In spirit and in truth

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I had a couple of other posts in mind this morning, but as I was reading new posts from my Bloglines, I was about to fall asleep in my chair (not because of the posts! 🙂 ) So I gave up and decided I would have a more productive day if I went ahead and took a nap. Then there were errands to run and such.

But something came to mind that I did want to share just quickly. In light of my last post and some of the discussion over at Everyday Mommy’s lately, this verse came to mind:

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:24.

We tend to think sometimes that as long as we’re sincere, it doesn’t really matter how we worship. But it wasn’t quite that way with Uzzah who reached out a hand to steady the ark or Nadab and Abihu who offered “strange fire” before the Lord. We forget, since God doesn’t usually handle things that way in these days, that that is how He feels when His instructions are violated. True, we don’t have the specifications that they did in their day. But God has given us His Word both so that we might know Him and that we might live as He wants us to. He wants us to worship not just in spirit but in truth.

Doctrine

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I mentioned in my post about fundamentalism and separatism that I was going to write later some thoughts about “secondary issues” (or the non-fundamentals). But I have been thinking for the last several weeks about doctrine. I write and/or compile a newsletter/booklet for our ladies group, and one regular column for the last few years has been called “Women of the Word,” dealing with reasons to read the Bible, how to’s, devotional tips, Bible studies, etc. I went back and looked up a couple of columns I had written about doctrine and want to include them here before I go on to secondary issues. After all, we need to know doctrine — God’s truths — before we can exercise discernment, and we need discernment to know what is fundamental and what is secondary, what we need to stand firm on and what we have room to differ on.

So, first is one written in October of 04:

Our “favorite” times in the Word are often the “warm fuzzies” — when we feel especially blessed, loved, comforted, encouraged, or secure in what we have read. And those times are, indeed, wonderful. But as we read, we should be looking for more than “warm fuzzies” — we should be looking for truth about our God.

I was thinking recently that it is too bad that churches are too often divided into those preaching “doctrinal” messages or those meeting “felt needs” when really they should go together. We can’t truly meet spiritual needs without the truth, the doctrine, of God’s Word. When a trial comes and people feel forsaken, what most comforts but the precious truth that God will never forsake us? When a lie seems the only way out of a tough situation, what keeps us from it but the knowledge that it will displease a God whose essence is truth?

A.W. Tozer once wrote that “there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.” He further felt that “wrong thoughts about God are in reality a form of idolatry.” I think that’s true.

When we don’t worship God for Who He truly is, then we are worshipping a god of our own making, and that is idolatry. Now, of course, all of us are imperfect in our knowledge of Him and are, or should be, ever growing in Him, and He’ll correct our understanding along the way. But that is a little different than not knowing Him for Who He is due to neglect or misapplication of the Word.

Our thinking has much bearing on our intimacy with God. We can’t know Him aright apart from what He has revealed of Himself in His Word. As we learn more of Him, we love Him and worship Him more, and what seemed like “dry doctrine” then does become something that warms and thrills our hearts as the Holy Spirit brings that truth to mind.

And, the more we behold Him, the more we are changed into His likeness. II Corinthians 3:18: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

So, don’t be afraid of that word “doctrine.” II Timothy 4: 3-4 says, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” That is a warning to us not to turn away from sound doctrine, but also possibly an admission that sound doctrine needs to be “endured.” Learning doctrine may not always feel warm and fuzzy, but the Holy Spirit will use it in our lives in blessed ways.

This next one was just from January of this year:

Often when we read our Bibles, we’re looking for comfort, encouragement, strength, assurance of God’s love, care, guidance, and protection — and the Bible is a wonderful source for all of those things. But one of the most important reasons for reading and studying God’s Word is to learn correct doctrine. Immediately the word doctrine can bring to mind dryness, dullness, and argumentation. But if we think of doctrine as a manifestation of God’s truth and character, we can in turn worship Him by knowing and sharing the doctrines of His Word.

