You might be a fundamentalist

What picture comes to mind when you think of a Christian fundamentalist? There are several definitions of what a fundamentalist is or is not, but for the purposes of this post I want to go with the pop culture definition.

Chances are one or several of the following words describe your image of a Christian fundamentalist: older, white, male, evangelical, theologically and politically very conservative, anti-many things, rigid, ungracious, judgmental, and a "gatekeeper" (i.e. deciding who's in and who's out based on their personal interpretation of the Bible).

The chances also are that you would not see yourself as what I described above (at least, the non-physical descriptors, because some of us cannot help being older, white, and male).

However, today I want to offer a different understanding of fundamentalism and suggest that any of us (even you) may be a fundamentalist.

Author and theologian Preston Sprinkle tweeted it this way: 
 

Conservative Fundamentalism: The inability to humbly listen to the other side, the other tribe—those you are told are the enemy; the posture of seeing the world in black & white, good people & bad people, & refusing to love your enemy.

Progressive Fundamentalism: See above.

In other words, it's not your theology that makes you a fundamentalist, but the attitude with which you hold your theology.

Think of it this way. The disciples all started their journey with Jesus as theological fundamentalists (one for sure - Simon the Zealot - also as a political fundamentalist). They were sure who was in and out, they tried to stop people from ministering in the name of Jesus because those people were not "true followers," they wanted God to rain down fire on those who opposed them, they saw the world as black and white / right and wrong (they were on the right side, of course), and they continually saw others unlike them as the enemy whom they refused to love.

Then, as they spent time with Jesus, he shifted their opinions, hearts, and actions.
 

“You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love your enemies...

~ Jesus, in Matthew 5:43

Jesus taught his disciples to love their neighbour, and demonstrated (through the Parable of the Good Samaritan) that their neighbour included those they thought were their enemy (i.e. those who were theologically and culturally very, very different from them). 

Fundamentalism and the belief I am right and others are wrong is actually a common human trait. The only way to erase it is to spend time in the presence of Love who first loves us as he shows us our own rigid fundamentalism, and then helps us to love others who are unlike us. But let us ensure that as we move away from one kind of fundamentalism, we do not become a different kind.

PAUSE and REFLECT: What is your attitude toward those who are theologically or politically opposite of you? Do they make you angry because they are bad people? Do you feel that given their stance on the teachings of Jesus they probably are not genuine followers of Jesus? Would you refuse to sit at the table with them in fellowship (or perhaps outwardly conform but inwardly cringe)? Are they a theological enemy whom you would rather avoid or tear down (when you talk about them to others)?

If so, then you might be a fundamentalist.

I speak to myself with these words, because I have shared several times my anger with certain segments of the church, namely the gatekeepers (as defined above: deciding who's in and who's out based on their personal interpretation of the Bible). It genuinely makes me angry when someone would say, "You need to change before you are welcome here."

Then it struck me - I was doing the same thing, only from the other side of the theological coin! I judged their hearts and as soon as they began to speak I closed my ears to their words and refused to humbly listen. I was certain they were wrong on all counts, and could not learn anything from their thoughts.

In other words, although I was not fundamentalist in theology, I was in spirit.

So what was I to do? 

The first thing I did was started listening. I got out of the echo chamber of those who think like me and started listening to podcasts and reading material from people who were theologically more conservative and more progressive than me. Not the extremes of either side, but those who I could probably be 50/50 on the same page as them.

The second thing I did was stop judging their hearts (or tried to). I went into the conversations with the assumption that these people loved Jesus and wanted to follow him. That helped me be more willing to listen.

I think is's fair game to judge a person's theology - in fact Jesus tells us to. He says we judge a tree by the fruit it produces. Bad theology produces bad fruit, and if a person's theology produces pain and suffering in the world, it's fair game to call that belief into question. But I cannot judge the heart of the person who holds it. Instead, I need to assume they are doing their best, even if I don't agree with them.

With that in mind, the third thing I did is raise my uncertainty tolerance.I've written about the importance of uncertainty tolerance before. Basically, uncertainty tolerance means we erase the rigid lines of our "God box" and allow God to be more, or different, than we understand. We allow for mystery and humbly hold our theology with the understanding that we may not have God all figured out.

Yes, there are things we must be certain about (read the post for them), but there are many things we can allow ourselves humble grace to say, "This is my best understanding / interpretation, but I also understand other followers of Jesus believe differently, and that's OK."

I'll be honest with you. I am still more comfortable with "non-Christians" than with those I would call "fundamentalist Christians." But these three things helped me to reduce my own fundamentalist tendencies, and actually gave me more compassion for the people toward whom I originally felt anger. Don't get me wrong - I still get riled up about things I perceive to be unjust in the way followers of Jesus live out their understanding of Scripture, but for the most part I no longer see them as "the enemy" (even though I would have never called them that, I'm pretty sure I felt it in my heart, and sometimes still do).

As for you, well, now it's time to not be offended that I possibly called you a fundamentalist, and not close your mind to the possibility that it's true. Then reflect on your last conversations with (or about) and your feelings about those who hold drastically different theological or political beliefs as you and ask, "Does my attitude reveal that I too am a fundamentalist?"