A great article by Lou Martuneac

In one of Lou Martuneac's recent posts , Lou writes upon issues of fundamentalism. At the end of his post he linked to an article he wrote back in January of this year. I greatly esteem it: Your First Step Won't Be Your Last: Avoiding the Path to Compromise. Thank-you for writing this, Lou; it was quite useful for me to understand the mind and motivations behind the issues.

It is passionate and engaging. He shares a bit of some... upsetting and difficult times of providing for his family. This means a lot, to me, to see God at work in the lives of people who share their faith. He admits that he isn't perfect in his faith in God. I can't describe how much I respect him for his reliance on Him even when it became difficult. I can see now God's obvious choice to set apart his life for ministry in such a powerful manner as He has done. Lou has walked with God through the dark places, and the LORD is pleased with his obedience. I praise God for my brother in Christ!

He echos the lessons God has for me in recent months, and I am so encouraged by these comments (see my former two posts: "advocacy" and "made to be like them").

I am undertaking a blogging topic of trying to learn more about my fundamentalist free grace brothers and sisters. So, I attempt to distill some distinctives from the article.

I noticed fundamentalism's values, all of which are biblically sound:

1 -- It suggests that non-mainstream or even popular Christian groups have an element of appeal, and this is true. This is thought to be a high risk for ungodliness to come into the fundamentalist.

2 -- "Listening" to others often means more than just understanding. This word is used as if done with the interest to minimize necessary differences.

3 -- It suggests that people begin to take interest in fringe or fad groups when their own ministry seems dull or unproductive on the surface, and therefore, exposure to outside influences takes the form of a temptation, and the "loser" in these cases is one's doctrines of God. Excellent observation!

4 -- Fundamentalism owns the philosophy that standing on the truths of God ought in most cases, to make one unpopular and removed from the mainstream of Christianity.

5 -- Since truth is unpopular, the more fundamental truth one has, the more he becomes a tool of influence upon the mainstream. There is a special sensitivity that those people of influence do not consequently succumb to pride, since they have so much truth.

6 -- Fundamentalism's assumed natural lack of popularity allows for confidence regardless of opinion on one's performance.

These are all my starting points in trying to build a framework of understanding; I'd like to have some dialogue but I realize that might be difficult to come by. Either way, please read the above as a work-in-progress, but I hope you will take the journey of understanding along with me.

I loved the warnings Lou gives in the conclusion of his article. The tears shed in the view of how far the self can drift away from our first love, Jesus Christ, will come in shock and pain. To remind each other to remain true to God because He has shown His Self in the Word, indeed this is a precious service.

Praise God for the grace that keeps us and brings us to Him!