So why are the old Fundamentalist mad at the young ones?

I actually (and shamefully) had lumped all fundamentalists into one category, and it has been refreshing to see that the definition of the word could use some tweaking.

 

You nailed the problem with one word in your second paragraph, "CHANGE." People are afraid of change. We are not talking about doctrinal change but methodical change. Most people have the idea that if you do something differently than I do then you are judging me as doing it the wrong way. The reason they feel this way is that they are judging you too.

 

Food for thought:

1. Seems not all "fundamentalists" are as you have described. Wide brushes paint broadly.

2. If you view "fundamentalists" as judging you because you do things differently, do you not tend to judge the "fundamentalists" by denegrading them for doing thusly?



I would suggest also, that ALL "fundamentalists" are not found in the camps you may run in, they are everywhere and vary widely.

 

I guess I qualify as an "older fundamentalist" now . Be careful that you don't use the same broad brush to paint us all.

For me it took getting out of the environment to realise what is really important.

 

Is that because of the new color of your hair?

 

Well in a word that is what fundamentalists do, it is only a matter of time before they turn on their "own". Can anyone think of a fundamentalist movement/ group that has not had some other group break away from it after it had been going for a while because "they where getting liberal". I can't think of one.

 

Is that because of the new color of your hair? </font>[/QUOTE]Sorry, must be the old age. I am missing this one.

 

Same can be said for most denominations and the full spectrum of Baptists. Groups/denoms that have split: Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Assembly of God, Church of God, Mormons, Catholics (around 700 AD), etc,

In fact, can you list any group that doesn't have a split in its past based on belief, leaders, or practice?

 

I'm guessing I'm right there with you, Roger. AND I don't know what color my hair is anymore, but I do know that my children are grown. My oldest is so grown he's preaching a revival in a couple of weeks.

Now having said all that and recoginizing the fact that I am indeed getting old -- I'm also hoping I'm included in the young fundamental group and not in the old group ... mmmmmmmm It is a mighty broad brush.

 

The devotion I read to my class this morning was on change -- from John Maxwell's Leadership devotional.

The Scripture was on the attitudes about defeating the Canaanites. Maxwell says there are five types when change is suggested (the ideas are his -- the wording is mine):

1) The idea person -- the innovater.
2) Those that jump on the bandwagon quickly.
3) The ones that have to wait and see just a bit. They need to see some of it happen with their own eyes, but they still move fairly quickly.
4) Those that are late to jump on the idea. They've got to have proof first that it's going to happen.
5) The bellyachers.

We tried to figure out where each of us were. I was pleased that the kids placed me in category 1 or 2. Most of them fell at about the 3 mark. Everyone agreed that even with a group of 8th graders, we still have a few that are bellyachers. They could have named them if I'd allowed it. Pretty insightful for kids.

 

Ah, you make me miss teaching Jr High .

 

Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

The old ways are the best ways.

 

Old is relative. The "old ways" of the early 1900s are not necessarily better than the ways of a generation later. The "old" fundamentalists would likely have been considered modern by those several generations earlier too!

The problem I see with the "old" fundamentalists is that they are more concerned with the "ways" than with the heart and mind behind them. That in itself is Pharisaism!!

 

The old ways are the best ways?

The Catholic Church is reaally old, about 1700 years old. Are its ways the best ways?

 

God's ways are much older than the Catholic ways.

 

And God's ways are also much older than the typical fundamentalist ways.