My guide to become a recovering fundamentalist: Part 1

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“Hi, I’m Ty, and I’m a recovering fundamentalist.” The men in the room laughed, and the lead pastor stated humorously, “No, its true, he is a recovering fundamentalist.” I grew up in what I’d call a community church, but in college and through most of my ministry was a part of fundamentalist circles. There is a lot of un-health in fundamentalism, and this is the first in a series of posts.

What is a recovering fundamentalist
A recovering fundamentalist is a person who was/is part of a fundamentalism and wants to embrace the Gospel and chuck legalism. To use an old cliché, it’s to rescue the baby from the putrid bath water. Being a recovering fundamentalist means getting back to Scripture as guide, the Gospel as central and grace the a mandate. It’s a call to repent.

What it is not
If you want accolades in Christianity, just bash fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is a bit of a strawman (just like the word religion is). This isn’t a “Let’s bash fundamentalism” tirade. I’ve seen too much of that. It’s understandable that some do that, fundamentalism has casualties in its wake. Reacting can lead to just more problems and not health. Being a recovering fundamentalist is about acting, not reacting. It’s about healing and repenting, not another tirade.

Act don’t react
Act don’t react is a proverb I often go by. A pattern I’ve observed in human history, especially church history, is we react to a previous movement. Reactionary movements are inherently unstable and lead to error in a different way. Fundamentalism in large part was a reactionary movement. It centered on key “fundamentals” to the faith. This can be known as “historical fundamentalism.” What we have today is “hysterical fundamentalism.” Reactionary movements have a hard time discerning when the fight is over.

Patton
In the movie Patton a German officer is tasked with being an expert on General Patton. Germany lost and the officers are burning everything. The officer makes this statement as he lights General Patton’s picture, “The lack of war will be his end.” This plays out in the rest of the film… Historical fundamentalism won the day. Most of evangelicalism holds to the fundamentals of the faith. There will always be those who don’t, but essentially the battle was won. The lack of the fight lead to being hysterical.

Hysterical
Hysterical fundamentalism has two idols: 1) Separation and 2) Theological “correctness.” I say idols because the focus is on separation over mission under the guise of “purity”. I put correctness in quotes because the focus is on a particular articulation of theology, often lacking humility. As the doctrinal battle was essentially one, methodology took the banner. Given the protective and isolationist nature, there became uniformity of doctrine, but the challenge of one’s doctrine softened. So, a hysterical fundamentalist has to look, act and talk a certain way. This allowed legalism to take root.

The bottom line:
Being a recovering fundamentalist is repenting. It’s a return to the Gospel being central and the Bible as our guide. It isn’t about attacking fundamentalism, but it is recognizing a difference between historical (a focus on the Bible and the Gospel) and hysterical (focus on separation and a particular methodology) fundamentalism. In this call to repent the win is to live God’s instruction to Joshua: “do not turn from [Scripture] to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.”

We the people. We the problem.

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If you want rock star status. If you want accolades. In Christianity you only need to throw “religion” under the bus, or its close cousin fundamentalism. (Ironically, I’ll be posting about fundamentalism this week.) We love to bash religion. Sometimes we couch this as arguing against “false” religion. Sigh. We need to stop it.

Strawmen…
Today’s favorite mode of discourse is the strawman. We hide, we couch, we equate, we consensus build, we allude. We don’t call things for what they are. Doing such is often viewed as mean or unloving. More to the point, we’re afraid we may be called worse than religious we’d be called fundamentalist. What do we do? We couch a real issue of right & wrong under a word and we attack that vague concept. How nobel of us.

Jesus…
We love Jesus because the love word is attached to him. I’m reminded of what a professor once said: “People say Jesus is a loving lamb, but one day they will be surprised when the lamb roars.” Jesus called out what was right and what was wrong. He did it graciously, with humor, and at times direct and in your face. Jesus, and John (remember that guy who’s task was to get people ready for Jesus) called people to repent. Jesus pointed, exhorted, taught and pleaded with people to connect with God the Father.

Church…
Jesus loves the church. Jesus died for the church. Jesus’ bride is the church. There are legalistic churches that need to repent, doctrinally inept churches that need to repent, non serving churches that need to repent, etc. We need to remember, Jesus loves the church. Our tone in critiquing the church or local churches could use refinement. Every church has issues. It’s time to spur one another on to good deeds, and let the Holy Spirit be the Holy Spirit.

We the people…
Religion isn’t the problem. We the people are the problem. Religion is made of people like you and I. Now comes the fun topic: Friends, we are depraved. Apart from grace and the Spirit’s work in our lives, we’re in trouble. Am I saying there is a lack of grace and a lack of leaning on the Spirit today? Yes. Religion started no war, people did. Blaming religion is like blaming guns for killing people. Both are only as good as the people behind them.

