How to Know You're in a Christian Fundamentalist Church
If you’re like me and you grew up under Christian fundamentalist teaching, then you probably know the Bible backward and forward, never dated (or at least wore a purity ring), and were told Democrats are demonic and Halloween is Satan’s holiday. And maybe, like me, you’ve since grown up and learned a lot about the world outside church walls, talked with people from different backgrounds, and looked at the Bible with fresh eyes and lots of questions. You might be deconstructing or reconstructing your faith, finding real freedom in the escape from legalism.
I’ve been working on deconstructing the worldview I was brought up in for quite a while now, and the more I move away, the more I notice religious fundamentalism, legalism, and patriarchy growing in evangelical churches. And I’ve been thinking about the people in these churches who didn’t grow up with this ideology—who didn’t have the consequences of living with perpetual shame and false guilt—because they probably won’t understand right away the impact that Christian fundamentalism and patriarchy can have on people seeking God. I’m concerned for the children who will grow up being imprisoned by legalism and distanced from the love of God.
So I’ve been thinking about signs or red flags that warn me that fundamentalism is in play in a church, and I hope my laying these out here might be helpful. There are many books and experts on this subject, and I would recommend reading further into the history and current appearance of fundamentalism in American churches. But for now, I’ll leave you with a few brief red flags.
Signs you’re in a fundamentalist church or listening to fundamentalist teaching:
Fear-based outlook or theology
Fundamentalism thrives on fear. Fear of losing our children, of losing our religious liberty, of being wrong and going to hell. But the problem with fundamentalist fear is that it breeds exclusion and isolation. If your pastor or church is focusing more on what to be afraid of than on how to reach into their community and make a positive impact, then you might be in a fundamentalist church. If a teaching suggests moving to a more conservative county or state, or if it’s popular in your church to move to a rural area, buy a lot of land, and start building houses for your children or fellow church members, then you might be in a fundamentalist church (or even a cult).
Mentality of “us against them”
If the rhetoric of preaching sounds like, “They hate Christians. They want our children.”--then you might be in a fundamentalist church. Sometimes “they” is substituted for “the world” or “the culture.” It’s never very specific, just that “others” are anti-Christian, anti-family, anti-values, and “we” have to stand against “them.” The language is often militant: fight, battle, war.
Persecution complex
Nothing quite compares to the cognitive dissonance of sitting in churches in the affluence of white American suburbia and hearing from the pulpit a call to not be afraid of persecution or prayers for God to stop persecution. Yes, some Christians in the world experience religious persecution, but for the most part, white evangelicals in America have not experienced it. Being penalized for discrimination is not religious persecution. Being mandated to wear masks for public safety is not religious persecution.
Legalism
Fundamentalist churches are usually legalistic, that is, putting the law above grace and relationships. Legalism emphasizes the good works you do over the work of Christ, instilling a sense of never being good enough. Legalistic churches have many rules, including what you can wear, how to date, who you can be friends with, what movies you can watch. These rules are outside of biblical teaching, but fundamentalist pastors may speak as if these rules are on the same level as scripture. This goes against the teachings of Jesus, who often called out the Pharisees for their legalism.
The only right way
Fundamentalists want to be right (and who doesn’t?). They like to believe they are secure in their faith, in how they live their life, in how they raise their children. I should know; I used to be one. But this desire to be right can lead to pride and false assurance, as well as add a burden to people who aren’t given the liberty to make these decisions for themselves. If your pastor is saying to take your kids out of public school and only send them to Christian school or start homeschooling, you might be in a fundamentalist church. If the church only tolerates one perspective, one political party, one Bible translation, one hymnal, one type of musical instrument--then you might be in a fundamentalist church. Christianity is incredibly diverse and rich in history, and American fundamentalism is only a recent derivation of it. If you’re in a fundamentalist church, I challenge you to read outside your comfort zone and talk with people in different faith traditions. God is bigger than the boxes we try to put him in.
Superiority
If your church prides itself on being better than unbelievers, or even better than other denominations of Christians, then you might be in a fundamentalist church. When fundamentalists need to be right, this quickly turns into an ideology that everyone else is wrong. A church can easily become an echo chamber where people believe they actually are better than other people, simply because of their particular brand of beliefs.
Sexism
Fundamentalism is usually tied to patriarchy, or the belief, to put it simply, that men are leaders and the ones with authority, while women are to live in submission to men. Distinct gender roles are taught in fundamentalist churches. For instance, women are to be meek wives and mothers and the “keepers at home,” and men are to be the breadwinners and the heads of their households. If you are a girl growing up under this doctrine, you start to see yourself as only valuable in relation to men, only valuable if you are quiet and submissive and homebound. Women are rarely taught in fundamentalist churches that they have unique callings separate from their fathers and husbands. They are not given any positions of authority, and therefore, they can become victims of abuse with no help from the church.
Racism
Historically, fundamentalism has a connection with racism, just look at the fundamentalist college Bob Jones University. Today, the racism in fundamentalist churches might be slightly less obvious, but white supremacy still thrives. Fundamentalist churches may not sound racist at first, but they often fail to work against racism and white supremacy. Some fundamentalists, however, are unafraid to defend Southern slavery.
Spiritual abuse
This red flag is not usually as obvious as the others, but perhaps it is far more serious because of its negative impact. Spiritual abuse in a church setting means “creating a toxic culture within the church or group by shaming or controlling members using the power of their position” (National Domestic Violence Hotline). If leaders in a church leverage their position of authority to coerce certain behavior, that is spiritual abuse. If they use the Bible as a weapon to control and manipulate congregants, that is spiritual abuse. Pastors should be servants of the church, leading in humility and compassion. They are not God to judge, and they should never attempt to control people’s lives.
So now that you’re aware of a few red flags, what’s the problem with fundamentalism? Why am I warning you about it?
Because fundamentalism takes all the grace and love out of the gospel. It overly shelters children and keeps them from learning how to interact and cooperate with people from other perspectives, teaching them to be intolerant and often keeping them uneducated so that they grow up unable to discern for themselves what they believe. It stops women from pursuing their own callings, and it upholds white supremacy. And importantly, it can protect abusers while shaming and disbelieving abuse victims.
I’ve been a fundamentalist and I’ve been a part of fundamentalist churches, and I’ve also had to deal with the trauma of leaving it all behind. But now that I have room and headspace to see the world as a much larger, diverse, and beautiful place, I feel the relief of true liberty in my faith practice. I have the freedom to decide for myself what I believe, to discern my own choices, and to finally voice my own perspective, something I was never able to do before. If you are in a fundamentalist church, you can find this freedom too.
And if you are experiencing spiritual or any other kind of abuse, you are not alone, you are loved, and there are people outside of your situation who can help. I invite you to contact the Domestic Violence hotline if you are in need of a listening ear and a helping hand: https://www.thehotline.org/.