The Washington times., 1913-02-08

BY Rexford L. Holmes. president Of the
District of Columbia Christian En-
deavor Union.
Topic for Sunday, February 9.-The
Ideal Christian. III. His Zeal. 2 Cor.
8: lie. (Consecration meeting)
What Is Zeal?
Zeal is defined as passionate ardor
in the pursuit of anything: intense
interest or endeavor; eagerness to ac-
complish or obtain some object" Its
synonyms are "earnestness, enthusiasm,
warmth. fervor. heartiness. energy"
when coupled with activity Of heart
and hand. Apply these adjectives to a
Christian engaged in Christian work,
and you have In a nut shell the subject
matter and thought and ideas intended
to be developed by this topic-Christian
Latin zelus. and from Greek word
meaning Ito boil And that is just
the significance of the term-zealous,
boiling over" with love and enthusi-
asm for Gods work.
How the world loves jealous folk!
History is filed with the stories of
those who, with intelligent fervor, have
Jared forth to lead their fellows in the
worlds conflicts, and in times when
not only measures but nations depended
upon their continued enthusiasm, their
well-directed zeal. Columbus. Napoleon,
Jean dare, Cromwell, Disraeli. WASH
ington. Lincoln, are described in his
tory's pages as people who, in the words
of our definition, had an Intense In
terest or endeavor: an eagerness to ac-
complish or obtain some object" Some,
like Columbus, Napoleon, Joan of Arc.
We're Intense and somewhat emotional In
their zeal; others, like the two greatest
Americans, have been quiet and unas-
suming in their no less real earnest
ness 10 advance a great cause. But
history does rot describe more feryent,
or more lasting zeal than has been
of the Church of God. We have but to
think of the earnestness of the pro-
phets of old. the fervor OF the early
apostles, the zeal OF the Master himself.
.he "eagerness to accomplish the OBJ
ject" Of leading darkened souls into the
light, as shown by the missionaries OF
the Cross, and we have the very cps
tome of zeal, well-directed. intelligent
and constant
AS applied to the Christian Endeav-
orer or church member of today, the
term Jealous Christian means one
who has a passionate ardor in the pur-
suit of righteousness; an intense inter-
est in the affairs of His kingdom; ar
eagerness to accomplish results for and
through him one who earnestly. en-
Enthusiastically. fervently, intelligently.
unselfishly, constantly. performs heart
governed, Bible-directed. Christ-born,
consecrated work. looking toward the
salvation of souls and the furtherance
and glor.fication of His Kingdom on the
earth. That's Christian zeal as we have
it exemplified in the Masters life.
Intelligent Zeal.
Let US note, however, that to be most
effective, Christian zeal must be intel
ligently directed. There is not a pastor
of experience but who can recall one
or more eager jealous members of his
church whose fervent energy in TIE
work OF the church was anything but
intelligentIy directed, upsetting care
fully laid plans, embarrassing friends,
creating CONSERVATION among their fell
low-workers in the several organiza-
tons of the church. Perhaps II was
this kind of a Jealous Christian that
Paul had In mind when he wrote In his
Epistle to the Romans G0:9 They have
a zeal Of tfor. r.. W God. but not ac-
cording TO knowledge" The same Is
true of the uninteIligent zeal of a mem
ber Of Christian Endeavor society,
although. the co-workers of such d
young person. being themselves youth
full and somewhat direct In methods
can usually handle such a case prompt
ly and effectively. and often to the last
ing benefit Of the one thus handled"
Heart-governed Zeal.
Christian zeal must needs be not only
,ltelligent but heart as well as hand
governed. The Jealous activity. TO
achieve most lasting results, should be
prompted by heart filled with love