A fanatic, they say, is someone who loves the Lord more than you do. Fanaticism is a charge frequently thrown at those of us on the conservative end of the religious spectrum in America today. We defend ourselves from such slander with assurances of our patriotism, our love for everyone friend or foe, and our dead-set ambition to practice the teachings of the Man of Nazareth. In fact, we sometimes say, we wish we were more fanatical about following Jesus than we are.

By that we mean, we wish we loved Him more, took His words more seriously, and were bringing every area of our existence into subjection to Him.

Enter any Southern Baptist church next Sunday–they’re the only kind I have a close familiarity with, so we shall spare all the other brand names here–and you would be hard-pressed to find more than a half-dozen church members over-zealous in their Christianity. Most are like the rest of us, in a never-ending struggle to find the balance between this present world and the next, the physical and the spiritual.

Almost everything we write on this website about basic Christianity–loving, praying, studying the Bible, tithing, etc–is directed toward the great hordes of church members who, on a scale of one to ten, would rate themselves five or under in their dedication to Christ.

The following, however, we direct toward that small group of church members who, on a dedication scale of one to ten, come in at about eleven or twelve.

From the intriguing Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, today’s lesson, boys and girls–you A students, you valedictorians, Phi Beta Kappas, over-achievers and perfectionists–has your name all over it.

1) Ecclesiastes 7:16 “Do not be overly righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?”

Hey, that’s in the Bible. I didn’t make it up.

In fact, Martin Luther loved that verse. He who was prone to extremes–did they have bi-polar syndromes back in the 16th century?–knew he had to rein himself in sometimes. In his earlier years as a monk, he had distinguished himself even then by his zeal. “If ever a monk was saved by his monkery, it was I,” he once said.

This is the same preacher who gets quoted by the “elevens and twelves” among us, that “I have such a busy day ahead, I must pray six hours this morning.”

Most of Luther’s comments quoted on Christian living are extreme statements, nearly off the scale in ultra righteousness. He said a lot of other stuff, too–he was not always manic–but since it does not fit the need of the writer or preacher, it usually doesn’t get quoted.

Luther once said, “Our Lord could not help but hear me; I threw the sack down before his door. I rubbed God’s ear with all his promises about hearing prayer.”

When praying for his friend Philipp Melanchthon’s healing, he said, “This time I besought the Almighty with great vigor. I attacked him with his own weapons, quoting from Scripture all the promises that I could remember, that prayers should be granted, and said that he must grant my prayer, if I was henceforth to put faith in his promises.”

Like Martin Luther, some of us need a barrier erected alongside the gulf of religious oversaying, overclaiming, and overdoing.

It’s about balance. For years I’ve prayed for my tendency to overspeak with the words of Psalm 141:3, “Set a guard upon my mouth, O Lord. Keep watch over the door of my lips.”

Perhaps we should pray that God would set a guard upon our enthusiasms, that He would keep watch over the door of our obsessions and infuse our dedication with balance and good mental health.

2) Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 “Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen…. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore, let your words be few.”

When’s the last time you saw a book or heard a sermon suggesting you need to talk to God less? You haven’t, right?

For some time now, the Lord has impressed upon me that what I should be striving for is “worship” rather than “prayer time.” For years, my prayers were speeches to God in which I assaulted the gates of Heaven. I began at a run, continued at a hectic pace, and ended breathlessly, then rose and walked away, satisfied I had done what the Lord required. The fact that these prayer times left me feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled seemed inconsequential. Maybe I just need to pray more, I thought.

Which, if you stop to think about it, sounds like the fellow who, finding out that he was lost, increased his speed.

What God desires from His children is not a one-sided barrage of words from our end as though we were shelling the beaches of Normandy with our praise and petitions, but two-way communication between the Heavenly Father and us.

Far better than filling the prayer period with words, words, and more words, our daily time with the Lord could be better spent reading the Scriptures, thinking about it, talking to Him, and sitting quietly. Not in place of praying, but as a part of our praying.

