Scot McKnight on Zealotry

This essay is really worth a read.

McKnight outlines a problem that many evangelicals have with zealotry. To sum it up "Zealotry is conscious zeal to be radically committed, so radically committed that one goes beyond the Bible to defend things that are not in the Bible." McKnight argues that this is similar to the old rabbonic tactic of making a fence around the Torah "..the Torah says not to work on the Sabbath. So, let’s specify every kind of “work”, they say. So they come up with 40 or so kinds of labors that are “work.” These various kinds of works are the “fence” and the Sabbath command is the Torah. If one does not do such “work” a person does not violate the Sabbath working law."

Evangelical zealots can do similar fence building. He gives the example of drinking - the bible says we're not to get drunk. An evangelical fence can be "don't ever drink and you won't get drunk." Drinking in moderation soon becomes not good enough. We must not drink at all.

The problem with such zealotry is that it creates a feeling of "immunity" in the zealot - that they are immune from criticism because unlike others they are going above and beyond what God requires. Ultimately, McKnight argues, it demonstrates a fear of freedom and a lack of belief in the sufficiency of scripture.

I really recommend that you read this article (and parts two and three). Are you a zealot? In what areas of faith and life are you tempted to be? How can we be radically committed to obeying God without imposing more rules on ourselves and others than God does?