Fools for Christ?

I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not according to knowledge. Romans 10:2

Did you read about the Christian couple who, having put their house up for sale, took it off the market rather than sell it to a gay couple?

I have to admit that their stance on this made me uncomfortable. Like them, I hold a traditional view of same-sex relations, so I could understand the strength of their conviction. And yet I couldn’t help feeling that they were misguided – that, borrowing the words of Paul in Romans 10:2, while they might be truly “zealous for God”, it was with a zeal “that is not according to knowledge”.

Paul, of course, is talking about something completely different: the position of his fellow-Israelites who haven’t grasped how their ancient prophecies have been fulfilled in Jesus, and how traditional Judaism is thus rendered redundant. He is obviously deeply sad about their failure to see the truth as it is in Christ; though rather than condemning them, he recognises and respects their genuine zeal.

There is such a thing as “zeal that is not according to knowledge”: that’s the simple point today.

I remember myself as a newly-converted Christian, age 15. Boy, did I have zeal! I went back to school and tried to convert everybody in five minutes flat. All right, that’s an exaggeration; but I have no doubt that I caused embarrassment if not worse. Was it honouring to God if I came across, in the eyes of my non-Christian schoolmates, as a weirdo, a religious nutter? Was I in fact responsible for turning somebody off Christianity for life? I can only hope not; but it’s a bit late now.

No doubt there are street preachers who exercise their ministry in a tactful and sensitive way. But I must admit that the ones I have come across have caused me to cringe and hurry by – much like most of the people busy about their shopping, in fact. Was I wrong? Should I have gone and stood with them? Or was I right not to want to identify with them, however genuine their zeal might have been?

There aren’t necessarily cut and dried answers to questions like that, and I do of course keep open the possibility that – well, I’m just a coward. The disturbing words of Jesus about “disowning me before others” (Matthew 10:33) hover over one’s head. But…

A few years ago I was sitting on the top deck of a bus reading a book (of course) when a woman decided to preach to us. Actually, “harangue” would be a better word than preach. You only had to look around to see that her efforts were not appreciated, to put it mildly. Did I hear people muttering angrily “Sit down, sister”?

I mentioned this the following week at a house-group, whereupon an African lady jumped in and said, “That’s how I was converted! – that’s quite normal in my country”. Well, there could be no arguing with that, could there, so my tail was well and truly between my legs. But of course what’s normal and acceptable in one culture may not be normal and acceptable in another, such as on a bus on Alperton High Road, north-west London.

We could never calculate the amount of damage done by misguided zeal. Islamist extremists think they are honouring God by blowing people up. Christian fundamentalists have been known to murder staff who work in an abortion clinic, or scientists who experiment on animals. Elderly, respectable clergy people have recently been blocking roads, even gluing themselves to motorways, in the name of animal rights or climate change.

Going back to that couple trying to sell their house, you can’t help but wonder what they hoped to achieve. Somebody ultimately will buy it; and who knows how deep-died a sinner that somebody might be? Should they demand to investigate the personal morals of every potential buyer?

Isn’t it part of our Christian discipleship to rub shoulders daily with all manner of people – quite likely including non-Christians who put many of us to shame by their way of life? In that light, isn’t a business transaction conducted in an efficient, courteous, helpful manner an infinitely better witness than saying “Sorry, we can’t have dealings with you because we believe your life-style is wrong”?

No-one was more keen than Paul that his converts should live pure and holy lives; but he explicitly spells out that mixing with all sorts is part and parcel of being a Christian – otherwise “you would have to leave this world” (1 Corinthians 5:10), which would obviously be absurd, unless we decide to embark on monasticism.

Not to mention Jesus! One of the very things that the religious authorities condemned him for was his willingness to mix with anyone he came across, tax-collectors, prostitutes, the lot. Yet he never compromised, and he was “without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

The upshot of it all is simple: we need to recognise that some issues are not black and white but call for serious reflection rather than shallow answers. Yes, of course we want to be loyal to Christ, but how is such loyalty best expressed? True, Paul describes himself and his fellow-apostles as “fools for Christ” (1 Corinthians 4:10). But I very much doubt if he meant the kind of thing that couple exemplified…

Lord, give us the gift of wisdom and discernment!

Father, I am willing to be a fool for Christ. But please teach me the difference between courageous witness for Jesus and foolish, misguided enthusiasm. Amen.