I enjoy watching news-talk programs with hosts like Joe Scarborough and Chris Mathews. But the moment I turn the program off is when all the participants begin to talk at the same time, interrupting each other, and clamoring to be heard above the others. It ceases to be thoughtful discourse and becomes just so much noise. I don’t need it, thank you very much.

I’m confident the Lord feels similarly about so much of the religious activity we direct His way. “I have had enough of burnt offerings…I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. When you come to appear before Me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer….I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts; they have become a burden to Me; I am wearing of bearing them.” (Isaiah 1:12-14)

In Isaiah’s case–and for every generation since–what the Lord wanted was heart-felt righteousness to back up the worship. “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean,” he urged. (1:16)

“The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.” (Eccl. 9:17)

And finally this one….

3) Ecclesiastes 12:12 “But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.”

Okay, gone to meddling there. (I am sitting in a room with built-in floor-to-ceiling bookcases along three walls. I am surrounded by books, with most of the shelves burdened with double rows of books and several stacks on the floor, to the consternation of my wife. She has long since given up on curbing this portion of my life.)

If indeed Ecclesiastes came from the mind (and quill?) of Solomon, that would date this sometime in the 10th century B.C. If he thought books were plentiful then, what would he think now!

God’s people must be discerning in our reading. There’s not enough time to read even every good book being published today, much less all the others.

Why? What’s the problem with fanaticism, with overdoing our devotion to the Lord?

1) Pride in my accomplishment, pride in my righteousness, and pride in my victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil—that’s the problem.

2) The corollary to that pride is the condescension with which it looks down on “lesser mortals,” on everyday Christians.

3) Fanaticism often produces radical behavior.

The little group was so deadset in their belief that Jesus is returning to earth any moment they sold their belongings and moved to a mountaintop, there to await the final judgment. The Bible student was so convinced that abortion is murder that he bombed the clinic where such procedures are given, injuring several and killing one.

4) Such extreme behavior holds Christianity up to ridicule.

The Crusades were dreamed up by radical believers (okay, also by a lot of selfish unbelievers, too, who were manipulating ignorant Christians for their own purposes). And then there is the Spanish Inquisition. We’re still trying to live down both.

The early Christian leader Origen mutilated himself physically in order to control his sexual urges. (I’m confident he soon found out the problem was in his mind, not his organs.) Heretics were burned at the stake. Seekers crawled on broken glass and starved their bodies. All of this was done in the name of Jesus Christ by well-intended (mostly) people calling themselves Christians.

Another word for “unbalanced” is crazy.

Warren Wiersbe once suggested there ought to be one more Beatitude: “Blessed are the balanced.”

On the Sunday He was raised from the grave, Jesus appeared in the Upper Room to His disciples. John’s Gospel gives a good account of what happened, but Luke’s Gospel includes an interesting detail. (Luke 24)

“They were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing a spirit. He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts?'”

Then, Jesus showed them his hands and his feet where a few days earlier Roman guards had driven the nails that secured Him to the cross. That was all the proof they needed. Jesus Christ was really alive!

With that, the room exploded with excitement. Luke says, “They still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement.” The people in the room were about to overdose on joy. Then, Jesus said something truly wonderful.

“Anyone got anything to eat?”

He had not had a bite since Thursday night and it’s now Sunday afternoon. He’s famished. But more than that, the Lord is calling the disciples back down to earth.

“Cool it, boys. Calm down. Get control of yourselves.”

Balance. Steadiness. Cool thinking and warm hearts. An unbeatable combination.

Finally….

The Lord once said to Jeremiah, “If you will extract the precious from the worthless, you will become my spokesman.” (Jer. 15:19)

That’s the challenge for all of us, whether over- or under-achievers: to choose the truly worthwhile and turn away from everything else. To spend our time wisely, to select our friends maturely, to invest our energies properly, to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. To think clearly, use the brains the Lord gave us, exercise proper judgment.

“Lord, give us spiritual discernment, appropriate dedication, and reasonable self-discipline. Give us balance in this life. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.”