So often I have heard some of the sweetest people make some of the most off-the-wall comments about truth, and I have been so surprised by the lack of discernment. I remember a news report about cult leader David Koresh quoting one woman saying she was drawn in because of how well he knew his Bible. But just in that short news report Koresh made several unbiblical statements. Sometimes celebrities whose behavior and public statements contradict the Bible are quoted as spiritual sources.

One of my former pastors, Jesse Boyd, used to say that (at least in his day) bankers were trained to recognize counterfeit bills not by studying the various counterfeits, but by studying genuine currency so well that they could tell if any bill differed from it. If we know God’s Word and His truth well, we won’t be led astray and we can help share God’s truth with our children, neighbors, relatives, and others within our sphere of influence.

We have to remember, though, to let our speech be always “with grace” (Col. 4:6) and to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15). We don’t need to “pounce” on every comment or reference another person might make, but graciously seek what the Lord might have us say. We also have to distinguish between clear doctrine and those areas where good people can differ or personal preferences.

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. (Ephesians 4:14-15).

For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law (Proverbs 4:2).

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few (Acts 17:11-12).

Teasing

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I just learned a few days ago that my youngest son has been being teased for weeks or months, I don’t know how long. It came to light a few days ago. In one of their school chapels, the students had been encouraged to make sure their hearts were right with God, and in an unusual moving of the Spirit, many did so, and did so publicly that day. It was totally unplanned, but chapel lasted for a couple of hours or more that day as they gave time for students to confess to the Lord, and to each other if need be, anything that He convicted them of. Our church had had wonderful revival services the week before, and this, I think, showed the Lord’s continued working.

What my son felt the need to confess to us was that he had pushed or shoved another student a while back. That’s not characteristic of him, but the student had said something about me. What, I don’t know and didn’t ask. I told Jesse that while I appreciated his wanting to defend me, that probably wasn’t the way to handle it, and he agreed. As we talked longer, somehow it came out that he was regularly teased about his ears. He laughed as he told me some of the things that had been said. I mentioned to him that there is a surgery in which they can take ears that stick out too far and make them closer to your head. My husband and I had talked about it before — to me Jesse’s ears were kind of borderline. If they had been much worse we would have already had the surgery to avoid just this kind of thing. But all surgeries have their risks, so we didn’t want to do it unnecessarily. So we were waiting to see how things changed as he went through puberty. As I mentioned this surgery to Jesse, he said, “No, I’m fine with it. A lot of times I laugh along with them.”

So, though he’s handling it well, my mother-bear heart was upset. I don’t think we need to talk to parents of the other kids or anything like that — I think that could only make it worse.

But what bothers me is that, when anything of this nature comes up in a conversation, the general response is something like, “Oh, kids are just that way.”

Well, that’s true. But it is also a kid’s way, when he is little, to hit another toddler over the head who has a toy he wants or to lie the first time his mind can comprehend that he might be in trouble but he might get out of it if he can make Mom think that something else happened. We correct those behaviors — why do we let other behaviors go unchecked with the excuse that kids are just that way? Especially Christian parents of Christian kids? People have often said through the years, “Kids can be so cruel.” Shouldn’t we be trying to teach our children not to be that way?

I know often parents are unaware of the kinds of things their kids are saying. Probably my own children have said things they shouldn’t have to other children along the way as they were growing up that I am totally unaware of. Perhaps one thing we can do as parents is to ask the Lord to bring these things to light if and when they happen so they can be dealt with. Another thing we can do is actively teach that God made everyone the way they are for a reason. Our standard is not, or shouldn’t be, that everyone should look like movie stars or models. We talk about that in other areas, but we need to apply it to this. Sometimes I’ll see someone and my first reaction is that their nose is big or their eyes are too far apart or whatever, and I’ll have to ask myself, “By whose standard? Who decreed that noses are only supposed to be so long or eyes are supposed to be set only a certain way? Who made that nose or those eyes?” We need to check these attitudes in ourselves and in our children. And we need to teach the harmfulness of hurtful words (Prov. 12:18: There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health) and the need for gracious, edifying words (Eph. 4:29: Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.)

