“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you may have neglected the more vital matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” – Luke 18:11-13
In today’s society, an ideal many words have been hijacked and used to explain things they were never intended to explain. Many of those are wrapped up and used to offend and insult the one to whom the word is applied. The further intent is to thoroughly dismiss any regard other people can have for the goal’s opinions, beliefs, viewpoints, or outlooks of the goal. Fundamentalist is such a word.
Interestingly, the Google definition of the word “fundamental” has not modified a bit, but as soon as you add the “…ist” the definition is then applied to a non secular one who believes within the strict, literal interpretation of scripture. (Google / Oxford languages) Of course, the term will be applied to any religious fundamental belief – meaning, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism would all fall under that general category, however the negative declaration of the term generally seems to fall behind the word Christian. Christian Fundamentalist.
The problem is that lots of those using the term in a derogatory manner also call themselves Christians. But why the critique?
What are the basics of fundamentalism?
There are, indeed, fundamentals on which all Christians agree – or should agree. These are the 4 tenets of what known as the Romans Road:
- …for all have sinned and fallen in need of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
- For the wages of sin is death, however the gift of God is everlasting life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
- But God demonstrates His own love for us on this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
- If you declare together with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and consider in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you can be saved. (Romans 10:9)
While there may be actually way more to our faith than these 4 principles, these, indeed, are the essentials. The fundamentals, should you will. Upon reading Romans 5, we just about find your entire Gospel message. As stated, there are other key essentials:
- Jesus is the Son of God and is the same as God. A member of the Holy Trinity. (Mark 3:11; Luke 22:70; John 1:1, 1:49; Philippians 2:5-11)
- Jesus lived a sinless life. (John 8:29; Hebrews 4:15)
- Jesus was crucified to pay the penalty for our sins. Substitutionary atonement. (1Corinthians 15:2-4)
- Jesus died on the cross and was buried – and rose from the dead so we could have everlasting life. (Matthew; Mark; Luke; John)
- We are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
In other words, in consequence of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we’re saved for eternity through faith in Him. There is nothing more we’d like or can do to “earn” everlasting life.
Throughout his epistles (his letters contained within the New Testament) Paul goes to great lengths to distinguish being saved by grace from the Law – the Law saved nobody ever and saves nobody now. The Law leads only to death – even the Law is written on stone tablets (2 Corinthians 3:7). James, the brother of Jesus, explains further that our faith is what leads us to a change in our behavior – to “good works.” (James 2:17-20)
What is modern-day fundamentalism?
Originally, fundamentalism was built, because the word means, on the basics—the essentials of the Christian faith. Over time, nonetheless, it appears that evidently those that discuss with themselves as Christian Fundamentalists have added to that list of essentials. They began so as to add requirements—Jesus plus something else. Seemingly, as society’s general morals deteriorated, the list of “something else” grew larger.
Their unofficial motto became, “The Bible says it, subsequently I think it, and that settles it!” This is just not entirely flawed, and all Christians hold to the reality and authority of God’s word, nonetheless this axiom could also result in misinterpretation and misapplication. John declared that Jesus got here filled with grace and truth.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who got here from the Father, filled with grace and truth.” – John 1:14
Grace and truth. Jesus at all times struck a balance between the 2. Too much grace results in a progressive theology, but an excessive amount of truth results in a legalistic, Pharisaic approach. This is where the fundamentalists began to go flawed, and unfortunately, it continues today. Too often, isolated verses are taken out of the context of the remaining of Scripture. Even in verses which may be clarified or expanded upon by many other verses, the main focus is on the appliance of the actual verse, and a rigid application is just not only applied – but becomes required behavior. Any nuance subtlety, or consideration of the intent of the unique language, is ignored in favor of a harsh, strict application. For example:
- Baptism is required for salvation! If you usually are not baptized, you usually are not saved. This statement is predicated on Mark 16:16 – Whoever believes and is baptized can be saved…” Yet, there are a lot of examples of those Jesus healed and were forgiven (Luke 7:37-50; Matthew 9:2) and after all, the thief on the cross to whom Jesus said, “Truly I inform you, today you can be with me in paradise.”(Luke 23:43) And after all, there isn’t any evidence for the Apostles being baptized, aside from Paul.
