Fundamentalists follies

Over the last few years my views on the Bible have become stronger and my desire to be in a church that submits to biblical authority has deepened. As a result I have left the southern Baptists denomination and the ideology of New Evangelicalism for the Independent baptist churches and the ideology of fundamentalism. Now while I am more at peace withe the theological attitude and the confessions of these groups. One thing we must always remember is that all people prior to glorification are sinners. So all Christians need to constantly test there congregations in light of scripture. Now I see the strengths of my former denomination as well as the weaknesses of my current circle. So like i have elsewhere in this blog i want to focus a biblical critiques on the ideology of fundamentalism. I am proud to call myself a fundamentalist but here are some issues that our people need to let scripture correct us on.

cultural separation)
religious fashion
2For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment;
3And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:
4Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
James 2:2-4
It is entirely unbiblical to judge believers according to their fashion. Now this rule does have exceptions and there are certain general guidelines to follow. (no cross-dressing, lascivious(slutty), blasphemous rhetoric etc.)
But the idea that one can become more holy simply by wearing certain clothing or uniforms is very fleshly by nature. Christian spiritaulity is internal and not external.

holy music
Psalm 33:3(KJV)
3Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
It is obvious that the Bible is ok with bringing in new music. In recent years there have been worship wars in churches revolving around hymnal worship and contemporary worship.
Now let us assume that there is one specific style of worship for the congregation. Worship is no restricted to the congregation. music has many styles and many purposes. Even in the Old Testament there where different styles of worship.

Psalm 150
1Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
Different events call for different style and moods. There is a time for celebration and a time for a durge.
amos 5:1Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel.

Ruckmanism
The idea that the very edition of the 1611 kjv was reinspired is a false teaching. It asserts that the word of God was not preserved for every generation.
So it claims the same prospect of new translations that the Gospel was lost to the church of christ. But the church of christ never died, and neither did the word of God.
1Peter 1:23-25
23Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.



holy hatred
The idea that because another christian or groups have error that we must hate the sinners.
11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
39But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
43Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
While we may hate sin. We are all sinners. the gospel of christ is not about cursing others. (They are already cursed.) The gospel of christ is about redeeming sinners. all sinners.
Romans 5:8But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
John 3:17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

ultra separatism)
10Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
11For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
14I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;
15Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

Not only should Christians agree on the faith but they should try to agree. There are several imposter forms of christianity both within and without. Yet there are many who agree on not only essential doctrine but important doctrinal content as well. While there is value in orthodoxy and separation from evil.For Some use the doctrine of separation as an excuse not to love there brothers and sisters in Christ. finding excuses not to fellowship with other christians to mask bigotry, hatred, and pride. If we are all saved by grace through faith then we have no right to claim a different group is more sinful than us. but this happens constantly. Someone may say "we must separate from the black church because there music is fleshly and there dancing and groaning is from there pagan african culture" But we could just as easily say "let's separated from the white church because they design there buildings from the pagan greek culture and there pews from the pagan roman culture. and there hush tone emphasizes the roman empire religion."
We are all sinners saved by grace and we need to live according to that grace. The Bible does call for separation in order that we preserve the teaching of the gospel. But the gospel of salvation is simple and it requires the faith of a simple child. by dividing legitamitely regenerate chuches we pervert the doctrine of separation and eventually the gospel.

church schooling)
6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

In terms of educating children it is the responsibility of the parents. Yet many fundamentalist churches have adopted school systems. As a result many fundamentalist churches have used school systems to gain extrabiblical authority over children.
matthew 23
4For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
8But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
By taking such authority when get in the way of Christ sovereignty over the soul. I have heard many horror stories of how fundamentalist school churches have been used just like catholic churches to enslave children and have scared them away from the gospel.
15Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

pastoral sectarianism)
many times the pastor is exalted to the level of a holy man or pseudo messiah. The pastor is thus given a monarchy over the congregation.
9And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
11But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
The job of the pastor is almost reversed from that of a lord. We are to lead in service.
1 Peter 5:1-5
King James Version (KJV)
1The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock.
4And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

promotionalism) This is the idea of promoting certain churches and using various gimmicks to increase the popularity of the church. 2 cor 4:5
5For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

quick prayer evangelism)
The idea of christianity as a one time decision is very deadly in our culture. As if salvation were merchandise to be marketed.
18And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
19Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
20But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
We may recieve salvation but it is not something that we can acquire by our own merit. A quick prayer can never merit salvation. It has to be a humble trust.

Hebrews 4
1Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
2For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
3For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
4For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.
5And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:
While we don't want portray faith as if it were a work it is something which will endure. It endures through the power of the Holy SPirit. But if it is not a faith which endures it must therefore be the wrong faith and a faith that is not the saving fof the gospel.



Most fundamentalist care strongly about the faith and the gospel. But your orthodoxy is not going to keep sin from creeping at you door. Only By humbling yourself and letting God take control will you truly be able to grow closer to God. The God wants fundamentalist christians to let there light Shine. Satan desires fundamentalist christians to make there prosylites twice a child of hell as they. the question is will we have revival or wil we have Ichobod?