Looking For a Movement to Join

Phil Johnson at Pyromaniacs gave a message 5 years ago at the Shepherds Conference titled “Dead Right: The Failure of Fundamentalism,” and it caused a ton of controversy in the blogosphere. Something just clicked for me as I read this excerpt from Phil’s talk. It’s a hard thing to discern the times we live in, and it’s an easy thing for young men without the wisdom of years, to get wrapped up in things which ten years down the road won’t mean a thing, or will be shown to have been a big mistake. Surely there are movements in Christianity that come from God and show the unique stamp of Christian revival upon them, but the hard truth is that the majority of movements we see these days will pass away without us even noticing it. There is something in us, however, a restlessness, that yearns to be part of a movement. The problem is, most Christians fail to realize that they already are a part of one. And much effort is wasted when we pine after the movements of other men, rather than asking God to use us mightily in the movement of Christ, which has withstood the test of time. Phil’s comments here resonate with me, and they remind me that my deepest desire should be to belong to Christ–not to a tribe, not to a group of men who share my theological distinctives, not to a denomination–but to Christ and his Gospel.

I have always preferred independency. I consider myself an independent in every sense. I’m not looking for a movement to join. I belong to [Grace Community] church. That’s enough for me. And I’m willing to work alongside anyone and everyone who shares my essential biblical convictions, whether the label they would slap on themselves is “fundamentalist,” “evangelical,” “strict and particular Baptist,” or just plain old “Christian.”

Think about the fruits of the various twentieth-century movements. Liberals and theological radicals never did anything but kill churches and turn denominations into spiritual wastelands.

“Fundamentalists” who tied themselves to the movement got sidetracked into fighting and dividing into ever-smaller and less significant factions. They managed to start with the all the right ideas, all the right enemies, and all the best men? and reduce their movement to virtual insignificance in less than a hundred years.

“Moderates” never did anything, period, except gum up the works of denominational discipline, while compromising and clouding everything that ought to be kept crystal-clear.

If you think about it, the twentieth century saw the same pattern repeated that you see throughout all of church history. The true vitality of the church is traceable through the nonconformists, the independents, the true biblical separatists. The true secret of their power is not ?and never has been ?in earthly organizations, political clout, or visible movements of any kind. Their power is derived from the biblical truth they preach. And the influence of that kind of power has always been what determines the relative health and spiritual vigor of the church.