I hope this doesn’t sound like I am “ranting.” It isn’t meant to. These thoughts weren’t stirred just by this one incident. but have been on my mind for a while. I’ve been a mother for 22 years, worked with children for several years before that, and was a child myself before that. 🙂 So, knowing that children are wont to tease and to sometimes be cruel is nothing new to me.  But over the years I have been amazed at the tendency of adults, especially Christian adults, to just brush it off as normal. Christians aren’t supposed to yield to the sinful impulses that come normally. We’re supposed to seek God’s supernatural grace to yield our bodies, including our mouths, to Him for His use.

The Lord is so good to minister to us and bring something of His truth before our eyes just when we need it. I mentioned a few days ago that I was delighted to find a reproduction of Rosalind Goforth’s biography of her husband, Jonathan.  I’ve been wanting to reread it since I got it, and I picked it up yesterday. One of the early chapters talked about his college experiences. He came from a farming background, and his mother was one of the best seamstresses in the county, and she made his clothes for school. When he went away to college, his home-made clothes stood out like a sore thumb in the city. Even more than that, though, he was naive and unpretentious. He did realize that his clothing did not fit in, and, though very poor, bought some material to have some new clothes made. Some young men in his dormitory found it, cut a hole in the top, put it over Jonathan’s head, and made him run up and down a hallway through a number of other laughing students. He felt afterward that this kind of behavior should be reported, but was told by the college authorities that it was just a harmless prank. It hurt him, not so much that this had been done to him, but that it had happened at a Christian college. Rosalind writes, “That night he knelt with Bible before him and struggled through the greatest humiliation and the first great disappointment of his life. The dreams he had been indulging in but a few days before had vanished, and before him, for a time at least, lay a lone road. Henceforth he was to break an independent trail. It is not hard to see God’s hand in this, forcing him out as it did into an independence of action which so characterized his whole after life.” By the time he graduated, he had the honor and support of the whole school, and many had come to apologize for their actions that year.

So — I know the Lord can use these kinds of things to teach and to build character, and I can trust Him to work all things together for good (Romans 8:28).

Wii, Wii, Wii, all the way home

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My husband and I had intended to buy our kids a Wii gaming system for Christmas, but there were none to be had. He had been checking stores ever since Christmas, unbeknownst to our kids, and surprised us all by coming home with one Saturday. He got it from a place in town that gave coupons for one free game or video rental a month for a year with the purchase of a Wii, so that’s helpful. It’s nice to be able to try out games before shelling out the big bucks for them.

The Wii, if you don’t know, has sensors that are somehow able to translate your movements to the screen. So instead of just pushing buttons, you have to actually make the moves with your arms. The one game we got (or maybe it was included, I don’t know) was Wii Sports, which had tennis, bowling, baseball, etc., and so you had to actually make a swinging motion with your arms, holding the controller like a bat. It definitely gets players off the couch!

Normally I don’t play video games at all. There is something about the colors or lights and movement or something that really bothers my eyes. Then there’s the annoying music. But I was able to play Wii bowling and enjoy it — I even made the highest score so far for the family. 🙂 My kids seemed to be tickled that I was actually playing a video game.

Something else that’s fun is that you can make up the little character that you play, called a Mii — choose eye color, hair style, etc. You can make it look like yourself or like someone totally different. I was amazed at how much Jeremy’s looked like him — it was so funny. I want to try to get a picture of him and his Mii later. (At the kids’ urging, I named my character Mommii. 🙂 )

So — I guess I know what everyone’s spare moments will be occupied with over the next few days!

Psalm Sunday: Psalm 4

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In our journey through the Psalms together hosted by Erica at Butterfly Kisses, we’re looking at Psalm 4 this week. I hope you can join us!

1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah.
3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
6 There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased.
8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Once again David calls out to the Lord in his distress. From past experience he knows that God can and will hear his prayer and help him.

