Mark's Notebook

The true meaning of a fundamentalist Christian

In Working For Change, Byron Williams poses these typical criticisms of the fundamentalist church:

It seems quite paradoxical for fundamentalists to periodically invoke the name of Jesus in their rhetoric while advocating tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, militarism and authoritarianism, along with the exclusion of certain Americans from the public conversation.

Such beliefs do not play well, however, with a Jesus who emphasized love, justice, hope and opportunity. The very idea of something called a "fundamentalist Christian" as currently practiced is by definition oxymoronic.

It is impossible to be a fundamentalist Christian and not apply a strict adherence to the belief of "love your neighbor as yourself," a concept Jesus placed as a high priority. In short, a fundamentalist Christian must be a fundamentalist to love.

Such fundamentalism is possible universally, even if one is not Christian.

However, Mr. Williams misses the point that what he suggests is actually impossible. The message of Christ is that it is impossible to "love your neighbor as yourself." It is impossible to emulate Jesus.

A main difference between liberal and fundamentalist Christians is that liberals continue to believe that it is possible to change their world through love apart from Christ, but fundamentalists have discovered that true love is impossible to create apart from Christ. This drives fundamentalists back to the cross out of sheer desperation, while liberals push Christ into the back seat while they doggedly make "love" the true center of their lives.

If Jesus Christ is not the true center of your life, you are not a Christian at all. Jesus Christ is a real person with whom you can have a relationship. To subscribe to the "philosophy" of Jesus without having a relationship with him is just another of the non-Christian world's deceptions.

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Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008