Please permit me to share my heart on behalf of young Fundamentalists. What really matters to us?
Many of us aren’t nearly as concerned about what a preacher is for or against as we are concerned about how he uses the Word of God to reach his conclusion. If we hear someone argue a logical, biblical case against something that we believe, we’ll let the Word of God re-shape our conclusion. And if we find a logical or exegetical error in that message, we’ll disagree, but we’ll keep respecting the preacher who demonstrates faithfulness to the Word of God but differs graciously on a peripheral stand or position.
What young Fundamentalists are sorely disappointed by is poor handling of the Scripture. If a preacher or speaker argues for the exact same conclusion that we hold, but argues fallaciously or by misreading God’s Word, we’ll note and remember that. Proof-texting, allegorizing and spiritualizing are techniques that irk us, no matter how holy and godly the application may be.
A passion of mine (and of many young Fundamentalists I know) is exegetical precision. Our reasoning goes like this: God promises that his Word will accomplish his purpose (Isa. 55.11); therefore, bending Scripture to any other purpose besides the one revealed in the specific text at hand is twisting God’s Word and breaking his purpose. I think our insistence on context-controlled, Spirit-filled exposition of Scripture is entirely justified (even necessary)!
So what issues matter? We talk a lot about Calvinism and Arminianism, music philosophy, millennial positions, entertainment standards, covenant / dispensationalism, alcohol positions and separationism. Occasionally, we still talk about translations. But those issues are not our hills to die on. We have, however, no intention of compromising our commitment to precise, careful exposition of God’s entire Word and clear, realistic application of it to daily life. Passionate, accurate exegesis and consistent, Spirit-filled embodiment of the Word: that is our desire, our goal and our heart.