Faddist, Extremist, Radical
“Faddist,” “Extremist,” “Radical.”—A “faddist” is one who makes much of some particular whim, or fancy, or fad,—the fashion of a day. The fad may be utterly worthless, but the faddist emphasizes the fad above everything else. It may be a fashion in religion, a form in worship, an article of apparel or of diet; to the faddist everything else must have second place. The fad may be a good thing, but the faddist does not help it. He is too unstable in his fashions to help even a good thing. An “extremist” is one who pushes a thing to the limit. Sometimes he is right; more frequently he is wrong. His theories do not balance. They are like the play of see-saw. He is either away up, or away down. He does not make a success as a missionary. He prejudices people by unbalanced presentation of his message. He may be a good man, but he is never a wise man. His natural disposition is as likely to carry him to a wrong extreme as to a right. A “radical” is one who goes to the root of the matter, and holds to his principles, because he has gone to the root of them. Sometimes the faddist and extremist are erroneously called radical. Sometimes the radical is called a faddist and extremist, when he is neither. No Christian can afford to be either of the first two; he ought always to be the third. He ought always to be able to distinguish them. There are vital differences. The devil would make us a faddist or extremist. God would have His children to be strongly, wisely, truly, radical.