Sunday, November 04, 2007
Repent and Believe
My recent reading has forced me to reconnect with a time in my life when I was brainwashed by biblical literalism. I do realize that at the heart of fundamentalism is a sincere desire to please God and follow Jesus. That should be applauded even though we forgot to consider if God would really want to be pleased (as if he was a human). Many have mistaken what it means to follow Jesus.
N.T. Wright makes a great point about how biblical interpretation keeps growing as our understanding of its ancient culture expands. Wright points to a phrase in Josephus’ work (Life of Flavious Josephus; 110) when he confronted a rebel during the Jewish / Roman War, Josephus wanted to convince this rebel to stop the futile attempts of attacking the Roman Empire and look for other ways to achieve his desired results. Josephus told the rebel to “Repent and believe in me”. In Greek that is, “metanoesein kai pistos emoi genesesthai”. There is no doubt that what Josephus was attempting to do for this man was save him from obvious peril. Josephus had seen the carnage left by previous attempts at rebellion against the Empire.
Wright goes on to explain that going back to Jesus' call for repentance and examining it in context is what allowed Martin Luther to re-examine the medieval Catholic doctrine of penitence. Luther realized it was off base. He recognized that this concept of repentance wasn’t consistent with the process of individuals confessing and being forgiven by a priest. He realized these words used in the first century meant a call to stop your misguided actions. Wright points out that Luther only got the exegesis half right. What Luther missed was that the call to belief (pistos) was not a request to adapt to a new set of spiritual beliefs Instead, it was a request to change your entire approach. It was about believing Jesus’ methods were better than the methods of “this world”. It meant agreeing to follow Jesus’ example by stopping the attempts to change the world using the ways of the world (violence, coercion, and war) and using the powers of God (love, forgiveness, justice, and mercy).
The more I criticize fundamentalism the more I realize I need to repent from using the ways of the world (ridicule, mockery, verbal attacks, etc) and believe that Jesus’ methods of love, acceptance, forgiveness, and mercy are better tools to accomplish my goals. This is a hard lesson for me and I recognize that I’m effected by the disappointment of learning I was brainwashed most of my life. I feel cheated that much of this information was available but intentionally hidden from me by the ignorance of Christianity in the deep south. I feel there is a path forward within Christianity. We can find common ground but it starts by ending the demonization of anyone outside our own viewpoint. Liberals must begin to realize fundamentalists are good people who have real fears about the immorality surrounding them. Fundamentalists need to stop using their particular interpretations of the bible (fundamental doctrines) as if they were the actual texts. It might even be good if they learned what the word “liberal” really means. If they did, they might even start using that term to describe Jesus.
7 comments:
I am SO tracking with you on this. Child of Southern Baptist Christianity myself. I became disillusioned with the sloppy language, with the phrases we held in reverence which I parsed and came up with nothing. NOTHING at all behind them. What they hell do they mean?
But I have little hope for that kind of Christianity. What's needed are new wineskins. I think the emergent conversation is our only hope.
What a great post Mike. We apparently have a similar background. Thanks for this new view of "repentance". I, too, have felt "cheated" by the theological upbringing I received at the church. They were only doing what they felt was right in their understanding. And you're right, the traditionalist and fundamentalists are basically good people. After all, my beloved, oldest son is one.
Amazing the insights that come when we look at the text again in proper context. I love those aha moments. Reminds me a bit of Luther and his quest to empower the masses by bringing the text to the people instead of relying on a preached interpretation.
Mike,
I am currently a Southern Baptist Youth Minister going to a Southern Baptist school. With that being said, I consider myself a follower of Jesus with emphasis on relationship over religion. I am a big fan of N.T. Wright and it was the excerpt you used on your blog that I was searching for that brought me here.
I would like to pose a question. Do you really believe that fundamentalists have intentionally hidden and been deceptive when it has come to biblical truths, or do you think that many of them have had an earnest, zealous desire to please God (much like Saul before his conversion). My experience has been that of the latter. The censorship of theology that goes on is incredibly frustrating (believe me, I know!), but I believe they truly feel that they are protecting their people from being influenced by "false teaching." I want to make it clear that I understand that they are wrong in doing this, but I wonder if their hearts are as bad as this post may seem to indicate. I would love to know what you think.
s.t.
Anonymous,
I never said these fundamentalists were intentionally misleading anyone. Most of the world's brainwashing is not intentional, but that doesn't mean it is not brainwashing. It is simply passed down from one generation to the next. I do believe they are earnest. I was earnest when I was one of them for much of my life. My Dad is a southern baptist pastor and I've served as a youth minister in his church, so I can relate. But I was ignorant and completely misinformed about the data. I had good motives (as do they) but motivation does not correct blatant irresponsibility to seek all the information available and get the the truth.
The fear of "false teaching" is the oldest trick in the book by any cult. When established religions use this trick it does make me concerned that their motives have turned form innocent naivety to blatant trickery. It's a valid concern. Still, I give them the benefit of the doubt. I've had too many great experiences in fundamentalist churches to think other wise. I think it is plain naivety and a simple fear of education and investigation.
Thanks for your response and your question. I hope you'll continue to dialog about this issue.
Thanks for your response; we are definitely on the same page :). I'm curious to know how you feel about my desire to make a difference in the local church I am in? I've tried to teach the youth that cultural Christianity is not going to change anything but seeking to understand who Jesus really was and following what he really taught will, and I believe they are starting to get it. I think we need "missionaries" within fundamentalism and wondered what you thought about this line of thinking? (sorry to remain anonymous, I believe you understand why)
s.t.
s.t.,
It's a great desire! It's also a tough hill to climb. More power to you if you can make the climb without loosing your sanity. If you find a church that gives you some space to operate, then you can make a difference. I worked with youth for many years. It can be exciting. It might be the best place to begin shifting fundamentalism off the map. It's very difficult for adults to make theological shifts. I did it in my 30's and it was not easy.
The one thing I wish I had during my "transition" was a few close friends who had already gone where I was going. I had to do it alone (I live in the bible-belt!) and that didn't make it any easier.
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