Tag: Fundamentalism

Unity and the End Times

~ Bob Hayton ~ 6 Comments

Should one’s end times’ views limit their unity with other Christian believers? Should churches and denominations spell out their particular end times’ theology, as a matter of their statement of faith? Should adherence to premillennialism, for instance, be considered a hallmark of the faith, a non-negotiable test of one’s submission to Christ?

Mark Dever doesn’t think so. In a recent sermon on Revelation, he commented:

I am suggesting that what you believe about the Millennium””how you interpret these thousand years””is not something that it is necessary for us to agree upon in order for us to have a congregation together. The Lord Jesus Christ prayed in John 17:21 that we Christians might be one. Of course, all true Christians are one in that we have his Spirit, we share his Spirit, we desire to live out that unity. But that unity is supposed to be evident as a testimony to the world around us.

Therefore, I conclude that we should end our cooperations together with other Christians, whether nearly (in a congregation) or more at length (in working together in missions and church planting and evangelism and building up in the ministry) only with the greatest of care, lest we rend the body of Christ, for whose unity he’s prayed and given himself. Therefore, I conclude that it is sin to divide the body of Christ””to divide the body that he prayed would be united.

Therefore, for us to conclude that we must agree on a certain view of alcohol or a certain view of schooling, or a certain view of meat sacrificed to idols, or a certain view of the Millennium, in order to have fellowship with one another is, I think, not only unnecessary for the body of Christ, but it is therefore unwarranted and, therefore, condemned by Scripture.

So if you’re a pastor and you’re listening to me, you understand me correctly if you think I’m saying you are in sin if you lead your congregation to have a statement of faith that requires a particular Millennial view. I do not understand why that has to be a matter of uniformity in order to have Christian unity in a local congregation.

I tend to agree with Dever’s assessment. I think a church could explain their preference, but to demand an end-times’ belief of any who would join with the church, seems too much. Of course there are Christian end times’ beliefs that are universally agreed upon. But I’m talking about your particular thoughts on when the rapture, or if a “rapture” will occur, and what kind of millennialism you hold to.

This is akin to baptism, but on that point Dever does draw the line of church fellowship tight. So would it would be reasonable for a church to draw their own lines on both baptism and eschatology, and yet admit they will fellowship in the gospel with all who carefully differ with them on these matters? Should baptism be more consequential than millennialist views? Which is more clear in Scripture?

I’m not sure I have all the answers here. Any thoughts? Others are hashing out these questions in the comments on the links below.

(HT: Justin Taylor, Ben Wright & Caleb Kolstad)

Announcing: Transformed by Grace

~ fundyreformed ~ 1 Comment

Some reforming fundamentalist friends of mine and I have got together and founded a new online social media site called Transformed by Grace. We are a community of former legalists and reforming fundamentalists, continually allowing God’s grace to bring us closer to Christ.

Using a free social media site provided by Ning.com, we have built a site that allows members, forums, groups, personal blog posts & pages, and lots of interaction. Think of it like a bigger Facebook group or a mini version of something like Sharper Iron. It actually has more capabilities than either Facebook or a typical forums site, and offers a lot of flexibility in how one can use it.

Our goal is to bring together other like minded reforming fundamentalists, particularly those who are familiar with the more conservative wing of Independent Baptist Fundamentalism. We hope to encourage one another, talk through remaining questions and problems, and forge relationships. And we hope to offer some help to those who are beginning their journey within fundamentalism. We want to help them learn and grow in a non-threatening environment. We don’t pressure anyone necessarily to follow a particular path out of fundamentalism, some of our founding members are happy within the IFB tent. We hope to challenge each other and grow in grace.

So, please go over and check out our site: http://reformedfundamentalism.ning.com.

Feel free to join the group or just lurk for a while. Bookmark us and come back in a few months, as I’m sure there will be more activity by then. If you have a blog that’s somewhat devoted to these issues, feel free to let us know and we’ll add it to the blogroll and possibly send some visitors your way. Above all, let us know if there’s something we can help you with. That’s what we are hoping to accomplish.

Fundamentalist Profundity

~ fundyreformed ~ 10 Comments

Pastor Steve Anderson is the embodiment of almost everything extreme about independent fundamental Baptists. It seems he enjoys posting his often abrasive and extreme preaching as a series of video clips on Youtube.

I’ve posted a jaw-dropping clip of his before, and this one almost tops that. In it he defends the notion that Jesus actually wore pants, not the middle eastern style robe that the rest of us thought he wore.

I thought it might be fitting to post this on April Fools’ Day. It reveals ignorance more than the Biblical notion of the word “fool”. I do pray God will reveal to this pastor the error of his ways and help him.

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.804431&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

more about “Jesus wore pants, not a dress!!! IFBx…“, posted with vodpod

Against Spiritual Abuse

~ fundyreformed ~ 8 Comments

Spiritual abuse is a sad reality. Churches, pastors, and others can perpetuate it. I’m sure among cults it is common, but unfortunately in many independent Baptist circles, it is too.

