A story is told of a man in the nineteenth century who was trying to tell an old Indian about electricity.  He showed him the light bulb and how the bulb burned when it was plugged into the socket.  He tried to explain to him about electricity and how it all worked, but the Indian just didn’t understand.  Finally, in desperation the man took the Indian by the hand and stuck one of his fingers into the open socket.  The Indian immediately withdrew his hand, held it in his mouth.  As he thought about his experience, the truth dawned, and he exclaimed, “It is the fire within that makes it burn.”  This is what is meant by the word “zeal.”  Zeal is the fire within our hearts which makes us burn for those things we love.

Our word “zeal” is simply a transliteration of a Greek word that originally referred to a boiling pot of water, and then to a state of fervency or passion.  The church should be full of zeal.  Paul tells us that Christ 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).

Church leaders often bemoan a shortage of zeal in their congregations, but the problem is not that we lack zeal.  Most people have a steady supply of effervescence bubbling in their souls.  The real crisis is that zeal is so often misdirected.

Paul wrote about Jews who had “a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2).  These were the men responsible for the crucifixion of Christ and the persecution that threatened Paul’s missionary efforts.  They committed these offences out of religious ardency, but their zeal was misdirected because of a lack of knowledge.

Ignorance is not the only cause of misdirected zeal.  Much of the time our passion is skewed because of selfishness.  Speaking of Judaizing teachers who were perverting the gospel among the churches of Galatia, Paul wrote, “They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them” (Gal. 4:17, NKJV).  Paul’s enemies had a singular motive.  Preaching was a popularity contest to them, and Paul was warning the Galatians not to misinterpret their zeal as something good.

James rebuked his readers, saying, “You desire and do not have, so you murder.  You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel” (Jas. 4:2).  The word “covet” is translated from the same word rendered “zeal” in several passages in the New Testament.  Like many Americans, James’ readers were hungry for worldly goods.  That was their passion, and it was destroying their spiritual lives.

There is an abundant supply of enthusiasm in every church.  The question, though, is whether these energies are focused in the right direction.  The pot may be boiling, but what is cooking?  Wise leaders will recognize this challenge and guide their flocks towards the “upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14).