Here we go again. After being 'complimented' for being mad, I was thrown another brick-bat by no less than a Christian who cautioned me against becoming a fanatic. Hmmm. So I looked up the etymology of the word. Apparently it stems from "fanaticus" which in Latin means enthusiastic, frenzied, inspired by a god, originally pertaining to "temple" (fanum) thus linking it to religion. In its modern form, fanaticism is frequently related to obsession, erratic or unreasonable behavior as a result of very strong religious or political beliefs. On a less serious note though, informally, a fanatic also describes a person who is devoted to a particular hobby, activity or pastime, as in the shortened form "fan" of a sports team, rock star or even a consumer product.
Well, if that's the case, I am fanatical all right. Even from way back in the 'good ole days', I was a big-time fan-atic of all the regular pop and movie idols. My room walls were plastered with their posters, I crooned along to their songs, bought cheap matinee tickets to see their movies and all in all, behaved like a typical ditzy teenager. But I don't think that's what my dear brother meant when he talked about being a fanatic; he probably meant someone like John the Baptist who lived more than 2000 years ago......a most colorful character who lived in the wilderness, wore clothing made of camel’s hair, had a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. I always imagine John to have long, smelly, hair, a flowing beard, fire in his eyes and a voice that thundered his 1 message "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near”. He wasn't into pleasantries and had really bad manners, calling the crowds who had come to see him a "brood of vipers" (Matthew 3:4, Luke 3:7). He announced the arrival of Jesus Christ as the "One who takes away the sin of the world....who is more powerful than I , the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie..." For daring to speak up against a king's evil deeds, he ended up in prison and was beheaded on the whim of a dancing girl who happened to be the queen's daughter (Mark 6:22-27). True blue fanatic, yet of him, Jesus said, "I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John." (Luke 7:28). Huh, what gives?? Fast forward 2000 years later...
I know of 2 dear sisters who never miss a chance to talk about Jesus Christ anywhere anytime. They are so direct they have no qualms in asking complete strangers 'Do you know Jesus?' just like that. Nope, they don't brandish Bibles or dangle crosses into people's faces; quite the contrary, they just smile the brightest of smiles as they wait politely for a response. I also recall a cell-mate who had occasion to visit some European country relating how he saw a chap standing at a street corner holding up a placard proclaiming "Repent, for the end is near". He said his first impression was that this guy was a religious fanatic - there's that word again. But then later he felt a little ashamed, because truth be told, he would never dare to be as bold as this chap who stood out in the cold, all alone, being stared at, ignored and scorned by passers-by. This modern John the Baptist didn't say anything, he wasn't hurting anyone, at least not physically, but I am sure almost everyone would agree he is an obvious fanatic. Yet objectively speaking, looking at it another way, surely he was just trying to get people's attention to something he felt deeply about, albeit expressing it in very dramatic fashion.
So, is that 'obsession, unreasonable or erratic behavior'? Well, it's odd-ball, that's for certain. But is expressing my belief in a manner not quite acceptable to prevailing social norms wrong, when there is no force, violence or compulsion used in the process? Isn't that just a variation of the much-vaulted freedom of individual expression? Besides what's so wrong about being obsessed with something good/right, and going all out to share it with everyone else, even if not everyone agrees that it is so? To me, good news is like good food - if I know of some place offering yummy-licious food, I want to make it known to everyone. Whether people want to go there to find out for themselves if it's that good is up to them ultimately. Anyway if the message really is the truth, even though it's downright unpalatable and disagreeable to the vast majority, is it wrong to stand up for it? If I know there's an insidous invisible super-virus that inhabits everyone which will ultimately kill us , surely I am duty-bound as a compassionate fellow human being to sound the alarm, since I myself have been healed, even if no one else believes or even desires to be cured.
I am no John the Baptist. I don't stand at street corners carrying doomsday placards or call people snakes or other animal names (animals are animals, people are people). I wear only 1 outward obvious sign that I am a Christian, and that's the cross my husband bought me before he passed on (I like to think of it as his going-away present before we meet up again in heaven). But I do believe the world, as we know it, is going to end, I do believe bad news shouldn't be glossed over- that unless one repents and gets right with our Maker before we die, there really and literally is hell to pay. I also believe there is good news which must and should be shared at every opportunity - the news that was first proclaimed long ago by a fanatic named John - that Jesus came to seek and save, and that He will come again soon. I believe not because I have some magic crystal-ball that shows me the past, present and future, but simply because God said so in His Word. It's the same message that is being continously proclaimed all over the world today by... well, fanatics who really can't be bothered much about what the world chooses to think about them, since they are basically focused on only 1 essential thing - to pass on the good news of Jesus Christ to as many as they can reach in their lifetime on earth.
Winston Churchill apparently said, "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." Well, believing what I believe based on my own personal knowledge, I can't change my mind about Jesus because He has proved good, great and faithful to me all these years. And I can't change the subject , because to keep quiet about so awesome a love, so wonderful a life available through so gracious a Savior is totally irresponsible and reprehensible. So I guess if being all 'souled-out' for Jesus, wearing my heart out on my sleeve for Him, for all the world to see and hear makes me fanatic, then I absolutely agree and gladly confess- a fan of Jesus I am and ever will be.
"...We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them..." (Acts 14:15)
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