In verse 2-5 he addresses the “sons of men” — apparently those who were causing his distress. He asks how long they will continue in their ways, turning glory into shame, loving vanity (uselessness, futility, emptiness), seeking leasing (deception and lies, according to the Strong’s definition). He exhorts them to know something: that the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself and will hear their prayer. He admonishes them to stand in awe of Him and to commune (to say, to answer, to say in one’s heart, to think, to command, to promise, to intend, according to Strong’s definition) with their own hearts, to be still, to offer sacrifices of righteousness and trust in the Lord. In other words, “God will hear my prayer because I am His. Be still, be quiet: think about these things. What your living for is useless, vain, and false. Turn to Him; trust in Him.” David here issues an invitation, or an exhortation, really, to the ungodly to come to the Lord as well.

In verse 6 he addresses the Lord again. Perhaps his statement, “There be many that say, ‘Who will shew us any good?'” is based the response he got, or thought he would get, from the sons of men. He asks for God’s countenance on Him and is glad in his heart, gladder than what the others have to celebrate about. He sleeps in perfect peace, knowing that His safety is in the Lord.

This Psalm reminds me a little of the first few verses of Psalm 37:

1 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

4 Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

We don’t have to fret, worry, or stew about what the ungodly are doing, even when they set themselves against us. If we belong to the Lord and our hearts are right with Him, we can trust Him to take care of us and of them.

True for spouses as well as others

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A section of the e-mail devotional I received today from Back to the Bible, compiled from Elisabeth’s Elliot’s writings, had the following paragraphs, which I thought gave an excellent perspective for relationships of any kind:

It is always possible to be thankful for what is given rather than to complain about what is not given. One or the other becomes a habit of life. There are, of course, complaints which are legitimate–as, for example, when services have been paid for which have not been rendered–but the gifts of God are in an altogether different category. Ingratitude to him amounts (let us resort to no euphemisms) to rebellion.

Many women have told me that my husband’s advice, which I once quoted in a book, has been an eye-opener to them. He said that a wife, if she is very generous, may allow that her husband lives up to perhaps eighty percent of her expectations. There is always the other twenty percent that she would like to change, and she may chip away at it for the whole of their married life without reducing it by very much. She may, on the other hand, simply decide to enjoy the eighty percent, and both of them will be happy. It’s a down-to-earth illustration of a principle: Accept, positively and actively, what is given. Let thanksgiving be the habit of your life.

Such acceptance is not possible without a deep and abiding belief in the sovereign love of God. Either he is in charge, or he is not. Either he loves us, or he does not. If he is in charge and loves us, then whatever is given is subject to his control and is meant ultimately for our joy.

Odds and Ends

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(Photo Hunt post is a couple of posts below this.)

If you have some time to kill and just want to be entertained, try this Virtual Bubble Wrap. Or you could go to Flickr.com and peruse the Stick Figures in Peril. My son showed me this a while back. We’ve all seen warning signs on everything under the sun with those little hapless stick figures in various dangerous situations, showing us what not to do. They are not meant to be funny, of course — but some of them are. And the comments on some of the pictures are even more hilarious (caution: the language isn’t always the best, but most of what I have seen is ok). Someone made a group for them on Flickr. Some of my favorites are here, here, here, and here.

I didn’t have Jane Eyre on my winter reading list at first, though it is another classic I always wanted to read “some day.” But after seeing the first half of the new PBS production of it which was on last Sun. night, I put it on my list and started it yesterday! I saw an earlier production of it with Ciaran Hinds as Mr. Rochester, but there are some differences between this production and that one. I don’t know which one is supposed to be closer to the book. I must have seen an even earlier production of it at some point, because I’ve been basically familiar with the storyline.

Mrs. B. at Cherish the Home wrote a wonderful post a few days ago about what SAHW (stay at home wives) can do while waiting on the Lord for children. Another post of hers on humility provoked thought by reminding us that God doesn’t tell us to wait on Him to humble us but tells us to “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” (I Peter 5:6). Of course, we can only do so with the Lord’s help. But clearly there is activity rather than passivity here, and I tend to just pray and ask God to make me humble when He tells me here to take action.

