{"id":1336,"date":"2009-06-02T20:38:27","date_gmt":"2009-06-03T04:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2009\/06\/02\/what-now\/"},"modified":"2009-06-02T21:30:02","modified_gmt":"2009-06-03T05:30:02","slug":"what-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/2009\/06\/02\/what-now\/","title":{"rendered":"what now?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest controversy in the ranks of fundamentalism certainly has many of us riled up. Although things have quieted down a bit now, there are still rumblings in various venues of the fundamentalist blogosphere that indicate the pot is still simmering with plenty of hard feelings and resentment to go around.<\/p>\n

Many are still agitating for something more than \u201cwe haven\u2019t divided over this issue and we aren\u2019t going to start now.\u201d It is evident that this is so even in Kevin Bauder\u2019s third article on the subject and the subsequent discussion at SI. Some still want something more to be done.<\/p>\n

I am still amazed at the reaction to all this. The whole thing reminds me of this:<\/p>\n

NAU Acts 19:32\"\"<\/a> So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We read various rallying cries around the web: \u201cThe Time is Now!\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s time to take a stand.\u201d \u201cWe can\u2019t take this any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Politically these are extremely fragile and risky times for fundamentalism. There has never been complete unanimity on every point, but this controversy threatens to destroy a great deal of such unity as has existed in fundamentalism for some time. It is very hard to see what advantage will be gained.<\/p>\n

To risk the unity of brethren, surely, some great cause must be at stake. What is that cause? Can you name the one single thing that a great mass of right thinking people should now rally around and say, \u201cwe\u2019re not going to take it anymore\u201d?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I am suggesting that the \u201ccause\u201d is as varied as the participants. There is no \u201cone great cause\u201d, and, really, no \u201ceternal principle\u201d at stake.<\/p>\n

In the 1930s, great fundamental principles united fundamentalists in the battle against modernism. In the 1950s another great fundamental principle united fundamentalists against the new evangelical compromise with liberalism.<\/p>\n

In 2009, what great fundamental principle are we to rally around?<\/p>\n

Should we divide over Calvinism?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Clearly, some are saying, \u201cYes.\u201d Either that, or it\u2019s \u201cLet\u2019s divide over poor arguments against Calvinism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seriously?<\/p>\n

We are going to make this the slogan of 2009: \u201cAt last, we got rid of those non-Calvinists!\u201d Or, \u201cAt last, we divided over the clear biblical fundamental of Calvinist soteriology.\u201d Or, \u201cNow they can\u2019t call Calvinists\u00a0 names anymore.\u201d ((Please don\u2019t think I am advocating name-calling, misrepresentation, or slander. I am speaking sarcastically, based on what some seem to be saying. Charity, clarity, and tolerance should be the watchword of the day when it comes to the interminable soteriological debate. Even when one side or the other says something stupid.))<\/p>\n

Really? Is this really what we want the next divide in Fundamentalist ranks to be about?<\/p>\n

Should we divide over bad preaching?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

To read the remarks of many, we are now at a crisis because someone preached a poor sermon, and we need to take a stand against it.<\/p>\n

Yes, I can see how this will fly in the history books: We took a stand against topical preaching! Those topical preachers (like Spurgeon) are killing us! From now on, all fundamental preachers will commit to expository preaching only and all sermons will be submitted to the Central Sermon Approval Counsel.<\/p>\n

Is that it?<\/p>\n

Are we seriously considering dividing an orthodox, Bible believing group because someone preached a supposedly bad sermon? Are we seriously thinking that those who preach expository sermons are always preaching \u201cgood\u201d sermons? ((I\u2019ve heard a few expository duds\u2026 I\u2019ve delivered a few of them\u2026))<\/p>\n

Lord help us! Are we going to make this the Great Cause of 2009?<\/p>\n

Some say we must take a stand against the dictatorship of the Big Personality?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

I can\u2019t believe that anyone is trying to construe pastor Danny Sweatt as a big, overbearing personality who is trying to control fundamentalism and get it to bend to his will. What demands did he make in his message? If people would really listen to his sermon once again, leaving aside the bit about Calvinism, they would hear him say mostly the same things the younger guys have been saying: We can\u2019t be overbearing, we\u2019ve got to be open and accessible, etc. etc.<\/p>\n

There is a large personality, a national figure, making demands in this fight, though, isn\u2019t there? Who would that be?<\/p>\n

I can see our slogan for 2009 coming out this way: \u201cWe\u2019ve taken a stand against Big Personalities because Kevin Bauder said so.\u201d<\/p>\n

How ironic is that?<\/p>\n

~~~<\/p>\n

I have been rather sarcastic here. Some won\u2019t like it. (2009: the year we took a stand against sarcasm.)<\/p>\n

The reason for my sarcasm is that we are in very risky territory here and I think we are in this territory for NO GOOD REASON.<\/p>\n

Some do have an agenda in this. Some want to make changes in fundamentalism. They are using this controversy for their own purposes, I believe, and are willing to stir up emotions over various issues to pursue those ends. I am just urging people to stop and think.<\/p>\n

Some might say, \u201cThings are quieting down, why stir the pot any longer?\u201d The issues remain with us, though the rhetoric may be temporarily ratcheted down. Now that things are a bit quieter, perhaps we can think things over and take serious stock of the perils that face us.<\/p>\n

I believe there are good and sufficient reasons for men of God to unite around the fundamentals in separation from modernism, compromised evangelicalism, and worldliness. I believe that a reasonably unified group of fundamentalist believers can accomplish some worthy things collectively that we would be hard pressed to accomplish individually. I believe such a useful fellowship exists in the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International. It is not a unanimous group, but a coalition of men who hold to a certain core philosophy and creed that is vital for orthodox Christianity.<\/p>\n

And\u2026 I believe there is NO sufficient reason to divide that coalition.<\/em><\/strong> I believe it would be shocking to cause division over any of the issues named so far.<\/p>\n

More on \u2018what next\u2019 in a later post.<\/p>\n

May God grant wisdom to us all.<\/p>\n

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The latest controversy in the ranks of fundamentalism certainly has many of us riled up. Although things have quieted down a bit now, there are still rumblings in various venues of the fundamentalist blogosphere that indicate the pot is still simmering with plenty of hard feelings and resentment to go around. Many are still agitating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[37,71],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2fYWj-ly","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1336"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1337,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336\/revisions\/1337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oxgoad.ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}