Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Joel Tetreau puts into words what I’ve been feeling the last 5 yrs. or so about where I “fit” in fundamentalism:

Discomfort with Movements on the “Right” and “Left”

“Historically speaking, all churches that are orthodox in their faith and militant about the gospel are in a sense fundamentalist churches. Fundamentalism has been right about many important things over the years. In its struggle with liberalism, it was right about a pure gospel. In its struggle with New Evangelicalism, it was right about the clear gospel. SVBC has an apreciation (sic) for its separatist heritage. From the very beginning we have been a bit different than your typical fundamental church. We are excited about historic Fundamentalism as an idea; however, we have not been nor continue to be as equally excited about Fundamentalism as a movement.

Too much modern-day Fundamentalism is riddled with leadership abuse, ecclesiastical politics, schisms over nonessentials, and the problem of equating men’s standards with the doctrines of God. So in a sense we find ourselves between two worlds. On the one hand we are uncomfortable with the main of Evangelicalism (especially New Evangelicalism) with its ecumenicalism and adoption of the world. On the other hand, we are uncomfortable with much of the fundamentalist movement and its propensity toward self-righteousness.

We have found that as we follow after Christ, we make more friends with those who are walking in the same direction we are. We are grateful for those relationships and frankly find real “koinonia” with those sister ministries. That is far superior in our opinion than making ourselves “fit” within a movement that dishonors God in one form or another.”