There is a beautiful poem called “To a Homemaker” here at Stephanie’s Musings of a Mountain Mama.

There is a good interview with Jamie Langston Turner, author of Winter Birds and five other novels, here.

On the topic of writing, Elisabeth Elliot wrote a piece on what I would call “Writing by Faith” but which she titled “The Trail to Shandia” here. (The title will make sense when you read it. 🙂 ) I thought the last paragraphs were interesting in light of the struggle several bloggers have written about (and I struggle with myself), the desire for approval. Of course we have to do what we do, even blogging, as unto the Lord whether we get any feedback or not. But these words comforted me that that desire is a ver human one and not always wrong:

“Do I need approval?” Answer: yes. Does anybody not need approval? Is there anybody who is content to live his life without so much as a nod from anybody else? Wouldn’t he be, of all men, the most devilishly self-centered? Wouldn’t his supreme solitude be the most hellish? It’s human to want to know that you please somebody.

Sometimes readers of things that I write tell me long afterward that they have thought of writing me a letter, or have written one and discarded it, thinking, “She doesn’t need my approval.” Well, they’re mistaken–for wouldn’t it be a lovely thing to know that a footprint you have left on the trail has, just by being there, heartened somebody else?

Winter reading list

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winter-reading-list.jpg

I began a winter reading list in early January after the manner of the Fall Reading Challenge many of us did. I’ve had it in my sidebar but wanted to post it here so I could refer back to it as I completed books and commented on them. As I perused everyone’s lists from the challenge in the fall, I made a list of other books I want to read, so I have plenty of ideas if I get through these! 🙂

Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis (In progress)

White Chocolate Moments by Lori Wick (Completed)

Ever After by Karen Kingsbury (Completed)

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (In progress)

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

The Reptile Room (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 2) by Lemony Snicket

Through the year (These are laid out in weekly or daily sections):

Queen of the Castle: 52 Weeks of Encouragement for the Uninspired, Domestically Challenged or Just Plain Tired Homemaker by Lynn Bowen Walker

Daily Light on the Daily Path compiled by the Samuel Bagster family

Wonderful Words by Stewart Custer

And, of course, the Bible.

I finished White Chocolate Moments by Lori Wick first. Reading Lori Wick feels like visiting an old friend to me. I think I have read all of her books and really enjoy them. I wouldn’t agree necessarily with every little point, but, then, that’s true of anyone I suppose. She has written many historical novels and a few contemporary ones: this is one of the latter. I thought the name of the main character, Arcineh, was kind of odd, and there was no explanation as to how her parents came up with that name. Her nickname is Arci, and throughout the book people hear it and mistake it for Darcy — that gets a little tedious sometimes. Arcineh’s parents are killed in a car accident when she is about 11, and she goes to live with her grandfather. Though they get along wonderfully, his “favorite” granddaughter has been Arcineh’s cousin, and that causes conflict later on. Arcineh is very non-competitive (I am, too, and it was interesting reading about someone else like that), and when things come to a crisis, she leaves. The rest of the books follows her journey to acceptance, to love, and to faith.

I also finished Karen Kingsbury’s book Ever After, just yesterday. It is a sequel to Even Now, which told the story of a young couple who were separated by their parents when the girl, Lauren, becomes pregnant. After Lauren gives birth her baby daughter, Emily, becomes ill, and through a series of misunderstandings, Lauren believes she is dead. She leaves and is estranged from her family and can’t find her boyfriend, Shane. She goes to college, becomes very liberal in her views, and eventually becomes a reporter for Time magazine on the front lines in Afghanistan, opposed to war. Shane, meanwhile, becomes a career soldier. Emily grows up, eventually finds her parents, and tries to reunite them. In this sequel, Shane and Lauren love each other as much as ever, but their differences are so great that they are not sure if they can make it. Emily goes to college, begins a job, and meets a young man, also a soldier, due for a second tour in Iraq. I’ll leave it there so as not to spoil it for anyone else who might like to read it. In many ways it is a predictable plot (to me, anyway), and Karen Kingsbury tends to overplay the emotional scenes, and I don’t think anyone opposed to the war in Iraq would be swayed by reading this. But she does make some very good points about the war effort, and this tribute to those who defend freedom is heartfelt. So even with those negatives, yes, I’d recommend the book.

