Are you zealous for Christ? Do you have a genuine zeal to live for him and to advance his cause in the world? Or have you lost the zeal that once marked you? Here, courtesy of Joel Beeke and James La Belle are 9 ways you may lose your zeal.
Major in speculative religion. Speculative religion is religion whose primary concern is that which is theoretical or conjectural. Look to the pastoral epistles and you will often find Paul warning Timothy and Titus that they must avoid anything like this—anything vain and unprofitable, anything obsessed with fables and genealogies (see 1 Timothy 4:2, 2 Timothy 2:14, Titus 3:9, etc). Christianity is meant to be an experiential religion, one that is meant to reach the heart and the will and to work itself out in action. “Christian faith begins with an experiential renovation of the heart and progresses by an experiential relationship that impacts all of life.”
Love the world. “How can we be zealous for heaven when our hearts are wrapped up in earthly things? How can we lift our spirits heavenward when our minds are weighed down with the cares of this life? How can we be zealous for God when our love is divided between Him and this world? Worldly mindedness will starve our zeal.” Jesus promised us that we can serve only one master; our zeal will diminish when our loyalties are torn between God and mammon, God and this world.
Be spiritually presumptuous. Some people start out in the Christian faith, but then assume that they have nothing more to do. They presume upon the riches and grace of Christ, but invest little effort in battling sin and putting sin to death. Some take an opposite view and claim that they are no longer sinful, that they have attained perfection. In either case, these people are dangerously presumptuous and will necessarily see their zeal decline and disappear.
Neglect the means of grace. “When we presume that we no longer need to gird up our loins (1 Peter 1:13), lay aside every weight and every besetting sin, and run the race set before us (Hebrews 12:1-2), we will naturally neglect those means that God has appointed to keep our zeal burning. Zeal will grow so cold that it will inevitably die out. To neglect the means of grace is to neglect the fuel that feeds this spiritual fire. We must be aware of neglecting anything that God has given us to help us grow in Christ-likeness.”
Remain impenitent. We know that we ought to confess and repent of the most significant sins, but can grow lax in confessing and repenting of the smaller sins. But be warned: “Impenitence with regard to any known sin will surely quench all zeal for God.”
Indulge in any known sin. “When we indulge ourselves in any known sin, or absolve ourselves of any known duty, how can we avoid the charge of hypocrisy in condemning the sins and failings of others? Do we think God is pleased with our crying down the sins of others while we commit the same sins? Do we imagine that God is pleased when we accuse others of failure, while we excuse ourselves from the very same duties? Sacred zeal reaches to all of God’s commandments and all of Christian duty. If we would keep a fire in our heart for God, we must take caution not to indulge in any known sin, or neglect any known duty.”
Be indifferent or unbelieving. “It is not enough to have an interest in religious questions, an understanding of basic religious doctrine, or even a small stock of memorized Scripture verses, if all this fails to touch the heart, because out of the heart, as Solomon says, flow the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). An unmoved, indifferent heart will not give rise to zeal. Light in the head must be matched by warmth in the heart.”
Remain ignorant. “How can we be zealous for the things of God if we dwell in the darkness of ignorance about divine truth? If we persist in ignorance of ‘the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord’ (2 Peter 1:2), our comfort must speedily diminish, and our zeal will soon give way to indifference of heart and langour of spirit.”
Be a coward. “We cannot advance God’s cause in the world if we fail to be bold for Him. Sin will comfortably abide in our churches unless it is put out by great boldness. Hypocritical professors will continue to bring shame to the name of Christ unless exposed by great boldness.”
