Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

Jesus Called Followers Not Worshipers

by Chuck Queen in Christian Spirituality

In the Gospel texts that tell the story of Jesus, one thing is undeniable. Jesus called disciples. Do you ever wonder why Jesus said, “Follow me,” but never said, “Worship me”?

He said to some fishermen, “Follow me and I will teach you how to fish for people.” For whatever reason, he invited them to walk away from their vocation of trying to lure fish into a net and to pursue a calling that would involve luring people into a greater purpose and cause that Jesus called the kingdom of God.

I like to call it the kin-dom of God, because it’s all about loving relationships. Jesus said, “Follow me and I will teach you how to love God with the totality of your being and love your neighbor as yourself” (see Matt. 22-34-40). This is grounded in the reality that we are all connected and constitute one family. (See Acts 17:22-31 where Paul tells the Athenian philosophers that we are “all God’s offspring” and that “in God we live, move, and have our existence.”)

Jesus says, “Follow me and I will teach you how to heal people’s brokenness and liberate them from the life-demeaning, life-diminishing forces that oppress and hold them in fear and bondage. As you heal and liberate others, you will also be healed and liberated from your own false attachments, addictions, and sins.” (Almost all the healing and exorcism stories in the Gospels teach this.)

When we follow Jesus we discover the honesty and humility to face our own sins (greed, pride, prejudice, selfish ambition, etc.),… [Read more…] about Jesus Called Followers Not Worshipers

When Fear Is Your Faith

by Laura Grace in Fundamentalism

Independent Fundamental Baptist. If people would ask me, an adult woman, “what is the first thought that comes to mind when you hear those three words?” my answer would be these three words: Fear. Fear. Fear.

Fear? Yes. Plain out of your mind, “I’m gonna’ die” kind of fear. The form of fear that grips your heart and your eternal soul. Fear that doesn’t allow you to think rationally—after all, it is an out of this world sort of fear, the kind that means eternal damnation. A fear of forever being lost—although you have already been found. A fear that terrifies you that maybe you were never found, so you will forever be lost. It does not have boundaries and limits, because it does not know boundaries and limits. It is the fear of missing Heaven Celestial forever with Jesus, the fear of eternal torment in Hell with Satan and his demons.

A fear that controls. A fear that confines. A fear that steals you from yourself. But most of all, I am talking about a man-made fear.

The fear within fundamentalism.

I was born and raised in IFB. It was my identity. It was my life. I also had another identity within it—I was marked—I belonged to the crowd that was not always labeled, but they were whispered about. I was one of the Doubters.

One of those who just couldn’t “know that you know, that you know.” Whom some have referred to as a “Doubting Thomas” (taken from John 20). My salvation just wasn’t as secure as some of the others. I wasn’t as sure as others.

As a… [Read more…] about When Fear Is Your Faith

How I wrote an article critiquing John Piper … and got attacked by egalitarians

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

I recently posted an article in which I argued that John Piper’s ill-formed and poorly argued prohibition on women teaching in seminary reveals that he is sexist, i.e. prejudiced against the female sex and gender. I did not anticipate that my argument would receive resistance from egalitarians.
Trash!
One individual named Henry Imler replied:
Heirarchy [sic] within the Trinity is trash (innovation Grudem & Piper introduced to frame their argument) Complementarianism is trash; espousal of its views is trash; its lived practice is trash.
As best I can guess, Imler assumes that a condemnation of Piper as sexist on the terms of complementarianism somehow entails a morally culpable tacit endorsement of complementarianism. But this is clearly false.

Here I’m employing the very pedestrian form of argument known as assuming arguendo, the discursive device of assuming premises for the sake of argument and then showing problematic consequences based on those premises. This makes it all the more surprising that Henry Imler, an assistant professor of philosophy and theology, should seem to completely misunderstand the argument.

Garbage!

Another response came from JR Forasteros (who wrote a great book that I endorsed last year). JR wrote: “I’m really way over allowing for Complementarianism. Also misogyny. Also garbage theology.”

https://twitter.com/jrforasteros/status/955827011309723650

First observation: JR also seems to… [Read more…] about How I wrote an article critiquing John Piper … and got attacked by egalitarians

Turning Suck into Succulence: Coming Out Trans

by Dana Stinson in Christian Spirituality

Two years ago, my world came crashing down around me. Over the course of the next 4 months, my ever evolving world took an unexpected turn.

All it took was one question.

“Daddy, why do you like to wear girl clothes?” my oldest daughter asks via a FaceTime chat.

I was stunned. I wasn’t ready for this.

Even though I knew it was coming, I wasn’t prepared. I had delayed out of fear. I also wasn’t ready to deal with the aftermath of telling my church.