The bottom line:
Promote Jesus. Bashing religion may seem authentic and mainstream, it isn’t. We’re lost and apart from Jesus we’ll remain lost. People act based on what they believe. What we have is a theology problem not a religion problem. Rather than inauthentic apologizing or religion bashing, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

How long would you wait?

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14 years is a long time. I can’t imagine being told I was to do something and then have to wait 14 years to make it happen. Paul waited 14 years or more before he engaged in aggressive evangelism. I define aggressive evangelism as church planting. No doubt Paul was sharing the good news and establishing himself. But 14 years is a long time.

Paul was well trained, he was smart, he was one fine-looking Jew. He waited. Out of the gate he could defined the Gospel and his teacher was Jesus Himself. He still waited. Paul likely started his church planting efforts as an old man.

So, why bring this up? Too often we’re impatient. Here is the take away:

1) Paul remained faithful and continued to pursue doing ministry where he was at.

2) Being established does mean something in a church. There is often a gap between being called and serving, and the gap is important.

3) Humility is a key theme in Paul’s writings. It’s possible it was a key thing God was working on before sending Paul.

4) Even after a long wait, God did some incredible things through Paul in God’s timing.

Ministry is a marathon. Don’t be afraid of a gap in time. Be faithful and God in His timing will send you on mission.

One more thing… Just cause you’re nearing “retirement age” doesn’t mean God is done with you!

2012 Election Season Tips

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Here comes another election year and the onslaught of all that comes with an election cycle. I wanted to give a few tips as we enter this season. Too often in churches politics becomes polarizing. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

Gospel First Gospel Central
A key question to ask yourself is what is most important? In relationships with people is it more important that they follow your political persuasion or that they now Christ? For some people aiming to persuade a political opinion can close the door to the Gospel. I’m passionate about our country, but I more passionate about the Cross.

Be Informed
You have an obligation to be informed: about the process, about the people, and about their views. Not just what you believe but also other viewpoints. The big thing: think and develop discernment. It is often to get stuck on a single issue. Often that is counter productive.

Be Civil
A Democrat may be a socialist and a Republican may be a fascist, but that’s rarely true. Often they’re people just like you trying to make sense out of the world and be a part of the process. Be Civil. If you can’t be civil, take Proverbs advice and be quiet as “even a fool is consider wise when he keeps his mouth shut.” For some historical perspective, our country often sees hard times and has intense elections. As Christians, we should elevate civil discourse and model it well.

Pray
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” ~1 Tim 2:1-2

Be Involved
It’s not wrong to hold a political opinion. To act completely neutral isn’t authentic. The Bible says to submit to governing authorities and according to our constitution, that’s “we the people” in an election. Where being involved becomes a problem is when the Gospel is no longer first and central. Holding your political views doesn’t make a person saved. Knowing Jesus and the power of the resurrection does.

Vote
Vote and encourage others to vote. And when you vote: be informed, examine Scripture, pray and then vote your conscience.

The bottom line:
Elections have been nasty because “We the people…” made them nasty. Let’s set a new standard for 2012 regardless if you’re DNC, GOP or ???. As Christians let’s not forget what is most important. Don’t turn people off to the Gospel because of pushing a political opinion.

25 years ago I imagined…

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…Doing what I’m doing today. 25 years ago I knew I needed Jesus. That is the essential element to Christianity. Jesus did what we could not do, and He gave us what we did not deserve. That’s grace. That’s mercy.

When I accepted Jesus I knew I wanted to teach the Bible. Fitting that this coming Sunday I’ll be talking about the Gospel, what it is and what it isn’t. People struggle with the simplicity of the Gospel. That its free, that it’s by faith. To often we want to add hoops, dress codes, music limits, etc. That’s not Gospel. I’m enjoying the study of Galatians. It develops a picture of a mask vs grace, a prison vs freedom.

When we add rules, regulations, “standards” to the Gospel what we have is a masquerade, not freedom. Jesus came to set us free, not to put us into another prison. For 25 years I’ve had the joy of walking with Jesus. No regrets, definitely some bruises and tons of joy. This last year what stood out the most to me is the need to keep the Gospel first and the Gospel central.

So, I’m in my home office studying for my first sermon in Galatians. I imagined 25 years ago teaching the Bible and loving it. By God’s grace, that’s what I’m doing. It’s a God thing more than anything, but I’m grateful He let me imagine that 25 years ago. It makes today all that more special.

