Metamorph.
…Now
I understand: to blossom
is to pray, to wilt and shed
is to pray, to turn to mulch
is to pray, to stretch in the dark
is to pray, to break the surface
after great months of ice
is to pray, and to squeeze love
up the stalky center toward the sky
with only dreams of color
is to pray, and finally to
unfold again as if never before
is to be the prayer.
~ Mark Nepo, God’s Wounds
Because of my periodic critique of the evangelical church, it would be easy to think that I see them as the enemy. I do not.
You probably know that The Vining Center does a lot of work with people who have been injured by the organized church, and by the evangelical church in particular. Christianity as a whole has a fairly spotted history in the world—often being the vehicle of enormous healing and transformation… at other times being the vehicle of shocking oppression and injury. This is our institutional story as Christians, and it’s even our personal history: Individually, we have generated both healing and injury to others. Being human isn’t easy.
I actually agree with Richard Rohr that the evangelical church (what he calls the “first half” of life) lays an excellent foundation early in life. He describes in his masterful book Falling Upward how theological certainty and tribalism build the necessary container of a healthy ego, a defining sense of self that finds clarity in the us-versus-them confidence of a simple faith. To tap the familiar metaphor of metamorphosis, caterpillars have their own beauty. But spending your entire life crawling, when you are meant to fly, is a great tragedy.
I believe it’s important to distinguish between the belief system of evangelicalism and the worldview of fundamentalism. These are different, but it gets tough to parse them out in modern times because evangelicalism has been so thoroughly colonized by fundamentalism. Let me explain…
In last week’s post, we discussed the role of paradigms in the human story and how they shape our seeing. In this context, evangelicalism is what you see (if you’re part of that tribe), but fundamentalism is how you see (which is a larger tribe across many religions and belief systems). The crux of evangelicalism is generally described in four points:
Biblicism: Every word of the Bible was written by God and carries God’s authority for all time.
Crucicentrism: On the cross, Jesus paid a blood debt to satisfy God’s wrath, leading to the possibility of salvation.
Conversionism: This salvation is accessed by the sinner’s prayer; all others will suffer eternal conscious torment.
Evangelism: Evangelicals then bear a moral obligation to convert as many as possible to this belief system.
While I now interpret each of these four points differently, personally, I don’t see evangelicalism as the enemy. I do, however, see the worldview of fundamentalism as a huge enemy, possibly the greatest threat to humanity (maybe not counting nuclear war and AI). Fundamentalism—which may be Christian or any other religion or even atheist or entirely political—is also built around four key points that filter how these adherents see the world:
Rigid: an ingrained certainty of belief and commitment to never change.
Tribal: an over-identification with those who agree and a vilification of those who do not.
Besieged: an alarming perception that they are under attack by the “others.”
Aggressive: a compensatory propensity toward violence, whether that be emotional, cultural, political, or militarily.
Maybe you can see how the worldview of fundamentalism is literally tearing our world apart from all sides… and how easy it has been for evangelicalism to be coopted by this mindset. Evangelicalism, as I see it, is a genuine attempt to understand God and the world through a hyper-literal interpretation of scripture. I disagree, but I respect it. Fundamentalism, on the other hand, is intrinsically barbarian and destructive. (It’s even possible to be a fundamentalist ex-vangelical, which would also be destructive.) Fundamentalism is intractably mired in ego; We must stand, lovingly but firmly, against this tide at all cost. And we must do everything in our power to metamorph toward the second half of life—the place of welcome, peace, healing, and unity.
growing your soul
We are all susceptible to the temptations of fundamentalism: It fuels our proclivity toward anxiety, self-justification, and complacency. Can you see any of that in yourself today? What do you want to do about it?
serving our world
How can you embrace the non-fundamentalism of Jesus: a grounded, generous spirit that welcomes, heals, and unites all true seekers.
takeaway
Become the butterfly!