“Are you gay?”
“Were you molested as a child?”
“Why aren’t you seeing a Christian counselor?”

No. No. Hell no.

It was a tense exchange. No matter how much I tried to explain this was a good thing, I was met with a never ending stream of conspiracy theory laden reasoning and staunch opposition.

“Maybe Satan is using you.”
“Maybe Satan is going around you just to get to someone else.”
“Maybe you’re mistaken’”

Prayer begat promises of friendship and refuge.

Acting outside the boundaries of church doctrine, I was basically stripped naked and left out in the cold. For the first time in my church life I wasn’t allowed to participate, teach, or even advise. I wasn’t even allowed to explain why.

As much as this was pretty much a total suckass, God had other ideas.

I have always been a strong believer that the right people come into your life at the right time. Through a rather heated and emotion-filled conversation with my pastor, I was inadvertently introduced to someone who would give me guidance a… [Read more…] about Turning Suck into Succulence: Coming Out Trans

Mind Over Matter: Spirituality That Fueled a Stigma

by Lydia Joy in Christian Issues

For far too long mental illness has been associated with spirituality or, more rather, the lack of it. It’s a complex issue, and conversations surrounding it is often challenging. Why is this? Why does society find it taboo, deeming it something we just don’t talk about?

I’m here, speaking and listening, jumping head first into this very important conversation.

I come to this conversation through my experience of growing up in Christian Fundamentalism as well as a front row seat to watching a loved one battle depression and multiple suicide attempts. Both of these gave me feelings of dread and embarrassment I carried for many years. The stigma accompanying mental illness overshadows individual bodies, their brains, and welfare, reducing their value to an oversimplified concept of sin.

Not too long ago, I reached out in a post on social media, telling my friends without too much detail that I just didn’t understand why things had to be a certain way. I was upset and disappointed for a dear friend, but the perception was that I was battling depression. This was unintentional, but it led to an opportunity for others to comment and began a conversation that only a few years ago I would have avoided entirely.

One of those comments, from what I believe was a well-meaning Christian, suggested that we all struggle, but when we confess our depression as a sin then God offers forgiveness in this battle.

The comment took my breath away. Momentarily stunned, I found myself… [Read more…] about Mind Over Matter: Spirituality That Fueled a Stigma

The Terrible Tragedy of Christian Fundamentalist Legalism

by Randal Rauser in Fundamentalism

Christian fundamentalists have distinguished themselves as ferocious defenders of doctrines like biblical inerrancy, a literal 6-day creation, the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, and a pre-tribulation secret rapture.

Historically, that commitment to doctrine has been complemented by an equally doctrinaire commitment to a range of ethical “don’ts.” For example, don’t drink alcohol, don’t watch restricted movies, don’t dance socially (remember the movie Footloose?), and don’t use playing cards.

Fortunately, fundamentalists had a couple innocuous substitutes for the standard deck of sinful French playing cards: Rook and Uno. And so, on Christmas vacation and at summer camp I played countless games of Rook and Uno.

How widespread was this stigma of French playing cards? Consider the results of my recent Twitter survey on Christian attitudes toward playing cards:

Frankly, those are stunning results. Almost half the people who responded were raised in a Christian church that stigmatized a deck of cards as sinful. I know what that’s like because I grew up in precisely that context. Here is an excerpt from my book What’s So Confusing About Grace? (p. 68) in which I recount one particular incident from my youth more than thirty years ago:
•REAL CHRISTIANS DON’T PLAY WITH CARDS SIDEBAR•

Yes, even playing cards. After an emotional time around the campfire
at Green Bay Bible Camp, our counselor Gord pressured us to throw
our playing… [Read more…] about The Terrible Tragedy of Christian Fundamentalist Legalism

How Evangelicalism Fosters Sexual Abuse

by Carly Gelsinger in Christian Issues, Current Events

Sexual assault thrives in the evangelical church, but why?

The sexual assault confession of Texas evangelical megachurch pastor Andy Savage is just the latest in a disturbing trend we’ve seen over the last decade.

It’s time to face the music. Evangelical pastors sexually abuse.