I don’t want to say that everyone who claims to have been spiritually hurt this way, really was. Nor do I impugn evil motives on the leaders and churches where this has occurred. All I know is that the results can be painful.

Some of my readers have moved out of a spiritually abusive church. Some aren’t sure if they would classify their past experience as spiritual abuse or not. I’m not sure if I can regarding my story or not, either.

I’m not really trying to define the term here, I just want to talk about the damage that can be done (perhaps unknowingly) by certain forms of fundamentalist Christianity. This post comes out of my recent perusal of some comments at a facebook I joined that is “against abusive churches”. Since it is a closed group, some of the people there felt free to share how they were harmed by their past church experiences. Here is some of what they said:

There was a time when I rebelled against everything the Bible taught because I had a hard time separating stupid “Christians” from the Christ of the Bible.

I dealt with this, too. To the point of questioning the very existence of God.

I haven’t been to church in 2 1/2 years since i left. I guess i am afraid every church will be the same way. I have been having a really hard time putting the past behind me, so I am really glad this group was started, so I can begin to get over everything that has happened.

We have gone to church for years not really liking it nor wanting to go. It is really difficult to get past all this especially when there’s no admission of wrong doing. Good news though! God does know its wrong and he does want to heal your heart….I would encourage you to start looking for a healthy church. There are many out there.

I was out of church for a year or so, too, back before I got married. I had a real hard time figuring out who God was, once I sort of split from my parents’ and church’s rules. Since then I’ve been in a few different churches. I found some I knew I didn’t agree with, and found one that felt like a good fit. It takes time, because you do have a feeling that a church is either going to be too strict or too wishy-washy…very hard to define what is exactly right for you, but I would encourage you to look.

As I read these comments I am saddened in one sense for those involved. On the other hand I am angry at the religious system that could have caused this. I hope fundamentalists take notice. If you stand for what you think is right without a certain element of Christian love, you can produce this. I fear the number of people who have actually dropped out of church and will never return is quite high. How many are innoculated against the true gospel of God’s grace, by graceless carnal manipulation.

This reminds me that I need to continue to post on this kind of topic. For now, let me encourage you to check out churchabuse.com and spiritualabuse.com. These sites seem to have some useful information. And I’m sure I can’t agree with everything on them, but they might be able to help someone recover from spiritual abuse.

I also welcome any of my reader’s thoughts on this point here. Some of us share a similar background, perhaps you can share how youwere able to work through these kinds of issues in your own life.

Racial Reconciliation at BJU

~ fundyreformed ~ 4 Comments

A while back I heard about a movement among Bob Jones University alumni to confront the institution about its racist roots. At please-reconcile.org, various proofs of racist policies and actions in the history of the school were brought forth. Always the goal was to get the college to own up to their mistake, admit that they have made an about face on this issue and to apologize.

That actually happened. BJU has put forth a statement on race in which they apologize for following their Southern culture more closely than the tenets of Scripture. I applaud them for “caving in”. The truth is, it’s sometimes harder to admit wrong when someone else points it out to you, than if you yourself see the problem. Wisely, BJU realized this wasn’t some attack on their institution’s name, but represented a real concern for the reputation of Christ.

I don’t think everyone has to apologize for all grievances, especially those of a long time ago. In this case I think it was appropriate, however (as some of the racial bias persisted even in the last 10 years). I’m glad BJU is doing what is right and setting an example. Here is an excerpt from the university’s statement:

Bob Jones University has existed since 1927 as a private Christian institution of higher learning for the purpose of helping young men and women cultivate a biblical worldview, represent Christ and His Gospel to others, and glorify God in every dimension of life.

BJU’s history has been chiefly characterized by striving to achieve those goals; but like any human institution, we have failures as well. For almost two centuries American Christianity, including BJU in its early stages, was characterized by the segregationist ethos of American culture. Consequently, for far too long, we allowed institutional policies regarding race to be shaped more directly by that ethos than by the principles and precepts of the Scriptures. We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it.

In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry. Though no known antagonism toward minorities or expressions of racism on a personal level have ever been tolerated on our campus, we allowed institutional policies to remain in place that were racially hurtful.

On national television in March 2000, Bob Jones III, who was the university’s president until 2005, stated that BJU was wrong in not admitting African-American students before 1971, which sadly was a common practice of both public and private universities in the years prior to that time. On the same program, he announced the lifting of the University’s policy against interracial dating.

Our sincere desire is to exhibit a truly Christlike spirit and biblical position in these areas. Today, Bob Jones University enrolls students from all 50 states and nearly 50 countries, representing various ethnicities and cultures. The University solicits financial support for two scholarship funds for minority applicants, and the administration is committed to maintaining on the campus the racial and cultural diversity and harmony characteristic of the true Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world.