Zeal as a Mask for Laziness?

 

Matthew 22:36-40 NIV

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 

Loving God is not enough. This is crucial to grasp, despite how obvious it might seem. I can attest for myself that I’ve often failed to make a distinction between loving God and loving my neighbor. I’ve often heard the sentiment that loving my neighbor is an extension of my love for God. While this is true, it does not happen without mature and intentional pursuit on my part.

The fact is that I can be really on fire for God and in awe of His goodness, yet at the same time, not love my neighbor as I should. Paul writes, “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2). What this means is that I can lack proper love while being tremendously spiritually gifted. 

How many tremendously gifted teachers in the church have we seen fall and get disqualified from ministry? Too many! Many of these fallen leaders would preach passionately and with fidelity to the gospel. And it would seem like they really loved God. I don’t want to question their sincerity, but I can’t help but wonder if they stopped short of fully loving other people as themselves? 

Loving my neighbor requires a conscious and intentional effort that I build on top of my love for God. In a similar way to how I can pursue deeper intimacy with God, I can also pursue growth in my love for other people. It doesn’t happen by accident though. For that reason, it is important to see the two greatest commandments as dependent upon one another, but distinct at the same time. 

Now to guard against confusion, let me clarify a couple things:

    1) We cannot properly bear fruit without abiding in Christ. Jesus says as much in John 15:5. Love for others grows out of intimacy with God. 

    2) If we love Christ, it will lead to love for other people. Jesus says that those who love him will keep his commandments (Jn. 14:15). And one of His commandments is that we love one another as He has loved us (Jn 13:34). 

So how can my love for God lead to love for my neighbor? I think we get a clue in Paul’s words: 

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience” (Col. 1:9-11).

My love for God has to be paired with a growing knowledge and understanding of His character and will. The more I grow in knowledge and understanding, the more I am able to grasp how to please God. This in turn allows me to learn how to love others well. Then, it is God’s Spirit that enables me to put that knowledge into practice. It takes time. It takes pursuit. It takes intentionality. 

My main goal in writing this is to warn against laziness that’s masked by zeal for the Lord. Zeal is good. Passion is good. Fire is good. But if that zeal has not led to spiritual fruit in the way I love other people, then I still have some maturing to do. My love still has some maturing to do. And that’s okay! 

God is very patient and gracious with us. This should fill us with tremendous hope. But may we never get to the point of “enough”. May we always desire righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart. All praise, all honor, all glory be to God forever in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth! Amen and amen!