If you were to ask the general public how they feel about the word “fundamentalist”, you will probably hear a consistent response that lumps in that word with other words that don’t mean the same thing.

Think of words like “extremist” or other colorful language of that sort that identies an objectively dangerous person.

Just because people believe this to be true doesn’t make it so — but that doesn’t mean there should be a blurred line when it comes to extremes.

What kind of extremes could that be, though?

Well, when we think of fundamentalists in other faiths outside of Christianity, we can see an observable trend of inner worlds filled with murder, covetousness, gluttony, pride, and a laundry list of other degenerate behavior.

You say that you want to see a fundamentalist Muslim?

Look no further than the barbaric terrorist organizations such as the Taliban or even ISIS.

You say that you want to see a fundamental pagan?

Look no further than the idol worshipping Roman Catholic church.

Let’s say that you wanted to maybe even see a fundamentalist Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness — don’t worry, there’s a cult there for you, too.

But if you want to see a fundamentalist Christian — you’ll see the chasm of a blurred spectrum with extremes of hate and love leaning on opposite sides.

For some, being a fundamentalist Christian means that you believe the Bible plus nothing minus nothing.

You use it to guide your entire life because it is God’s Word and because of your faith you double down with full confidence on what God says about any topic as the firm and final authority on the matter.

For others, being a fundamentalist Christian has a lighter, looser look on life.

In these more liberal cases, it might mean jumping on popular trends they see on social media or — dare I say it — clinging to a particular preacher no matter what gets preached from the pulpit.

While the second believer’s intentions might be genuine, there comes a point where a decision has to be made to determine what is an icon and what is an idol in that person’s life.

And that seemingly simple decision can be the difference between life and death both physically and spiritually — depending on the circumstance, of course.

To add to that, being grounded and having core unshakeable principles often might get labeled as cult-like behavior.

But this is only ever really a problem when the icon vs idol decision we talked about earlier either isn’t made or isn’t made fast enough.

And, unfortunately, the weightier matter in that decision tends to be how fully reliant the decision maker is on handling peer pressure and the overall social environment that gets created sometimes.

Cults tend to do an excellent job attacking the communal needs of people in that they take advantage of those who are lonely in need of some sort of a social circle.

When the surrounding social circle or a specific preacher or public figure takes even the slightest lift of a left foot onto a pedestal in your life, it is officially time to check yourself before you find yourself in a spiritual checkmate situation.

With that being said, one of the beautiful things about being a fundamentalist is that there are very clear black and white ways to handle disagreements with others when it comes to the core doctrines of scripture.

In the book of 2 John, we see a clear dividing line regarding the breaking of fellowship — this line is on the doctrine of Christ.

2 John 1:8-11 warns us with this message:

8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

John is warning the church that he is writing to about the dangers of even wishing God speed to someone who is not in agreement with the doctrine of Christ.

Not only does John say to not fellowship with them in your house or to bid them God speed, but he also lays out the reason why as being the fact that rejecting the doctrine of Christ is a full-fledged intentional rejection of God.

And that person, even if they are claiming to be in agreement with you or attempting to minimize this doctrinal difference, is to be rejected.

Otherwise, without taking action, you are now partaking with them and sharing in the evil actions of that person.

Denying the doctrine of Christ also can happen a multitude of ways.

One would be to say that Jesus is not the Son of God.

A second way would be to say that Jesus is the God the Father.

Someone may even fully reject the divinity of Christ and only acknowledge him as the Son of Man (without a divine nature) as well as reject the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son of God.

Groups and camps that reject the doctrine of Christ include Muslims, Mormons, Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Oneness Pentecostals.

In this situation, a fundamentalist is easily able to see that the Bible says something, unapologetically shares it publicly with others, and stands on it as a matter of fact no matter what.

See, share, stand — all on the word of God — that’s the Christian fundamentalist.

To be clear, we are all fundamentalists to some degree — even if you are reading this and aren’t a Christian or associated with another faith.

Outside of God, you’ll notice the same core characteristics that define someone’s fundamental core values — ironically, they are all fruits of the Spirit of God.

Those include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, meekness, and longsuffering — all things that the Bible says there is no law against.

But in addition to those things, generally speaking, you’ll find that people will also tend to subtly sneak in tolerance, perverted forgiveness, and a blind eye to evil.

And, of course, without God, this worldview creates a contradictory way of life and causes a great deal of confusion and almost zero if not zero clarity on what is actually good, bad, healthy, and evil.

There’s more to the idea of being a fundamentalist that we’ll get into with future stories, but it boils down to this at the end of the day.

A fundamentalist stands on the core principles produced by who they believe to be in control of the world around them.

For Muslims, that’s Mohammad.

For Mormons, that’s Joseph Smith.

For Catholics, it is whoever the current pope is.

But for my brothers and sisters in Christ, it should never be anyone — ANY ONE — except the Lord Jesus Christ.

What Does It Mean To Be A Fundamentalist?

What does It mean to be a pharisee?