I realize this issue isn’t unique to evangelicalism, or religion (hello, Catholic Church circa 2002) or humans in general. There are abusive schoolteachers, parents, bosses, Hollywood directors, and strangers in parks. But there is a unique microclimate within evangelicalism that fosters the growth of abusers while silencing their victims. Whether they do this explicitly (as in Savage’s victim, who was told by the senior pastor to “not tell another soul”) or implicit in the theology and lifestyle in the congregation, the effect is the same. Victims of sexual abuse in evangelical churches often stay quiet. I grew up in the evangelical church, and while it never happened to me personally, it absolutely could have. This is why:

Pastors are elevated
There is a verse in the Bible that says “touch not the Lord’s anointed,” which in my church was interpreted to mean “don’t disrespect the pastor.” This kind of respect is given by title, not necessarily earned.  Pastors are often seen as an elevated spiritual human, and while they’ll refute this at the pulpit (“I’m a sinner just like you!”) some pastors secretly enjoy the elevated status they receive from their job. This is… [Read more…] about How Evangelicalism Fosters Sexual Abuse

Hypocrisy 101

by Darrell Lackey in Current Events

I wondered how long it would take and it didn’t take long. Jeff lorg is the president of Gateway Seminary, my alma mater, a Southern Baptist, evangelical school. In a recent blog post, after watching the Golden Globe ceremonies and Oprah Winfrey’s speech, he wrote:
“…But while Oprah is calling for moral leadership by men in power, she models immorality by a woman in power. She has openly acknowledged multiple sexual relationships in the past and has lived – without being married – with the same partner for more than 30 years.”
And, of course, what he is concerned about is the possibility that Oprah might run for President.

Here is the problem:  I have no idea how Dr. Iorg voted, but I do know that 81% of white evangelicals voted for Trump.  I also don’t know if Dr. Iorg has been critical of Trump while in office. A cursory Google search did not reveal much either way. In that regard, let’s give Dr. Iorg the benefit of the doubt. I like and respect Dr. Iorg. My sense however, is we will hear similar sentiments regarding Oprah and others like her from the 81%, or from the evangelicals who have remained silent, complicit, tacitly during Trump’s first year in office. In that context, let us now consider Dr. Iorg’s words regarding Oprah and then take the measure of the current occupant of the White House:

Here is a man who has been married three times (hey, at least Oprah has been with the same person for 30 years!)  Here is a man who bragged about his affairs. He bragged… [Read more…] about Hypocrisy 101

Something good comes out of…

by Marguerite Sheehan in Christian Spirituality

Since the middle of the week, when I sat with some church and community folk to read and re-read the Gospel I have been praying on Nathanial’s question “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Nathanial was a lot like us. The commentaries say that the reference to sitting under the fig tree was an allusion to the practice of Jewish people who sat under the fig tree and studied Torah. When Jesus said “I saw you sitting under the fig tree” he was saying to Nathanial “I know you and I know that you have been waiting a long time for the Messiah and you know that way before you were sitting here God created the whole wide world and declared it good.”

Nathanial was yearning for something good to come and yet he doubted that this something good would ever arise from the back waters. His heart was in the right place but his eyes were clouded by his prejudice. Like our eyes are clouded, if not blinded, by what we think God’s gift should look like and where it should come from.

This week while praying on Nathanial’s question, I heard on the news terrible comments reportedly said by the President about people from Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries, places that you might call a Nazareth. I thought: We have not come so far. We, meaning the President and you and me too, have not come far from Nathanial’s question. When I hear Nathanial and I hear the President and I hear the rants and raves of the commentators, both the Bible commentators and the news reporters, I hear my… [Read more…] about Something good comes out of…

Alarmist Evangelical Apologetics and the So-Called Post-Truth World

by Randal Rauser in Christian Issues

If you listen to evangelical Christian apologists for any length of time, you will soon hear reference to an ominous “post-truth culture” or a “post-truth world.” As Lee Strobel observed in a 2017 interview: “we see a trend toward a postmodern mindset and ‘post-truth’ culture.” And as John C. Richards, Jr. opines in Christianity Today: “culture asks us to capitulate and live as ‘law-abiding’ citizens in a new post-truth world.” Richards continues,
“Last year the assault on truth was stunning. ‘Post-truth’ was named Oxford Dictionaries’ 2016 word of the year. Americans witnessed a tension-filled presidential campaign where truth-telling took a back seat to statistical errors and talking points. People shared fake news articles that hardly met the lowest levels of journalistic integrity. The world is changing rapidly, embodying this post-truth ethos.”
This sounds dramatic and, as I said, ominous. If these apologetic reports are to be believed, the sun is setting on truth as we move into this brave dark new world where truth no longer matters. Enter the apologist who is concerned to defend the objectivity of truth and beat back the forces of darkness with astute arguments and evidence and savvy cultural analysis.

Richards is right about one thing: there was an assault on truth during the last American presidential election. And that assault on truth was indeed stunning. But that is largely due to an American presidential campaign and presidency that avails… [Read more…] about Alarmist Evangelical Apologetics and the So-Called Post-Truth World