Extremism !

Tuesday April 6, 2021

Extremism !

Acts 8: 3 - Saul, for his part, was ravaging the Church ; entering the houses, he tore off men and women, and had them thrown into prison.

Saul was an extremist in the harshest sense of the word. Relying on his beliefs, he mistreated anyone who posed a "danger" to what he believed. Let’s not forget that his extremist was based on the Word of God even though it was the Old Testament. He himself will say that he was zealous but ignorant (compare 1 Timothy 1.13 and Philippians 3.6). It must be recognized that extremism does not come to a head overnight.

We are all potential “victims” of this scourge. Of course, many of us will not go as far as a certain violence, but that does not prevent us from being able to take irascible positions in our words and our actions. The history of humanity, and of the Church in particular, is full of examples of a bad radicalism which leads to sect, division, quarrels... which are works of the flesh, I remind us (Galatians 5.20) .

To properly define extremism, it should not be confused with radicalism, which is determination. The search for balance should not be taken for compromise or open-mindedness for opportunism. Larousse gives this definition of the extreme : "Who goes beyond ordinary limits, who is very far from the happy medium, from the average". On reading it, should a Christian be an extremist ?

How do you become it ? From the moment we feel that we no longer need to learn. When we forget that complementarity is an important value in the New Covenant. When we read the Word of God not to “grow” but to look for verses that support what we already think. When our relationship circle is made up of like-minded people. When I try to always be right and impose MY point of view.

So where does Christian extremism start ? When we move towards a position of yes in opposition to no and vice versa, black against white, everything is carnal or spiritual, anti-biblical or inspired... without taking into account all of the revelation and the fact that God remains and remains God eternally !

Gagarin, the first man in space, boasted of not having met God and that, by inference, He did not exist. He had only visited a tiny tiny bit of the sky. Likewise, each of us, we have just a tiny little bit of revelation and we claim to know how God thinks ? Shouldn't we go back to a little more modesty ?

Good reflection.

Source (Ezekiel 37 Ministry)