I Am An Extremist

 
There are so many words we need to reclaim.


Being "evangelical" doesn't mean I am standing on a street corner with a bullhorn scaring people to faith with the threat of hell; in Greek, it literally means I am about the gospel, or "good news." It means I am called to live as Jesus lived and love as Jesus loved. I do this imperfectly, to be sure, but when Christ shows through me despite my faults, the Kingdom of God has come near, and I am an evangelical christian.


"Religion" at its best is not a system of rules that only serves to perpetuate itself. It is not something to be avoided in favor of generic "spirituality." Ideally, religion is about passing on the deep truths and wisdom from past generations; the ways that lead to the "life that really is life." (1 Timothy 6:19) Christianity as a religion is like a stream from the ancient church; a safe place for us to wade in the water and be connected to the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and our ancestors who passed on the faith to us.


There are many more, but the one that is on my heart this morning is..."zealous."


I don't have positive associations with the phrase "religious zealot." I picture extremists. I picture attacks. I picture the inevitable memorials and lit candles that follow the destruction caused by blind religious zeal.


But the scriptures use this word a lot, and in some surprising ways, so I need to be open to this word today, and ask God to reclaim it for me.


"[It is Christ] who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds." (Titus 2:14)


Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Romans 12:11


Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "these are extreme times...and the question isn’t whether or not we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will you be extremists for love or for hatred?"


None of us would argue these are extreme times. The question is simply; do we have the courage to be extremists for love? Do we have the courage to be "zealous for good deeds?"


Today, as uncomfortable as the phrase is for me, I am going to ask that God make me an evangelical, religious zealot...who exercises that zeal in love.


May we each find a way to surprise someone around us with an act of love today. Let us be the kind of extremists the world desperately needs.


PRAYER:
Glorious Lord, thank you for opportunities to serve. Renew our strength that we might work energetically and with gladness. May our faithfulness be a testimony to your goodness and grace. Amen.*


*Prayer taken from the Moravian Daily Texts