I’m almost done with Mere Christianity. It is actually very easy to read, but I don’t normally gravitate toward non-fiction. I do want to comment more on it when I finish, but I would recommend it.

Fundamentalism and separatism

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Normally I try to keep this blog pretty controversy-free. It’s not that I don’t have strong opinions on certain subjects, but there are plenty of places on the Internet to discuss and debate issues, and I didn’t want this to be one of them.

However, I do see a lot of misconceptions about these two subjects pretty often. A few weeks ago someone was blogging about a religious leader who took a Biblical principle far beyond what the Bible meant, and someone in the comments wrote a disparaging remark about “those fundamentalists.” The man was hardly a fundamentalist, but that term seems to be applied to anyone who is religiously unreasonable and excessive. In one Christian forum I often saw fundamentalists referred to as “KJV-only and dresses-only.” Not so. 🙂 And then somewhere else I saw separatists referred to in a negative way as a stumblingblock or a hindrance. I would have to say some separatists may be so, but there is certainly a principle of separation in the Bible (more on that later). I am not linking back to those posts because I don’t want to send controversy back to those sites, and I am not really writing this to answer them back. I just want to talk about what these words actually do mean.

I thought about writing a post about fundamentalism right after starting my blog, but just hadn’t yet sat down to do it. This will not be a great theological essay but rather a simple homemaker’s viewpoint. I have been a fundamentalist for 30+ years, before I ever knew there was a word for it. I didn’t grow up in a fundamentalist home, so this isn’t something I was raised with. The church where I was saved was an independent, fundamental Baptist church. I wrote in my testimony how I was saved and led to this church. It was at this church I was first encouraged to read the Bible through and to study the Scriptures for myself. My own studied confirmed to me that what I was taught at that church was Biblical. I attended a fundamentalist Christian college and have been in fundamental independent Baptist churches ever since.

A fundamentalist basically means someone who holds to the “fundamentals” or essentials of the faith, and these would be: that the Bible is inspired from God and is our standard of faith and practice, that God created man, that Christ was born of a virgin, That Jesus is the sinless, holy, only begotten Son of God the Father, that Jesus’ death was the atonement for our sins, that He rose again from the grave, that people are saved, born again, by repenting of their sins and believing on Him as Lord and Savior, and that the Holy Spirit is the comes to live in the hearts of believers when they are saved.

Beyond that, it is hard to paint all fundamentalists with the same brush strokes. Some are KJO; some are not (the ESV seems to be pretty popular right now. I’m currently using the NASB for devotions). Some are dresses-only for ladies; some are not. Some are Calvinistic; some are not. Some use only the old-standard hymns; some use Southern gospel; a few use CCM. Some homeschool; some do not. Not all Baptists are fundamentalists and not all fundamentalists are Baptists. The two times we have moved to a new town as a family and began the process of visiting independent fundamental churches, though they have essentially the same statement of faith and very similar church constitutions, their practice, standards, and personality run the gamut. Fundamentalists generally, historically are more conservative than New Evangelicals (or Evangelicals — the “New” seems to have been dropped), but that’s not always so in every respect.

Fundamentalists are often accused of being legalistic and Pharisaical. I think that partly comes from a misunderstanding of what legalism is. True legalism is a depending on what one does either for salvation or, after salvation, for a right standing with God, rather than depending on His grace. But these days often if Christian A has a stricter standard that Christian B, Christian B accuses Christian A of legalism. And that’s just faulty. (More on that in another post later.)

