An Unholy Zeal For Truth
Written by Aaron Miller | Pastor of Equipping
The title of the article is meant to be provocative. It seems true, but it feels wrong to admit it. Should not zeal for truth always lead to holy outcomes? After all, it's truth, a significant part of the Christian faith's foundation. But the sinfulness of sin affects even the highest of Christian virtues. Consider the words of Jesus to the Ephesian church in Revelation 2. The Lord had many praiseworthy things to say to the church. They had toiled, with patient endurance, in service to Christ, and they had maintained doctrinal orthodoxy. But they had this one fatal flaw; they had abandoned their first love. The zeal they had for doctrine, in the end, didn't serve them. Their Christian ethics became robotic and hollow. That which was meant to gird and prepare them for every good work of love became ultimate and turned them away from the Lord.
“Truth, like fire, can be used for good but can also be weaponized and used for evil.”
Heat, for example, is essential for life but could lead to widespread consumption and destruction. On the one hand, it is genial, restorative, and purifying; on the other, it is devastating and destructive. Holy zeal leads to the warmth of love, but unholy zeal leads to the heat of passions and the fire of persecution. The Greeks invented the word "zeal" to express the intensity of any mental affection, whether usefully or harmfully directed. This article will first consider how zeal for truth can lead one away from God and then consider how it can lead one back home to Him once touched by the gospel.
I. The Zeal for Truth that Moves Away from God
Liturgy has historically helped the church pursue truth, but liturgy has also harmed it. Rites, observances, and ceremonies may be helpful when correctly employed in leading one to consider the truth of God's Word and one's identity in the family of faith. However, turning to such things as if they carried intrinsic value in themselves can lead believers into the same traps Jesus warned the Jews about when he said, "I tell you, something greater than the temple is here. And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:6-8). As far as liturgy points to Christ, the church is served; but when liturgy becomes gratuitous, it distracts and leads astray.
Zeal for tradition can be of great value in pursuing truth, but where tradition can turn on Christians is when it becomes an equal authority alongside the Word of God. This, too, became problematic in church history. One of the many causes of the Protestant Reformation was how the Roman church viewed authority. Experience, reason, and, yes, tradition were parallel authorities along with holy scripture that not only carried a competing voice but completely obfuscated the gospel message.
Then there is an ignorant zeal. The misinformed or biblically uneducated zeal can easily rest on the fuel of passion rather than truth and reason. Remember, Peter often demonstrated a zeal for Jesus that, in appearance, was commendable but ultimately led him to respond in the flesh, away from Jesus' instruction.
Lastly and most abhorrently, there is a persecuting zeal. There are plenty of examples in church history where Christians have taken it upon themselves to stand for truth in the face of falsity. But rather than lovingly confront with truth, they go on the attack and maim with their words. They easily justify the action because, after all, they're standing for the truth. Now, while there is a form of this that is good and necessary when done biblically, it looks more like standing in the truth than standing for the truth. God does not need His people to stand up for Him or plead His case. He is not waiting for His saints to take up a cause on His behalf. He calls His people to love obedience and to be faithful. The persecuting zeal will always defeat its end.
II. The Zeal for Truth that Moves Toward God.
Conversely, a holy zeal for truth will always proceed from a true love of God. Moreover, it is the way of Christ because it always leads to humble obedience. The same zeal that drove Jesus to overturn tables and cleanse the temple (John 2:17, Psalm 69:9) was the same zeal that led Jesus to declare to His Father, "Not my will, but yours be done" (Matt. 26:39, Mk 14:36, Lk 22:42, Jn 6:38). And "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross" (Heb. 12:2).
A holy zeal for truth will lead to the spiritual worship of God. This, too, translates into obedience. Psalm 86:11 says, "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name." And "Take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules" (Psalm 119:43). "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth" (Psalm 145:18).
Zeal for truth is holy when it leads to a zeal for good works. ". . . Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14). Notice the connection the gospel provides in our salvation process: knowing the gospel, leads to believing the gospel, that then leads to living the gospel. James will offer similar wisdom in how engaging truth must translate into engaging action. "But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing." (James 1:22-25).
Lastly, a holy zeal for truth will always lead to the church's edification. Paul instructs the Ephesians that Christ gave gifts to his church at his coronation. "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. . ." (Eph. 4:11-15). Notice the various gifts are assigned according to the different functions of the ministry of the Word, which edifies the body in the likeness of Christ when spoken in truth and love.
“A holy zeal for the truth is a powerful force for good. It is a burning desire to please God, do His will, and advance the gospel's cause in every direction.”
In many ways, it is not a passion that comes naturally to people because it only comes through what the Spirit provides. God's people have always struggled with mixed passions because of indwelling sin. Only the gospel can redirect and bring to life; only the work of the Spirit can provide purpose before the Lord; and only the truth of God's Word can gird our zeal with wisdom and prepare God's people for every work.
Two Diagnostic Questions:
1. Is my zeal for truth a feedback loop that leads me only to pursue more truth, or does this zeal lead me to greater affection for God?
2. Is my zeal leading me back to my convictions, or is it leading me to pursue others with love and good deeds?