The church has been damaged by the misguided zeal of extremism. We are to be zealous of good works. God does not want lukewarm believers. We must be prepared to stand firm for the truth. We need to be on fire for God. Grace affirms zeal. Grace avoids extremism. See Titus 3:9-11. There is a zeal that is divisive and destructive. It finds an error and magnifies it or takes a grey area and beats people over the head with it. Zeal and moderation go together. Extremism is an enemy of both zeal and extremism. See Titus 3:1ff. Some of our Christian causes are hurt by the extremism of those involved. Look at Peter who cut off the ear of a soldier in his misguided zeal. Today we have pro-life activists who kill and maim in their misguided zeal and set back the work of those who use peaceful protest.

1 – Avoid foolish questions (Titus 3:9)

There are people who will get into a narrow band or crusade about something. So what? At the end of the day it will matter nothing. It is pointless. It is fruitless. These people can take a theological hair and split it into nine parts. The Pharisees were some of the greatest extremists in the Bible. They had made 616 laws from the Ten Commandments! Jesus said they gagged at gnats and swallowed camels. These things are divisive. A heretic was one who brought division. There are those who want to bicker and criticise. It is foolish debate. For example:-

• Lifting hands in worship – lift one hand or two?
• Singing old hymns only- not modern worship songs.

2 – Grace affirms (vs. 14)

Grace affirms zeal. God does not want us to half-hearted. He would rather we were cold or hot. He detests those who are lukewarm. We used to be lost sinners but now we have a zeal for God.

3 – Grace avoids

Grace avoids extremism. There is a zeal that is divisive and destructive. It is to find an error and over emphasis it. Zeal is tempered by moderation. It is part of our fallen nature to be extreme. We hurt our cause by extremism. The disciples became very zealous when Jesus met with Samaritans. See Luke 9:54

4 – Grace achieves (vs. 15)

Perfectionism and extremism are two dangers to the church. It is grace that gives us a balance in our zeal.

Categories: Titus