Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

Darrell Lackey

The Earth Is the Holy Land

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

Last month, the United States moved its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. What are we to make of this move? While members of the Trump administration, in their nice clothes and bright smiles, stood with Israeli officials, just across the way over fifty Palestinians, including children, were killed.

But what are their lives worth, when “biblical prophecy” is being fulfilled? Yes, you read correctly. I know, crazy, but this is where we are as a nation. This is what happens when fundamentalism with its dispensationalism helps elect this type of president and then has his ear.

Remember, Vice President Pence is a dispensationalist along with a majority of rank-and-file fundamentalists/evangelicals. Of course, Trump could care less and has no idea what these people are even talking about. He’s just shoring up their support — doing something they wanted.

Where this links to current events is the dispensational view of Israel and physical geography, the land. Kim Riddlebarger in his book about amillennialism writes:
“We have seen how dispensationalists are committed to a literal interpretation of Bible prophecy. They insist that Old Testament prophesies regarding national Israel will be fulfilled by the modern state of Israel…”
And he quotes Hal Lindsey:
“I believe God’s purpose for Israel and His purpose for the church are so distinct and mutually exclusive that they cannot be on the earth at the same time during the seven-year tribulation.”
These notions of… [Read more…] about The Earth Is the Holy Land

Fox News Christians

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

It has long perplexed me. How is this possible? What manner of cognitive dissonance is capable of such amazing mental gymnastics? What devilry, what witchcraft is afoot here? Here there be demons for sure, but where? It was like listening to one’s kind and sweet Grandmother talking about kittens and rainbows who suddenly shouts out an expletive. Then it finally dawned on me: this used to be me!

Not only was I a rabid 1980s Moral Majority Republican who actively campaigned for local Republican candidates, I was a 1990s consumer of right-wing talk radio. When, in the late 90s, Fox News debuted, I became a several-hours-per-day viewing addict. Other than occasional movies and sports, it was what I primarily watched in the evenings.

I lived in an echo chamber, a bubble of noisy, white, male, patriotic anger. Who was I angry with? Liberals. Feminists. Democrats. Hillary. Muslims. Obama. Immigrants. Environmentalists. Hillary. College professors. Atheists. Anyone who dared disrespect the flag or America. Hillary. Anyone I didn’t think supported law enforcement or the military. Hillary. Anyone I didn’t think supported the Second Amendment and gun rights. Did I say “Hillary”?

While this echo chamber was a combination of fundamentalist/evangelical books/ministries, conservative talk radio, and right-wing websites, the largest of these funnels was Fox News. Fox News had the biggest soap box and the loudest megaphone. And I loved it. At last, some media out there who… [Read more…] about Fox News Christians

God Can’t Use My Life

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Spirituality

So much of my early life in the fundamentalist-evangelical world was about how God was “using” my life then, or, was going to use my life in the future. A common theme or question during those years was: What were my spiritual gifts and was I allowing God to use those gifts in my life? I was told to give my “life” to God. All of me. My talents, gifts, resources, dreams, hopes, and all the rest, so God could use my “life.”

“God is going to use your life son,” I heard more than once growing up. And I know they meant well. They didn’t want a person to waste anything God had given them. None of us do. Much like the US Army, we want to “be all we can be” for God. We want God to use our life. We don’t want to be like the one servant who buried his talents and did nothing with them.

For those old enough to remember the movie The Graduate, there is a scene where Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) is moving past the adults present at his graduation party, trying to escape, really, their questions. Everyone wants to know what Benjamin is going to do with his life, what his plans are and some have advice. One man cryptically pulls Benjamin aside, and almost conspiratorially says one word to him, “plastics.”

This was in the late 60s, so perhaps plastics were the next big thing. Today it would probably be Tesla, Solar, or Bitcoin, I don’t know. We want young people to be “successful” and to live with purpose, vigor, and gusto. We want them to hone their skills and talents—put… [Read more…] about God Can’t Use My Life

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

Learning From the Wise Men

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

I’ve always been fascinated by the story of the Wise Men (Matt 2). Even in my fundamentalist/evangelical days, I found their story intriguing. Their time in the Gospel accounts is limited, but profound. As we come to this season of Advent, of that first coming, what might we learn from the story of the Wise Men? Here are three reflections we might consider:
God Acts Outside Traditional Frameworks/Understandings:
The Wise Men were from the east—they were gentiles. They were not heirs to the promise or the covenant. They were not given the law or rescued from Egypt. They were not told they were “clean” or chosen. They were outside the framework, the boundaries, the walls, that the Hebrews (Many of them) felt God had placed around Israel—the nation he had chosen out of all the peoples and nations of the world. The Wise Men were outsiders, foreigners, “others.”

And yet, God chose them to see and understand what those inside the presumed framework would not, or could not, see or understand.
God Speaks to Those Outside Traditional Frameworks/Understandings:
It is commonly understood the Wise Men were, what we would consider today, astrologers. The Magi were probably Persian-Medes, from a priestly class, and associated, again, with what we today would consider the occult.

And yet, God chose to speak, to communicate, to be present to those associated with a world and practices—that were actually condemned in Scripture (For example see Leviticus… [Read more…] about Learning From the Wise Men

Dining With the Devil

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

In 1993, Os Guinness wrote a wonderful little book entitled Dining with the Devil. The subtitle was The Megachurch Movement Flirts with Modernity. Guinness pointed out how the megachurch movement was borrowing tools, insights, and strategies from the modern management, business, and marketing world to “reach” people. It was a sort of Babylonian captivity. What these churches often thought were the result of prayer, evangelism, or biblical preaching, were, perhaps, simply the result of good marketing, management, and business principles applied to growing one’s membership (clientele). Further, he likened this borrowing, this captivity, to dining with the prince of darkness himself. Yikes. The book, of course, was written with fundamentalist/evangelical churches in mind.

