Large Group #7 Debrief: Fundamentals, Not Fundamentalist

Hi everyone! At large group on Monday, I talked and we discussed the extent to which Christianity needs to be extreme, and the sorts of errors that Christian "fundamentalists" fall into. Rather than merely debate definitions, we focused on what the errors are and how we can avoid them. We heard from two pastors, Mark Driscoll and Matt Chandler, reflect on these things. Keep reading to get my synopsis and those links.

Following 9/11, over 10 years ago, there was an immediate backlash against what many labeled as “religious extremism.” To be extremely devoted to your faith has become a bad thing. “All things in moderation,” so they say. And given the headline-worthy examples of extreme Christians, I can hardly disagree.

This is one of the things that Tim Keller addresses in his book The Reason for God. In it, he argues that when we think of extreme Christians we should think of people like Martin Luther King, Jr. Christians who are really good at following Jesus’ commands to love each other would be really loving. Moreover, these examples that come to mind and leave a bad taste in our mouth, like Harold Camping, have gotten off the track somehow.

First let’s look at this issue of passion, devotion, and the extent to which we should separate ourselves from the surrounding culture. Read Matthew 10:34-39. No matter how you slice or dice these words, Jesus is a religious fanatic. Give everything up and follow me! That’s pretty extreme. Read Revelation 3:14-16. That’s a rebuke of a church trying to be kind of Christian. In his book Crazy Love, Francis Chan harps on this point. We can’t just be ‘casual Christians.’

So there’s this sense in which we are called to extreme devotion to the cause of Christ. We should not seek compromise on every issue, but insist on at least some things irrevocably. I read a biography of one of my favorite theologians and pastors, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, over the summer. It was really fascinating to see his reaction to the complete subversion of the German church by the Nazis. At first, he tried to work with the new “German Christian” movement, to get trustworthy Christians elected to the new positions. But once he saw the light, realizing what a monstrosity was about to come, much earlier than most, he opposed them outright, creating a clandestine “Confessing Church” that he claimed was the only legitimate German church left. Fanatical? Yes, but given what happened, entirely correct.

One thing I found interesting was where he drew the line. The moment came when the German Christians began suggesting edits to the Bible, taking out the portions that were “too Jewish.” In the end, they pretty much gutted the entire Old Testament. Bonhoeffer would not stand for that, and took his stand there, with the Bible. Implicitly he was insisting that the Bible be taken as inerrant and unable to be edited or shortened for the sake of the whims of the time. We should similarly be willing to take such stands.

Now let’s look at the ways in which we can go wrong in our devotion to the gospel. Here’s one big idea: It isn’t what we do for God that saves us. We have to continually keep in mind that we aren’t “earning favor” with God or so that he will be impressed with us, and that all our righteous acts are, as Isaiah puts it, “as filthy rags.” I hope you guys aren’t sick of Mark Driscoll yet, because I think he does a better job of correcting for this sort of religious type of error than anyone else. So we watched a clip from him.

Now I’ve read what some people say about this, that Driscoll was confusing legalism and fundamentalism. I’m not here to argue about definitions of the words fundamentalist or legalist or any of that kind of thing. The point is not to defend my talk’s title, but to identify a common error that many Christians, particularly conservative ones, fall into.

As if there could be any more “buts” to this question, we’ll also listen to a short sermon clip from Matt Chandler, another pastor in Texas I really like. He’s talking about the parable of the prodigal son, from Luke 15:11-32. We read that together first.

As we’ve found repeatedly this term, there are twin errors to be made in either direction, represented by the younger and the older brother. On the one hand, you have licentiousness, which is liberalism and accommodation taken to the extreme. On the other, you have Phariseeism, insisting that we get rewarded in this life for our devotion and jealous of the grace given others, a form of separatism. We heard what Matt Chandler has to say about this passage.

Discussion Questions:

1. What are the fundamentals that you insist on? If you haven’t formulated this properly, think about what subversions of the gospel you would balk at?
2. How can we be devoted, and express our spiritual devotion, without succumbing to spiritual pride and the errors the Pharisees made?
3. Do you tend to be an older brother or a younger brother?