- You must go to church and never work on Sunday! (Exodus 20:8) Of course, that is one in all the Pharisee’s accusations against Jesus. How dare you heal on the Sabbath! And telling the people to return back one other day to be healed. (Luke 13:14)
- We must not get drunk (Ephesians 5:18) – subsequently it’s sinful for Christians to drink alcohol! This ignores the proven fact that Jesus drank wine – was even accused of being a glutton and drunkard (Matthew 11:19) – and Paul told Timothy to take a bit of wine for his stomach. (1Timothy 5:23)
- The Bible says the love of cash is the foundation of evil (1 Timothy 6:10) – subsequently Christians shouldn’t gamble. However, that verse actually says “For the love of cash is a root of all types of evil. There aren’t any Biblical admonitions against gambling, provided it doesn’t grow to be an idol.
Over the years, Fundamentalists have attempted to limit an ideal many harmless activities—even equivalent to dancing, going to and celebrating Christmas or Easter. By no means is that this intended to imply that, in and of themselves, these are things any believer ought to disregard. Baptism is an excellent gift—a public expression of a heartfelt faith. Unfortunately, it is just too often taken to an extreme.
Is fundamentalism the identical thing as legalism?
The problem with creating rules that “must” be followed is that you just soon realize you may have to create exceptions around those rules – and even rules inside the foundations. The Pharisees discovered this problem, creating 600+ rules the Jews were required to follow. For example – precisely how far one could walk on the Sabbath, or what work one could perform regarding their animals. We ought to recollect, too, that Jesus held is harshest criticism for the legalistic Pharisees.
A rule requiring baptism for salvation would lead one to ask – what a few deathbed confession; or someone who died before they may very well be baptized? Or precisely what rules apply to the ceremony of the baptism itself – who could perform it and the way many individuals needed to be there? You see my point.
“To some who were confident of their very own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went as much as the temple to hope, one a Pharisee and the opposite a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thanks that I’m not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—and even like this tax collector. I fast twice every week and provides a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He wouldn’t even look as much as heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I inform you that this man, relatively than the opposite, went home justified before God. For all those that exalt themselves can be humbled, and those that humble themselves can be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)
The man who recognizes he’s a sinner and seeks God’s grace can be justified, while the boastful rule-follower will fall behind. A worthwhile lesson here within the words, “…who were confident in their very own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.” And therein lies the danger of fundamentalism. Whatever you select to call it – legalism or fundamentalism – it results in a form of racism of faith. It is an attitude of we’re right and also you’re flawed! And you’re going to hell since you don’t consider in my rules! We are holier than thou! But there may be more…
Fundamentalists have moved a bit further in a militant direction, becoming political activists for the appliance of their Christian beliefs into laws. You may recall when the Westboro Baptist Church began picketing funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan – claiming God hated and was punishing America. While Westboro may actually be an extreme example, it isn’t by much. The fundamentalists are convinced that liberals have used political power to advance their very own message and agenda, and the one strategy to put a stop to their scheme is to regain political power. “Christian Nationalism” is now a term used to discredit all Christians. As a result, many believers at the moment are labeled “Christian Nationalists” for simply stating their faith. The challenge with that is that after that label is applied, eyes and ears go blind and deaf to the reality of the gospel message. The love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ are completely lost. Worse, it closes off hearts entirely. But to many fundamentalists, the gospel of Christ now takes a back seat to gaining political power.
Rules, rites, rituals – and laws – save nobody. Not a single heart is modified by following fundamentalist rules – regardless of how well intended. We cannot expect a non-believer to have the identical morals and beliefs as a believer. Grant Agler, pastor of Foundations Church, puts it this fashion – “Christianity is for Christians.” Change of behavior comes after faith in Christ. Jesus too held criticism for legalism:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill, and cumin. But you may have neglected the more vital matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You must have practiced the latter, without neglecting the previous. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.” – Matthew 23:23-24)
How should we approach fundamentalism?
In his letter to the Romans, Paul discussed those that still selected to follow certain rules, restrict their personal eating habits, and so forth. Paul admonishes all to just accept those whose faith is weak without quarreling (Romans 14 & 15). As with all things, we’re to cope with our fundamentalist brothers and sisters with love. Quarreling solves nothing and is not going to change their hearts—only the Lord can do this.
“Accept each other, then, just as Christ accepted you, in an effort to bring praise to God.” – (Romans 15:7)
We must then be prepared to indicate their error in love, help guide them to the love of Christ, and use God’s Word as the muse for the grace, mercy, and forgiveness that form the Gospel message—God’s grace alone, through faith in Jesus Christ.
“For it’s by grace you may have been saved, through faith—and this is just not from yourselves, it’s the gift of God – not by works, in order that nobody can boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Red Goldwing
