HOW TO IDENTIFY A FANATIC Following are seven marks by which to identify a fanatic: 1. A fanatic generally first reveals himself by his in ability to keep a sense of proportion in his beliefs and practices. Not only is he impressed with some important truth; his mind soon becomes filled up with it. He talks it to everyone. He sees everything else in terms of it, and thus his spiritual vision and sense of proportion are lost. The situation is worse when he focuses on a minor point, as is often the case, until it looms up so large that it quite obscures all the major features of the faith. 2. A fanatic seeks to make all-others around him in the church conform to his views. It is natural that he should do this, because if he believes that his particular view or views are of tremendous importance, why should he not seek to have all others think as he does? The trouble here is not so much with his ardor as with the reasons that prompt his ardor. 3. A fanatic almost in every case (invariably) or on every occasion proceeds to condemn others when they refuse to accept his line of thinking. When enthusiasm or passion (ardor) thus deteriorates into intolerance, the most dangerous effects of fanaticism begin to be evident. The fanatic, in most instances, is quite unable to believe that those who refuse to go along with him might base their refusal on common sense and intellectual and spiritual honesty. 4. As the church members around him refuse, in general, to accept his views, a fanatic usually begins to become critical of the church and of the whole Advent Movement. As the mood of criticism develops he may feel that the church is so far from salvation and so hopelessly set in its wrong ways that he must withdraw from it. More than one fanatic has finally left the church. 5. A fanatic, despite his fervor and his zeal, rarely accomplishes any great constructive good. We are not forgetful of the fact that there have been great men of God who, for a time, were thought fanatical because of the emphasis they gave to some tenet or feature of the faith. But time has proved that they were wrongly judged, because some constructive results followed from their fervent emphasis. A fanatic, when examined in terms of the years, is one who can show little or nothing for his ardor except a spirit of division, criticism, and doubt in the circle in which he has moved. This is true, whether he continues to stay in the church or whether he leaves it. 6. Most fanatics seem to be tainted with that most subtle heresy; namely, that by the works of the law men can be justified. It is so easy for all of us to begin to think that if we but follow a certain program and do certain things, we shall thereby become holy and just in the sight of God. This heresy often displays itself in the emphasis that some give to the doctrine of health reform. We cannot ensure holiness by what we eat or do not eat, though one would almost (well-nigh) conclude that from listening to the way some have promoted the doctrine. But, let me hasten to add, obedience to the laws of our physical being is vitally related to good religion. 7. A fanatic is generally distinguished by spiritual pride. Pride has a thousand ways of displaying itself, and a thousand ways of concealing itself. It may appear in the guise of fervor for God, yes, even in the guise of humility. What is it but spiritual pride when a finite individual, with no better natural gifts or acquired training than others, begins to sit in judgment on all the church members around about him because they do not agree with his particular ideas of holy living, or his particular sense of relative value of certain beliefs? Christ could declare, “The zeal of your house hath eaten me up.” No one can doubt His zeal (energy & enthusiasm) and ardor (enthusiasm and passion) and the greatness of the work He accomplished. Yet He had no taint of fanaticism. He displayed, first of all, an ardor in living the holy life. His life was a constant rebuke to sin and a stimulus to holiness to everyone who came in contact with Him. What this Advent Movement needs is men and women who will focus on the raising of the level of their own lives, so that the very atmosphere that surrounds them will be heavenly and uplifting for all whom they meet. Even one such truly high-level person in each of our churches could do marvelous things in lifting the spirituality of the whole movement and producing a glorious revival. The person who has a true yearning for the betterment of the church will find himself more concerned to discover the defects in his own life than in the lives of others about him. And as his own life rises higher the example of it becomes a more mighty rebuke to the spiritually slothful and wayward in the church than any of his criticisms could ever be. I think not only of Christ’s example but of His persuasive teaching of the truth. Except in the rare instances when He had to denounce the outrageous pretensions of the scribes and Pharisees, Christ spoke in a quiet, persuasive way as He sought to bring the vital truth of heaven to the hearts of His hearers. If we are to win men to a higher and a better level, we ought to give close attention to the teaching and the preaching methods that our Lord followed. In fact, we ought to saturate our souls with the whole spirit that controlled Him and that radiated out from Him. May God give to each of us in all our churches an ever-increasing ardor and zeal, and may He give to us, along with those fervent graces, the equally important gifts of sanctified common sense, good judgment, humility, and tolerance for others who do not see eye to eye with us. Francis D. Nichol, Questions people have asked me. Washington, D.C., Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1959:112-115.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 09:58:57 +0000
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