Fanatic???

Should "fanatic Christian" be a compliment?

A friend of mine says this:

"I had someone call me that once.........i said.........THANK YOU!..........i personally consider it a compliment since i don't think as a human being, i can be "fanatical enough" about my Savior even in God's eyes. i can never do enough, i can never say enough, i can never study enough, i can never be faithful enough, and i can never measure up...........i compare the word fanatic to the the words..."ON FIRE".........just my opinion!"


I found some definitions for "fanatic" on www.dictionary.com

A fanatic is....

*Motivated or characterized by an extreme, uncritical enthusiasm or zeal, as in religion or politics.

*A person marked or motivated by an extreme, unreasoning enthusiasm, as for a cause.

*A person who is (too) enthusiastic about something Example: a religious fanatic marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea; "rabid isolationist"

*A person motivated by irrational enthusiasm (as for a cause);
"A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject"--Winston Churchill




I agree with my friend that I quoted above. I love "On Fire". Sounds great to me. I've been thinking about this fanatic thing for a while now. I thought to myself that if I had the opportunity to visit Hell and see what Jesus saved me from, I would be a fanatic for sure! I believe knowing what we are saved from is very important when it comes to understanding what God did in giving up His son, and what Jesus did in being willing to come and go through with it. I tend to think that we can never be thankful enough because we just don't understand it all. What was done for us is larger than we are able to comprehend and therefore we tend to be humans that give of ourselves in a calm and rational manner. I don't think we should go around making people think we have a demon in us, or foaming at the mouth and convulsing!....but we should definately renew our minds and hearts to tune them into how important we are to the LORD (I AM)!

There is NOTHING we can do to repay God for what He did to save us. NOTHING! but......if we can grasp the idea of it all to the best of our ability as meager human beings, we can't help but give our lives everyday to God in sheer thankfulness and desire to be with Him and say thank you with our mouths. It's inevitable for a Christian to respond in an extremely positive way when they truly understand the gift given to them. Hell is not my destiny! Whoo Hoo!!

I heard one of my favorite radio speakers say something about fanatics the other day that really stuck with me. He said "A fanatic is someone who appears to love Jesus more than I do". That's a pretty bold statement and quite honestly has the potential to cause a few people to explode about it. So, let me explain it within the context of which it was spoken. I'm sure we've encountered people who aren't serious about their relationship with God....or for that matter, have no relationship with God because they don't like Him for one reason or another. These are typically the people who call you....the serious about God Christian.....a fanatic. I know there is at least one person in my family who feels that I am a fanatic. I don't run around acting like a nut either. I simply live my life each and everyday the best I can to serve God. This particular person, doesn't. They are more interested in pleasing themselves than pleasing God. Now if you were to ask them if they love God, they of course would say YES and be irritated that you asked them. I wonder how I know this? What they say they believe and how they live their life doesn't match up. It's contradictory. So, because I'm serious about Christianity, I am a fanatic to this person.