Fujimoto, Mitsuru. Translated by Cynthia Dufty. "The Black Curtain of Fundamentalism -- An Idea from Theological Anthropology" (排他主義という黒幕 -- 神学的人間論からの考察). Japan Evangelical Association Theological Commission Pamphlet 6 (May 2006): 37-48.
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III. THE CHRISTIAN AND THE EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE
III.A. The Depth of Human Sin
Saying, “It is not good for man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18), God puts Adam into relationship with Eve. Doing this, in the fellowship of the man Adam with his other called Eve, the establishment of individual distinctiveness took place in the way previously discussed. However, when Adam committed sin, a fissure enters into his fellowship with the other and further, he tries to shift the responsibility for his own sin to his wife Eve. One generation later, Cain rejects Abel (murdering him); later larger scale atrocities seem to follow (Genesis 4:23-24).
For we who are born burdened with this kind of sin, when we receive the salvation of Christ, we are given grace to take a new look at our self-distinctiveness in a healthy way and restore relationships with others. However I want to point out three root problems that can stand in the way of this. We always need to keep in mind that, even though we are Christians, these things still take us captive and become snares for our feet
The first is that we have a tendency to avoid encountering the other. Humans are those who while knowing that God has unmistakably revealed himself through the heavens, dare to substitute idols for God's glory (Romans 1:18-23). Not only do we close our ears to God's voice, we make our own gods and want to worship them. There is the self-righteous tendency that when we enter into boundaries that are convenient for us we don't go out from them and rather than interacting with others, we try to pull them into our system and suppress their truth, trying to force them to accept our personal truth. This is the characteristic mentality of so-called cult groups.
Secondly, as we can see with legalism, there is a tendency when we try to be righteous to rely on the letter of truths, principles, or traditions, etc. This is even truer in a time like the present when values are in flux and we feel drawn to rely on basic principles that make good and evil clear. Rather than living according to the Holy Spirit and the persons who are our brothers and sisters we come to think that “serving the letter” (II Corinthians 3:6) leads to a purer faith.
Thirdly, we lack the power to grasp reality in a complex way. We sacrifice love to support righteousness or sacrifice truth to support love. We have a tendency to jump to conclusions. Also, we focus our passion in a biased way on one problem or principle to the extent that we lose track of other problems and come to be controlled by one principle. Among “environmental fundamentalists” there are some who are ridiculed for concentrating all of their energy into saving the lives of animals but showing no concern for protecting the lives of humans. This criticism does not apply only to them but is a tendency we all have as human beings.
III.B. Ourselves as Christians
Since up to now we have been looking at the negative side of our distorted identity formation, finally I want to look at a few positive factors in appropriate identify formation as Christians.
First of all, the Lord of the church's boundaries is Christ. Naturally the church has boundaries relative to this world. The individual Christian and the church have to avoid losing their own distinctiveness and being absorbed by the world. If that happens not only can we not preserve our own salvation, but also we cannot give ourselves to the world as “the salt of the earth” or the “light of the world.” However, the Lord of those boundaries is Christ, not us.
If we neglect the effort of looking at the world from God's perspective rather than our own, we become caught up in a tendency towards “in-group consciousness, and being a group with such a strong distinctiveness that we become exclusive.” Then we become controlled by the exclusive belief that our point of view and set of values are normative and orthodox and that other points of view and set of values are abnormal and heretical. However if the Christian and church live according to the faith that “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20), then as far as our self identity, it is no longer a distorted selfish, self-righteous exclusive thing within ourselves but it becomes something facing outward and open, with space to accept others as we pour out our self in love for others and become bound to a Christ-like distinctiveness.
Secondly, like Abraham, we can separate from our human identity based on the community and family where we were born and become one of those called out by God to be one part of the body of Christ, receiving our citizenship in heaven, becoming children and heirs of God and given a new identify. For we who have clothed ourselves with Christ, we have a new identity: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). It is not that racial or sexual differences have disappeared but that no longer do these become the basis for rejecting others.
We who are clothed with Christ do not brandish about our identity as children of God, dominating others, but are made one with the mind of Christ who took the form of a servant (Philippians 2:6-7). While clearly being conscious of our own freedom and identity, for the sake of the Gospel we do not begrudge the “way of becoming the servant of all people.” Then when we give to others and serve others, through others we encounter Christ and we can also serve Christ (Matthew 25:31-46). If we continue to drive away others and remain closed up inside of our own truth, we can neither encounter Christ nor become Christ-like persons.
As far as our new identity as children of God, through being conformed to Christ we are formed on the inside. That is, it is natural that to the extent that we are not open to others like Christ, to the extent that we don't take a self-sacrificial attitude towards others, in the same way the Holy One accepted us sinners, we become far from the appearance of Christians. When the fundamentalist becomes exclusive and the one who believes the gospel becomes self-righteous, it is doubtful whether the world can recognize us as Christians.
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