Fanatics and Fair-Weather Christians

Ultimately with R.C. Sproul

Ligonier Ministries

Christianity, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2025

⏱️ 5 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever been called a religious fanatic because of your faith in Christ? Today, R.C. Sproul suggests that we should be more concerned if our faith offends no one than if we are mocked for Jesus’s sake.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Has anybody ever called you a religious fanatic?
0:07.0	Anybody who takes their faith seriously will at some point be accused of fanaticism.
0:33.5	Anytime somebody takes seriously the Word of God and stands on it and speaks from it,
0:40.3	they will sooner or later be considered out of their mind. Let me ask you, has anybody ever called you a religious fanatic?
0:50.3	If you answer that question by saying to yourself, no, that's never happened to me.
0:57.8	My next question is, why not?
1:03.5	Because anybody who takes their faith seriously and speaks in behalf of Christ and His
1:10.1	kingdom will at some point and and often at many points,
1:14.5	be accused of fanaticism.
1:17.8	I've noticed in past Sundays that there were several people in our congregation, most of them
1:23.4	in the second service, who wear ties around their neck or scarves, in the case of the
1:30.8	women, promoting their favorite football team.
1:36.9	And the team that they are promoting is the one, of course, that is elect of God, and this
1:42.9	is a sign of their sanctification that they promote this
1:47.3	particular team.
1:48.7	Take notice, boys.
1:51.2	However, nobody calls them fanatics.
1:57.4	If you wear apparel that is promoting your favorite athletic team, you're considered
2:03.5	a fan.
2:04.6	But if you were to wear a tie or a scarf depicting Christian symbols, you would be subjected
2:12.3	to the slanderous accusation of being a fanatic.
2:16.7	I once read the definition of a fanatic
	...

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