One of the major differences between fundamentalists and evangelicals is the doctrine of separation. Yes, some people carry it way too far and separate themselves into a corner, and that’s wrong. But the basic doctrine is rooted in Scripture. Here are a few of the passages indicating it:

II Thess. 3: 6: Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.

II Thess. 3: 14-15: And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.

I Cor. 5:9-11: I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

In the I Corinthians passage, Paul says in the verses above and below that one in chapter 5 that he does not mean that we should never interact with “fornicators, coveters, extortioners, idolators,” etc., because if we did we would pretty much have to leave this world (and in other Bible passages, particularly in the example of Christ’s ministry, we’re shown that we are here to minister to them and show them His love). But Paul says when a person is a professing believer and yet engages in these activities, we’re not to fellowship with them. In the first verse in that chapter he refers to one in the church who was living in an incestuous relationship, and in v. 2, he says, “And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you.” He tells them in v. 4-5, “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” This would be the end result of a church discipline situation outlined in Matthew 18: 15-20 (interestingly, the promise “That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” is in this context.) The purpose has to do not only with the purity of the church and the need to shelter believers from being led astray, but it is also restoration. In II Corinthians this man did repent, and Paul had to tell the Corinthians that they needed to accept him back.

Those passages all deal with disobedient brethren, with those who are professing believers but are not walking in obedience to God’s Word. There are other passages that talk about separation from unbelievers. Here’s the man one:

II Cor. 6: 14: Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?

16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.

18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Again, that doesn’t mean we don’t interact at all with the people mentioned here, but we’re to avoid an “unequal yoke” (which includes marriage between an unbeliever and a believer but includes other types of “yokes” too.)

The doctrine of separation is clearly there. The trouble comes in two areas: what we separate over and how we do it. As I mentioned earlier, some separate over many things other than the fundamentals and go way overboard (I was kicked off a Christian ladies’ message board once for talking about how going to a Christian college had blessed my life. These ladies believed that a Christian woman should not go to college, that remaining under her father’s authority meant remaining physically at home until she married. I had never heard of such at the time. When I tried to convey why I felt that was wrong, I was removed for “causing people to sin.” Yes, that was extreme. But that’s not true of most fundamentalists — and I don’t even know if those women would have called themselves fundamentalists anyway). Separation over homeschooling vs. Christian schools vs. public schools, courtship vs. marriage, use of birth control or not, Bible translations, dresses or pants, and all other secondary issues ought not to be: we need to practice grace and allow that people can have different opinions on these things and still love God and be right with Him. It’s not that these issues are not important — we need to prayerfully consider what God would have us do in each instance and study any Scriptural principles involved. But in issues where the Bible doesn’t clearly speak or convey an issue to consider, we need to allow for grace.

As far as how we separate, separation doesn’t mean that when we see someone like this coming down the sidewalk toward us, we walk across the street and avoid them. It doesn’t mean we treat them hatefully. Paul said in II Thess. 3: 15 “Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.“ In all honesty I struggle some times with exactly what it does mean. But I am pretty sure that it at least applies in a ministry related setting. For instance, years ago a famous evangelist had someone open his meeting in prayer who had previously publicly denounced the virgin birth. Personally I think that was wrong. I head up our ladies’ ministry at church, and if I had a neighbor with whom I had serious doctrinal differences, I could befriend her, talk together over the fence, have yard sales together or whatever, but I would not ask her to speak at our ladies meeting. I hope that makes sense.

The Bible does teach that believers should be unified, but it also teaches separation over disobedience to the clear teaching of the Word. That may sound contradictory, but if we remember that one of the purposes of separation is restoration, it makes more sense. Perhaps we can understand it this way: we want unity within our own families — that won’t mean agreement over every little thing, but in our hearts and in major things we want to be unified, to not have disagreements. But if one member of the family decides to go off and do something wrong, that unity is disturbed until they get that thing right. It doesn’t mean we don’t love them any less when they are rebellious, but like the father of the prodigal son, we’re waiting and watching for them to return and run out to meet them and embrace them when they do.

I was going to write a bit more about secondary issues, but this post is way long already, so I will save that for another time.