SPIRITUAL FANATIC OR MERELY COMMITED

As I think about the Christian faith and the number of people who will answer a poll that they are Christians, I have am coming to the conclusion that these people fall into one of three different spiritual categories. On what I will refer to as the "lower" level, there are a group of "professing Christians" that will tell you they are believers but they do not necessarily have any particular set of beliefs, practices, or indications that they have any religious or spiritual life at all. The Bible talks about this group of people as those who profess God, but deny that He has any power and do not draw on His power. On the "middle" level, are those who are true believers, but they are content to accept the Gospel message in order to gain entrance into the kingdom of God. They continue to live their lives based on their wants, feelings, and needs while failing to pursue a higher knowledge or relationship with God. Again the Bible speaks of this group of people as being lukewarm and being rather disgusting to God. The "higher" level are those who have come to understand through a hunger for the things of God, the significance and awesomeness of the sacrifice made by God's giving His only Son, and the great obedient offering of the Son on the Cross. Because of this understanding, which is a divine revelation from seeking and finding, this group of believers make a total commitment of their lives to serving and seeking intimacy with God. The Bible states, in Jesus' words that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. "The man who has the clearest view of this moral law, will always be the man who has the highest sense of the value of Christ's atoning blood."(Unknown quote source).

Those who are in the first two groups will have a tendency to view the last group as fanatics, or striving for the impossible, i.e. to be like Christ. The fact is, this last group actually comprise those who are not of this world and the world does not understand them. But they continue on because the witness of the Holy Spirit urges them on and brings spiritual light and understanding as they continue to serve and seek.

I am not saying that the first two groups are not "saved" and will not make it to heaven. But the last group has responded to a higher calling in Christ and if they endure, will reap an abundant harvest for the Kingdom of God and they will receive a great reward in heaven to present at the feet of the One who gave His all for them.

I am in that last group. I cannot be in any other group after having responded to the Holy Spirit to climb to this level. That does not make me "higher or mightier" than anyone else on the earth. It only makes me more accountable for my thoughts, words, and deeds. It fills me with a driving hunger for the things of God. It makes me available for God's use as He sees fit. I must always have the Word hidden in my heart and wear the cloak of humility. Because without Him, I am nothing. I have been called to live and work among those on the first two levels, to allow the Holy Spirit to work through me so that they might answer that call to this level. I have been called to reach out in love and in the Spirit of the Lord to those who have been wounded by this world and can't find their way.

Am I a fanatic? Or am I committed heart, soul, mind, and strength, to my God?