 3:6

False religion is propagated when we find another source of truth outside of Scripture.

Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.Colossians 2:8

Minor doctrinal differences can have major implications.

A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.Galatians 5:9

Our love and excitement for God must be rooted in Truth.

We cannot be led by emotions, but must be guided by Truth.

The measuring stick of true faith is always the Word of God.

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.Acts 17:11

Discipleship is critical, as we must be zealous about the things that God is zealous for.

God has given us others to lead us into spiritual fruitfulness.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:Ephesians 4:11-12

Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.

We should be energetic and enthusiastic about God. If we aren’t, there’s something wrong.

We must daily examine our hearts against the Truth of the Word.

We must tune our hearts to Truth and sharpen our ability to recognize error.

We must continue a lifelong quest of discipleship.