Ray on Monday - Jesus was a Fundamentalist

Whoa! Hold on. Don’t jump to unfounded conclusions. He wasn’t a terrorist but He was and remains a fundamentalist.

The unfortunate fact in society is the corruption of language. Someone apparently aligned the word terrorist with fundamentalist by stating how one leads to another. To lock every political theory and religious belief into such a link is unfair and unfounded.

Fundamental simply means foundational, essential. What did Jesus consider foundational for His ministry? The Jewish scriptures from Genesis to Malachi. ‘It is written’ was His conviction. People and events considered as fictitious by some critics Jesus endorsed as real. Such critics make excuses for Jesus’ conviction as simply being a man of his time. Any attempt to squeeze Jesus into a mould of conforming to the age actually undermines His total credibility. Where would you stop?

By faith based upon biblical knowledge and historical certainty, Christians believe Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God. Therefore we hold what He believed and said as well as what He did as fundamental to our understanding and appreciation of Him.

To be a Christian fundamentalist is to live according to the teaching of Christ. How can you link Him to terrorism when He said, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven…’ Matthew 5:44-45. He practiced this when He was unjustly crucified. Remember His prayer, ‘Father forgive them, they know not what they do!’

There are groups whose fundamental beliefs allow for and encourage death, deceit and destruction. Such are terrorists. No fair-minded person would place Jesus and His teachings anywhere near such perverted ideologies.

Jesus the fundamentalist offers abundant life, not death. He gives power to leave the kingdom of evil and join in His kingdom of grace and love. He promises to be with His disciple, unseen yes but nonetheless real, as the disciple walks in the light of Christ’s words. Such fundamentalism is good for time and eternity. I guess that makes me a fundamentalist.

Ray (a disciple of Christ) Hawkins.