Are all born-again Christians fanatics?

My law lecturer has once said that all "reborn" Christians are fanatics. Well, that's definitely a sweeping statement but my first response was what he meant by reborn Christians. Did he mean those who were not born in a Christian family but came to know God when growing up and decided to commit their lives for God? Or those who were born into a Christian family or even those who came to know God later in life but back-slided? In any case, there was a period in their lives for this category of Christians that God was not well-regarded . So when they re-invite God to dwell in their hearts, they are "reborn".

I came from a non-Christian family and have always been surrounded by Taoists and Buddhists. I took me a long time and a long way to come to be fully convicted to allow God to take control of my life and be fully committed to God. Therefore, I belong to this category of reborn Christian. So am I a fanatic, at least in proclaiming the truth of God and to obey God's command for my life? Definitely! I wouldn't admit it right from the beginning, but when I search my heart deeper, I must say yes. If I was not so fully convinced and convicted of the fact that Jesus was the only way, the only truth and the only One, I would not still be a Christian by now and putting my priority for Him. It's because I have gone through a period of earnestly exploring and questioning and willfully disobeying and turning away from God's calling that made me a fanatic in defending what I believe in. I was also able to compare what it was like without God in my heart and what it is like now that I allow Christ to come in.

For those who were borned into a Christian family. They have been brought up with Christian education, knowing God and having God with them as they grow up. They know and have been taught how great and how important it is to obey God and to have God in their lives. But in practice, they cannot really compare. That's why as the preacher Benjamin Lee has said, it's really tempting to disobey God and just to see how it's like to lead a life without God in mind. In fact, I have heard a number of my German colleagues saying that the priests (most of them were born Catholics) always told them not to do this, not to do that because that's what God commanded...these "don't" teaching had a negative effect on them and as a child, the more "don't" teaching, the more they wanted to try and to disobey.

Even in our long spiritual journey with God, I'm sure there are many incidences when we are very tempted to close our ears to God's advice and calling because God calls us to do things that we don't want to obey. Very often we continue to indulge in this practice because we think that God is allowing this and still blessing us because He allows us to continue. But just as the preacher Rev. Dr. Simon Chan mentioned that sometimes God purposely take things that we thought are important to us and strike some sense out of us. Perhaps by doing so, it achieves the same effect of being "reborn".

I came across this quote from the confirmation class by J.C. Ryle, "Christ is never fully valued, until sin is clearly seen. we must know the depth and malignity of our disease, in order to appreciate the great Physician." This really strikes a chord in my heart.

Well, doesn't this leads to the conclusion that we learn best and most effectively through and from our negative experience? When I first became a Christian, one of my strongest desire was to bring up my children in the church environment, let them experience and be influenced by the goodness and love of God in this extended Christian family. But when I look at some of my friends who have been raised up in Christian families, not everyone of them really turned out to be fully obeying and listening to God. This fanatic flame doesn't seem to be burning in them. Maybe being brought up in a Christian family might not be that wonderful after all??? We all know what the standard answer to the question is, but how to defend your answer and be convincing for yourself, it's probably another big topic for discussion.

However, I do think that whatever kind of christian education that we have at any point in our lives, everyone's journey with the Lord is unique. God has a way to teach us, mold us and refine us. All that Christian education can do is just to set out a guideline to facilitate the individual to follow and ponder upon. I strongly believe that whether we are receptive of all the sermons, Bible discussions and our quite time, is really our willingness to hear and response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Fanatics will never be fanatics if they keep on denying that it's the wonders of God that they are experiencing.

Anna