Fundamental.
We got a text from one of our readers last week—someone who expressed concern that we featured a TED talk by a Hindu woman (actually a Sikh) on the topic of Revolutionary Love. Are you advocating love without truth? Are you a universalist? Fair questions.
I mention this because I imagine that eventually Kellie and I will offer a perspective in one of our blogs or elsewhere that you don’t agree with…or aren’t sure about. Actually, I hope we do! Not because we’re trying to stir up controversy, but because if everything we share is something you already know, how would that be of any value? It’s my hope that we will, gently and humbly, offer ideas that stretch you, that invite you into new possibilities, that challenge you to wonder and pray and explore.
But how do we have these kinds of conversations with one another, especially if the topic is emotionally charged? That’s an even better question. And I’ll answer it in a word: relationally.
Deep-hearted topics have the potential to divide us, but they also have the potential to help us hold the priority of relationship even when we disagree. Especially then. Historically, this has not been the defining heritage of faith in our world. It’s more comfortable to distance ourselves from others (even fellow Christians) who believe differently and to huddle together in small boxes of uniformity. Can I just say that that approach, no matter how “right” we may be, will never bring healing and redemption in the world, especially as fractured as the world is today.
So at The Vining Center we invite curious, courteous, compassionate conversation on topics that we might see differently, and we do that in the context of relationship. Email, text, and social media are pretty limited platforms. To engage controversial themes well, we need to look each other in the face, we need to hear one another’s faith stories, we need to talk about what we feel, what we fear, what we believe, and why. And…we have to be prepared to remain in relationship, even when earnest conversation leaves us on starkly different sides of an issue. Not easy. But this is The Way.
Can we hear truth from those of other religions? Or of no religion? (The number of American adults who see themselves as “spiritual but not religious” has surged to approximately 30%.) In my opinion, evangelicals have done a great job of trumpeting “truth” in the world… love, not so much. Yet love is the greatest truth, the prime directive, the great fundamental, as the apostle John makes exquisitely clear. And until people know they are loved—honestly loved and deeply accepted—they’re not going to care one whit about what we believe.
If love is the greatest fundamental, perhaps fundamentalism is the greatest threat to loving the world like Christ. Because fundamentalism is based on fear instead of love. Fear of the other. Fear of other belief systems. Fear of loss. At its root, I believe fundamentalism is based on a scarcity of love—the result of not participating in the lavish abundance of Love, but instead scrambling desperately for scraps of love under the table when we are invited to sit at the table and feast.
Pause just for a minute… How much love are you experiencing from God right this moment? (Sit with that question briefly.)
Few things delight my heart more than scooping up my five-year-old grandson Briar, feeling his arms wrap tightly around my neck, and kissing his plump cheek. I look deep into his eyes and feel him soaking up my affection like a sponge. I relish his bubbling enthusiasm when I announce a trip to Tweetsie Railroad…and I ache when his hopes are dashed and tears fall down those same cheeks. Do you experience the Trinity doting on you like that each day? Do I? At our best and at our worst, utterly cherished and celebrated! Fundamentalism is an impoverished substitute for the secure, carefree, curious, generous soul of a beloved child.
I don’t know anyone personally who, these days, would choose to describe themselves as a fundamentalist. The connotations are fairly negative, and we’re more comfortable applying the word to terrorists of another religion. But maybe it’s time we all take an honest look in the mirror to see just how we hold our convictions…and how we relate to those who hold different ones. And what exactly is fundamentalism anyway? The best online description I can find is this one…
Fundamentalism usually has a religious connotation that indicates unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs. However, fundamentalism has come to be applied to a tendency among certain groups – mainly, although not exclusively, in religion – that is characterized by a markedly strict literalism as it is applied to certain specific scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, and a strong sense of the importance of maintaining ingroup and outgroup distinctions, leading to an emphasis on purity and the desire to return to a previous ideal from which advocates believe members have strayed. Rejection of diversity of opinion as applied to these established "fundamentals" and their accepted interpretation within the group often results from this tendency.
Wow, what do you think of that?
We might tend to think of “unwavering attachment to a set of irreducible beliefs” as a good thing…and I understand why. As followers of Christ, we believe that the things he taught and modeled in his life are trustworthy, that they form a secure foundation for understanding and building our lives and relationships. I feel that way. So then is fundamentalism more of an attitude than a position?
Fundamentalism tends to carry arrogance, superiority, and judgmentalism, but I’ve come to believe that the fundamentalist posture is more than just a bad attitude; it rests on a flawed foundation that does enormous injury to the cause of Christ, even (especially) when carried in the name of Christ. Consider a few of these main tenets of the fundamentalist:
Rigidity of belief. I carry many convictions in my life… about things spiritual and a host of other topics. I hope you do too. But I also hope you’ve come to carry your convictions with a relaxed grip rather than a death grip. And that you’ve freed yourself from the need to convince anyone else of your convictions, which is more about you than about them. That’s an ego need.
The truth exists in objective, unassailable reality, but you and I “see through a glass darkly,” as Paul puts it eloquently. What’s more, any faith that is alive is meant to grow. It’s in process, it’s evolving. If your belief system isn’t in a constant state of learning, clarifying, and becoming, then it’s dead. This should invite us all into a place of humble approachability. I’m not there fully, but I’m working on it!
Besieged mentality. Fundamentalism sees itself as under attack…from the government, from other denominations, from other religions, from the other side of the political aisle. Everything they hold dear feels like it might be taken away, which is scary indeed… but it’s not the worldview of the kingdom of God, which can never be taken away. Fundamentalism promotes extreme tribalism, an us-versus-them mentality, that separates and alienates instead of reaching and bridging.
It also fuels a subtle self-righteousness: “We are the true believers, the remnant, those willing to hold the line against them.” This is precisely the same mindset that makes suicide bombing rational. Yikes.
Fearful aggression. At its worst, fundamentalism flows beyond a beleaguered, defensive posture and moves instead toward violence, the most obvious of which is seen in war, terrorism, genocide, homicide, and even suicide. Yet a thousand more subtle variations of aggression are accepted, welcomed, and fostered within many faith communities. We dismiss the other. We vilify the other. If they see the world differently, they’re the enemy. And even if that aggression is held entirely internally, it rots the soul and invalidates our message. Christianity does not have a great track record in this regard.
So I hope you can listen to an inspiring, compassionate, truth-filled message from someone of a different persuasion. I hope you can “chew the meat and spit out the bones,” as it were. Because if they listen to us, they will need to do the same. Oh yes, we carry some bones as well. We have our blind spots, emotionally, theologically, culturally, you name it! And it just might take someone from a very different vantage point to help us see something important about ourselves or about the world. This is The Way.
I’m grateful that we were able to connect meaningfully with our questioning reader and reaffirm our relationship in love, the great fundamental. Let’s keep shooting for that vision together!
growing the soul
Scroll back up and re-read the paragraph on my delight in my grandson. Now write yourself a love letter from God. Be bold, be daring, be generous in articulating God’s unconditional love for you as a beloved child.
serving the world
Think about someone you know who believes something very different from you, on a topic very important to you. Imagine yourself embracing that person with uninhibited affection, without reservation, with full acceptance of them as another of God’s many beloveds. Ask God to bless them with, not a change of mind as much as an encounter with Love. Love is really all that changes us anyway.
takeaway
Love is fundamental.