Psalm 100 ESV
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! 2 Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

2011 Issue of the year… Civility…

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I spent much time talking about civility and public discourse in 2011. Offline discussions with friends frequented that topic as well. Here in chronological order are posts about the topic of civility and public discourse. It’s interesting that when I started blogging on this topic that soon aft wards it entered into the public lime line with the shooting of a congresswoman.

https://twoznek.com/2011/01/06/a-return-to-civility/

https://twoznek.com/2011/01/11/civility-civility-where-art-thou/

https://twoznek.com/2011/02/24/book-review-decisions-points-by-george-w-bush/

https://twoznek.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=795&action=edit

https://twoznek.com/2011/09/06/civility-is-a-marathon-and-we’re-out-of-breath/

https://twoznek.com/2011/10/19/occupy-whatever-the-problem-of-protests-morality/

2011 Look Back… Top posts…

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It’s fun to look back at all the blog posts for 2011. The last half of the year was sporadic given a transition into a new leadership position. One of the biggest posts is:
https://twoznek.com/2011/06/21/a-new-chapter/

Most viewed posts of this year was:
Book review on Think Orange. Hardly a week doesn’t go by without this being viewed:
https://twoznek.com/2010/04/05/book-review-think-orange-by-reggie-joiner/

Top post for 2011 was on civil discourse and social media:
https://twoznek.com/2011/03/01/civil-discourse-conflict-and-social-media/

Ironically, the second most viewed post dealt with conflict and social media:
https://twoznek.com/2011/07/12/man-up-why-i-agree-with-mark-driscoll/

Civility, or the lack there of, was a major issue in 2011. In various events it seems America could use a lesson on how to interact appropriately with each other. For sure, over reactions or mis-understanding fueled tirades filled most of the year. Hopefully that won’t be the case coming into an election year…

The next thing…

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Fresh paint makes the old stand out. Once its done you see the next thing that needs to get done. Once that’s done you see the next. Cleaning up a house or building is like growing in Christ. Everything can’t get done at once. But, once you finish one thing, the next thing stands out. Here are a couple things to think through as you head into the new year…

Plan
Set up a growth plan. Keep it simple, doable, and big enough to stretch you. People often get scared or short-circuit with words like “review” or “evaluate.” Developing a growth plan serves the same function but has an added bonus: A growth plan focuses on where you’re going and can do, not where you’ve been and fall short. This is why Disney focuses on growth plans instead of annual reviews.

Focus
Complete a step that will push you to the next step. It’s like dominos. Focus on what’s going to propel you to the next thing when you’re done. Watching dominos fall is sweet when things are place and well executed. The big secret to focus is saying no. The power of no is a stronger yes.

Celebrate
Rest and enjoy your work. God made us to work and He made us to enjoy life as well. People who are driven would accomplish more by trying to do less. For example, many people who are big into physical fitness overwork themselves. This prevents them from achieving the goals. They’re over working. A trainer of mine said most people who are into working out would become stronger if they did less.

Do something
If you’re clueless where to start, just start. The advantage of planning is that its easier to change with a plan than without one. The big thing about just starting is humility. Ask for help. Sometimes you need someone to just say, good plan, go for it. To quote photographers, the best camera is the one in your hand. Just get started.

We’re starting back up….

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Back in September I began the process of deciding where to take my blog. I haven’t written much since then because to post to just post something doesn’t make sense to me. While consistency is king for blogging, posting to just post doesn’t make sense. I invested time in reading about blogging and other pastors who blog or tweet. Here are some conclusions.

Blogging is legitimate
I listen carefully to older saints, and they make a strong point on younger people in ministry writing about ministry. Some go as far as to say younger people shouldn’t. I obviously disagree with that. Here is why, we need one another. I think a wise person is able to weigh what a person says. Sometimes I find older people forget the rawness and energy of starting out jus as younger forget to look and listen from the mistakes of older saints. I view blogging as a community exercise. We need many voices.

Blogging needs to avoid hot issues
One peace of advice given is to not blog about hot topics if you’re working through them in your church. This is a big issue I looked at as to blog or not blog. I like to blog about what I am passionate about. I also recognize there is a church audience that can read this blog. This is amplified by my liking to discuss new ideas. Obviously there are things I need to avoid and the question is can I blog and avoid them. To quote my son: I think I can. (For the grammar police, peace was chosen specifically.)

Blogging is writing
I like to write. I enjoy it. Pretty much that is why I started blogging. I’m not so concerned with building an audience as I am in enjoying the writing and refining ideas. There is much to right about, such as developing ideas I had to cut from a sermon, book reviews, or things God is teaching me.

The bottom line:
I’ll try to blog about 2-3 times a week. It will continue on the line of life and ministry.