"For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge (Romans 10:2)".
I believe we are on the verge of a great movement within Christianity, a reformation that will bring Christianity yet again closer to Biblical Christianity. It is exciting to see and participate in, yet it is sad to see those who are stuck, may I say it bluntly- stuck on stupid- and cannot seem to realize, grow, and climb out of the rut that they are in.
This is the history of Christianity though. We see even since the early centuries of Christianity that there was confusion, doctrines of men, hypocrisy, and so forth, which lead to a culture of backslidden Christians and a working against that which was originally intended through Jesus Christ. Consider the councils of debate in early Christianity ( Acts 15:1-29; 325 A.D. Council of Nicaea, 381 A.D. First Council of Constantinople, 431 A.D. Council of Ephesus, 451 A.D. Council of Chalcedon, 553 A.D. Second Council of Constantinople, to name a few), or the Crusades, the reformations (Protestant Reformation, Anabaptists, Calvinism, Arminianism, etc), and the revivals (Azusa Street, Methodism, William Booth and the Salvation Army, Jesus People of the 1970's, etc), which have all sought to bring Christianity back to the original intentions of Jesus and the Apostles.
For a while now, I have though the Church (the universal body of Christ) needed a revival, and was dead to the mission and life that it received in Christ Jesus. Yet, as time has progressed, especially where I am at right now as a diligent student of the Word of God, I realize we need a reformation. The traditions of men have crept in and made a bed for themselves, and have masqueraded as the truth (isn't that the style of evil?- ), and now with a comfortable foot in the door- they are able to discredit truth when it comes up.
Remember - John Huss?
So many professing Christians have no studied enough to discern the knowledge of God, and this is ridiculous because salvation comes through knowledge of God. Without true knowledge and understanding of the things of God we can create a zeal, that seems to be right, but is not and is labeled- "zeal without knowledge". This is not Christianity- rather Christianity is zeal empowered by knowledge, after all it is Jesus Christ who said "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free" (John 8:31-32).
In Romans chapter 10, Paul addressed this issue. The Jews were the people of the Old Covenant with God, the chosen people of God through the Law of Moses and circumcision and they were consistently criticized and yelled at by the prophets to get in line with who god called them to be. The Messiah, whom was predicted throughout the Old Testament (The Law and the Prophets) arrived on the scene and yet again many missed out on acting in accordance with who God called them to be. They had zeal, a zeal for their traditions, and a zeal for what they thought was right, but this zeal without knowledge, failing to realize the truth, would be their downfall. The truth that they were missing was Jesus Christ (who is and was The Truth- John 14:6). Due to their faulty understanding and not willing to listen to the truth, they were missing the mark.
Do you see where they went wrong? We are at a similar point today. Fact of the matter is- do you know what you believe? Why, is it based on truth or tradition of what you think is right? Have you examined this knowledge? Searched the Scriptures? If you have not, can you quote possibly be guilty of having zeal without knowledge?
I ask you to consider this because I see the professing people of God (Christians) to be in a dangerous place right now. In an age of information and knowledge, we have become lazy and apathetic; this has led many to have zeal without knowledge. The truth will always prevail, especially in the matters of a Mighty God, but where will you stand?
Ask Questions. Demand Answers. This will be the cry of the next reformation in Christian History. Let the "Holy Rebellion" begin, a reformation based on loving critique of religious institutions and teachings of men, in the style of the Apostles and prophets. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "That which we would change. We must first love".
"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4)".
(Knowledge of God is salvation, See: Luke 1: 76-77; John 8:32; and 2 Peter chapter 2).
