In order to address what I mean when I call myself a Fundamentalist, I'm going to have to take a little time off from my busy schedule of practicing my anti-Obama chants, working on my AK-47 marksmanship, and developing bombs. That makes me mad enough to blow something up.
Oh, wait. I don't mess much with political stuff (especially in my role as a pastor), I don't own an assault rifle, and I've never built a bomb. (Well, that egg-drop project back in high school might have come close... but nobody got hurt, aside from the smell. The fire wasn't really all THAT big.)
Despite the impressions you may have gotten from media outlets (which can rarely be troubled to make careful distinctions - it's hard to clarify who really is what in a 600-word article or 2-minute television news report), Christian Fundamentalists have virtually nothing in common with the Islamic Fundamentalists or Hindu Fundamentalists who have done such violence recently.
The reason the media can apply the term "fundamentalist" to all of us is that we all take what we believe seriously, and we're deeply attached to core tenets of our faith. But our faiths are radically different, and that's what gets missed in the popular image. I don't know of a single self-professed or accepted-by-the-community Christian Fundamentalist who has committed any act of violence in the name of his faith. We don't kill people for God, and we don't blow things up for God. We're willing to die for our faith - but we would never kill for it. That would be a foolish denial of the very fundamentals we stand for.
So if I'm not defined by radical politics or violence, what makes me a Fundamentalist?
A Christian Fundamentalist is one who holds to and is willing to stand up for the basic truths of Christianity. The list of fundamentals differs from person to person, but they pretty much all boil down to the essential truths for salvation, and those all revolve around Jesus Christ: who He is, what He did, and what we must do in response. This is no surprise - it's a Biblical idea, even though the name is recent. The Apostle Paul repeatedly told people to know doctrine and to be willing to separate from (not work with or fellowship with) people who denied core truths or who lived in blatant sin. The Apostle John nailed it down really clearly in I John 4:1-3. The person who accepts the truth about Jesus Christ, whatever else they may be wrong about, has a relationship with God. The person who hasn't believed the truth about Jesus Christ, whatever else they may be right about, has no relationship with God. When a person teaches the truth about Jesus Christ, whatever else they may get wrong, they are helping the cause of Christ in that at least. When a person teaches error about who Jesus is and what He did, whatever else they may get right, they are hurting the cause of Christ.
The difference between a Fundamentalist and other Evangelicals is not in what they believe about the gospel - both believe that salvation is by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, as the Scriptures make so plain. We all agree the Jesus Christ is God the Son who came to earth as a man, died for our sins, and rose from the dead. The difference between Fundamentalists and the rest of the Evangelicals is the Fundamentalist's willingness to obey the commands to evaluate and separate from those who don't believe the gospel.
Am I a Fundamentalist because I hate people? No! I'm a Fundamentalist because I love God and want to do what He says. (This is the test of love, after all: "If ye love me, keep my commandments.") I'm a Fundamentalist because I believe the gospel of Jesus Christ to be the most important truth this world has ever seen - so important that I can't pretend I'm the same as someone who rejects it. I want to share it with anyone who will listen - but I don't want to work with someone who won't, at least not joining together in so-called ministry.
That's what makes me a Fundamentalist - believing the fundamental truths of Christianity and being willing to take a stand for them. The movement by the name of Fundamentalism has gotten tangled up in a lot of other things, some of which I agree with and some of which I don't. (It's made up of people, even people like me, which guarantees it won't be perfect.) At its heart, though, Fundamentalism is about the gospel of Jesus Christ and obeying Him.
Now I think I'll go and make another ... sandwich, a sandwich! What, you thought I was going to make something explosively dangerous, just because I'm a Fundamentalist? Well, okay, that description might suit any sandwich I make.
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Referenced this excellent post on my blog. Check it out at www.becomingmature.org. I did mention that you don't give us your name anywhere. Is that an oversight?
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'll head on over to your blog in a moment.
ReplyDeleteThe omission of my name is deliberate, due to my position, associations, and the nature of some of what I post. Ironically, I can post much more transparently anonymously for the time being than I can publicly. It lets me reflect on issues in my church and among my associations while still preserving the privacy of others involved in the situations.
My intent, of course, is not to create a place where I vent or gossip or take unfair potshots - disputes should be handled Biblically. However, speaking anonymously allows me to deal with issues in the abstract, without involving personality. I may identify myself at some point (and it's not like I'm a big shot anywhere)... but that time is not now. I'd rather people read what I have to say than get sidetracked by who I am.
If you'd like to converse privately with me, feel free to email... I love to stay in touch with people of like faith and practice. A little fellowship in unity is a wonderful thing.