At the very beginning of the book, Guinness quotes sociologist Peter L. Berger, who in his book A Rumor of Angels writes:
He who sups with the devil had better have a long spoon. The devilry of modernity has its own magic: The [believer] who sups with it will find his spoon getting shorter and shorter—until that last supper in which he is left alone at the table, with no spoon at all and with an empty plate. The devil, one may guess, will by then have gone away to more interesting company.
This bit of wisdom and insight would also apply to our present moment in the political/cultural realm. Someone needs to write a new book, entitled Dining with the Devil: Part Two. And… [Read more…] about Dining With the Devil

Christian: Is Your Bible an Idol?

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

The Bible is not God, nor do symbols on a page contain God. God is not hiding in the ink or paper molecules/atoms of the Bible. God existed before the Bible. Every time we read or quote a passage of Scripture in an authoritative way, it doesn’t mean God is speaking either to us or through us. It simply means we are reading symbols on a page that represent meanings, which we then interpret. Whether or not we truly understand the meaning or purpose of those symbols is something else entirely. It’s possible I am idolizing my understanding of those symbols, rather than worshipping (or even interpreting correctly) what they may be pointing toward.

A person could memorize the entire Bible. They could quote a Scripture verse for every problem, argument, or issue at hand. One could study the Bible deeply every day, for a lifetime. One could do all this and never know the God of whom it speaks. One could do this and be a mean, angry, and selfish person. One could do this and never lift a finger for another human being. One could do this and be nothing more than a judgment machine, handing out judgments, opinions, and confident assertions about the world and everyone else.

How do I know this? Because I’ve experienced it. I know some of these people. I stopped being impressed by people who’ve memorized a lot of Scripture a long time ago. Why? Because I knew too many of them who were awful people.

Bible knowledge will never substitute for a relationship with the subject of that… [Read more…] about Christian: Is Your Bible an Idol?

Thank You President Trump

by Darrell Lackey in Christian History

Even a perfunctory perusal of most media (social or otherwise) and serious commentary (and now even some conservative commentary) reveals an almost total negative take on the current presidency. And, I think an over-all negative view is justified and accurate. However, there is one very positive result of the current state of affairs relative to the current occupant of the White House: it has revealed the deep divide within evangelical Christianity.

Students of modern American religious history are aware that, beginning in the 1940s, several prominent Protestant Christians, such as Carl F. Henry, began to separate themselves in sensibility, emphasis, tone, and even theologically from fundamentalism. From that divergence, we get our modern-day evangelicals. Their rejection of the isolationism and anti-intellectualism of fundamentalism laid the groundwork for modern evangelical Christianity.

Before that divergence could happen, however, it had to be noticed and addressed. One of the ways that happened was through Carl F. Henry’s 1947 book The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism. With the help of Charles E. Fuller, Harold Ockenga, Billy Graham, and others, Christianity began to diverge and break with the fundamentalism of the past.

The break wasn’t so much in the areas of theology, as these new evangelicals held to many of the same views, especially inerrancy, as fundamentalists. The theological differences mostly concerned the de-emphasis of… [Read more…] about Thank You President Trump

Why Not Sign the Nashville Statement?

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

Joel Belz, the founder of WORLD magazine (a conservative evangelical publication), is a signer of the Nashville Statement and he recently wondered why more evangelicals have not signed it. Indeed, many have noted their problems with the statement, some even coming from conservative quarters. You can read those here, here, and here.

So, I’ll bite. Mr. Belz, here is why I would not sign the Nashville Statement:

You write: “…But for an issue said by some Christian leaders to be the dominant cultural question of our lifetimes…”

Really? Even given the historical cultural results of slavery and current racism in this country? Even given the historical and current sexism in this country? Even given the historical and current wealth imbalance in this country? Even given the continuing poverty and struggle to make ends meet faced by so many in this country? Even given the environmental problems we face? Even given the events leading up to the last election and the results of that election? Even given the events of Charlottesville, and the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments, white supremacy, neo-Nazis, and the Alt-Right?

Even given all the issues and problems such as child/world hunger, lack of social justice, social inequality, crime, civil wars around the globe, people in exile, the various humanitarian crises in many parts of the world, the abject poverty and suffering in the world, this is where the signers’ time was spent, this is what they chose to be… [Read more…] about Why Not Sign the Nashville Statement?

Whose Feet?

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

Even given all the disagreement within the Christian tradition as to theology and church polity, one would hope we still agree that Christians are to serve others with humility and grace. Like the Lord we claim to follow, we are the ones to be washing feet and not the other way around (John 13).

But whose feet are we to wash? Do we wash only the feet of those we agree with, who are a part of our tribe, who we consider friends? Only other Christians — and even then — only those we agree with? Whose feet? Relatedly, are we endorsing or participating somehow, in the views or actions of others, when we serve them?

And what does it mean to serve someone? Is it serving only if done privately? Is it serving if done as a part of business — where profit or employment is involved? We often hear businesses talk about “serving” their customers. Would they serve if we didn’t pay? I doubt it. However, don’t many Christians talk about their businesses as more than just a way to make a living or profit? Don’t they often see them as vehicles for serving others, beyond a profit motive? Can Christians really compartmentalize the times and moments of their calling to serve others?

Let’s look at two specific times Jesus served people who, if we consider his divinity, he knew everything about; or, if we consider his humanity, he knew little-to-nothing about (paradox anyone?). The first is the wedding at Cana (John 2).

Jesus and his mother are invited to a wedding. The host… [Read more…] about Whose Feet?