Being “On Fire For God” Does Not Equal Knowledge

Length: 7 Minutes

There is a term in the church today — “on fire for God.” Ultimately, this is a term that is used for someone when they are extremely enthusiastic about God; often accompanied by a lot of very fast and visible results. While I’m not trying to dissuade anyone from being excited about the Lord, mere enthusiasm is not what we should be looking for in a person.

Don’t get me wrong. When you really know Jesus, you’re going to be very enthusiastic about the gospel and everything that He has done. No question. But most people see enthusiasm for God and assume that it’s always a profitable thing or that enthusiasm equates to doing the will of God. 

Do you know which group of people the Bible says were very enthusiastic about God? The Jewish people. Paul says that the Jews of His time were very zealous for God. 

Romans 10:2 (KJV) For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

The Jews of Paul’s time were very zealous for God, but do we believe that they were in the will of God? Well, God loves Jewish people like anyone else, but they had rejected the Messiah that God told them was coming. Their enthusiasm then, and even now, does not equate to doing the will of God. What did Paul say was missing? Knowledge.

God’s will, His one commandment in this new covenant is that we know Jesus (it’s called the obedience of faith if you haven’t heard of that before). While the Jews had enthusiasm, they didn’t have knowledge. Enthusiasm is not what God is looking for; growing in our knowledge of Jesus is.

Most Christians are easily tricked into determining someone’s maturity by their enthusiasm, rather than their steadfastness in knowing Jesus. The more excitement we see, the sharper the spike in their outward change, the more mature we believe they are. I am truly not trying to squash enthusiasm, but I am trying to convince you to not use it as a metric for maturity. 

The Bible speaks about a kind of person that has a sudden spike in joy (or enthusiasm) over the gospel, but they only continue for a while, and then fall away from the knowledge of Jesus. This shows you clearly that enthusiasm is not a metric for maturity.

Luke 8:13 (NKJV) But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.

This type of person that Luke 8 is speaking of rejoiced over the word. The joy came quickly, but because they did not have maturity in knowledge, when times of testing came, they fell away just as quickly. They were running off of enthusiasm, rather than running off of knowledge.

Joy and enthusiasm are not only acceptable, it’s an inevitable fruit of knowing Jesus. Despite this, the mere joy is not what God is after. It is continued knowledge of Jesus that God is after. Joy will certainly come, but God does not measure who is doing His will by an outward manifestation of enthusiasm.

Many pastors today are making the mistake of promoting new believers who are very enthusiastic for the Lord, just because they are “on fire for God.” They mistake enthusiasm and sudden outward change for maturity. Rather than proving the steadfastness of a person over long period of time (as 1 Timothy 3:10 says), they will promote an immature believer simply because of their zeal (1 Timothy 3:6). But God is not after zeal. God is after knowledge. Zeal will come, but it’s not zeal that will carry you through. It’s the knowledge of Jesus that will.

As with the Jewish people of Paul’s time, their zeal did not equal obedience to God. It didn’t equal knowledge of Jesus. Neither did the joy of the stony ground equate to maturity. Another example is Jehu. 

Jehu was someone that the Lord anointed to be king over Israel, to slay the family of King Ahab because they had been murdering men of God. So Jehu began killing the family of King Ahab as the Lord said. Then Jehu said this:

2 Kings 10:16 (KJV) And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So, they made him ride in his chariot.

Jehu acknowledged his great zeal for the Lord. Then he proceeded to not only kill the rest of the family of Ahab, but also to kill the prophets of Baal that we’re leading Israel astray. Even further, he went to the temple of Baal, broke down his image, and destroyed the house.

Now, after all of this “zeal” and after all these great works that he did to fulfill the word of the Lord, this is the testimony of the Lord concerning the life of Jehu:

2 Kings 10:31 (NKJV) But Jehu took no heed, to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.

If you’re not familiar, the law that the Lord is referring to here, which is obeyed with the heart, is called the law of faith (see our “Obedience Of Faith” material). Despite all that Jehu did, despite all his outward zeal and immediate results, he had the testimony from God that he did not continue believing Him with all his heart. And that is what the Lord is after.

If you truthfully know Jesus, you can’t be anything but enthusiastic for the beautiful salvation that He has won for us, but zeal and quick flashy results do not equal knowledge of Jesus, neither does it equal maturity. 

Maturity is gauged by how sound someone’s belief is, over a prolonged period of time (John 8:31). The person that continues in their knowledge, through tests and trials, the cares of this life, and persecution from other people, growing steadfastly unto the fruit, is someone who is maturing in knowledge (Luke 8:11–15). 

So, don’t be quick to promote, entrust authority, or assume maturity on behalf of someone just because they are “on fire for God.” Let’s see their steadfastness in the knowledge of Jesus. Let’s see them grow, and do so long-term. It’s not the zeal on the outside that God looks at. It’s the knowledge of Jesus on the inside that counts. 

1 Samuel 16:7 (NKJV) For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart [which is faith].”

If this blessed you, share this with someone else!