Recently, a reader asked me two questions about the IFB church movement. My answers are below.
Would you say that the vast majority of the IFB church members, pastors, and the evangelists are nice and friendly people?
Generally, human beings are nice and friendly. My MAGA neighbors are decent people. When I see them in public, we politely speak to one another. We might even chit-chat for a bit at a basketball or football game or at the grocery store or a local restaurant. I am, by nature, winsome and polite, even towards people with whom I have political, theological, and philosophical disagreements. Humans are social beings, so it generally serves our best interests to get along with one another.
The problem, of course, comes in the public space where competing worldviews are vying for preeminence. The key, for me at least, is to challenge bad beliefs and practices while still having a modicum of respect for those I disagree with. This is not easy; sometimes, it is impossible.
The IFB church movement is a dangerous cult, one that caused untold heartache and harm. While there are certainly degrees of harm within the movement, the fact remains that IFB beliefs and practices cause psychological harm, and, at times, physical harm. Thus, it will be a good day when the IFB church movement draws its last breath and dies (the same can be said for all Fundamentalist religions).
As I mentioned in a previous post, there is something about IFB beliefs that breeds hatred, arrogance, and nastiness. I have received countless emails, social media messages, and blog comments from IFB adherents over the past fifteen years. Rare is the person who can play well with others. Rare is the person who treats me decently or shows me a modicum of respect. What should I make of this fact? There are too many such people for them to be outliers, so there must be something about IFB beliefs and practices that turn out people like this.
Throughout your time in the IFB church movement, is there anything positive you can say about the IFB movement?
Generally speaking, I enjoyed my time as an IFB pastor. I appreciated my commonality and closeness with fellow IFB church members and colleagues in the ministry. The vast majority of the people I pastored were good people, But, again, I also pastored a number of people who were narrow-minded bigots and haters of anyone and everything different. I was one such person, for a time. I pastored more than a few people who were narcissists and sociopaths; humans who were, in every way, bad people. The question I still have is, what part IFB beliefs and practices played in making these people into who they became? Are there IFB theological and social beliefs that drive aberrant behavior? Absolutely. Unfortunately, changing these behaviors requires abandoning fiercely held beliefs. And knowing the IFB church movement as I do, that ain’t going to happen.
Remember, the IFB church movement is a cult. I’ve interacted with many IFB adherents over the years; people who deeply love God, but viewed their churches in an increasingly negative light. I encourage such people to seek out gentler, kinder expressions of faith; places where their humanity will be affirmed and they will be genuinely loved. Sadly, the IFB church movement is hard to get away from, both physically and psychologically. The former requires will, and the latter often requires professional counseling. I applaud anyone who successfully breaks free.
As I answered these questions, I wondered if there were unstated statements/questions lurking behind them. Unfortunately, this person used a fake email address to contact me. Jesus, am I really that “scary”?
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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You know, I thought our Baptist Church wanted to bring more people in, by busing kids to Wednesday night meetings. Turns out they couldn’t be bothered to try. I once went to a potluck or such there and while a couple people talked to me, they weren’t interested in really interacting. Most of these types of Christians don’t actually want to reach out to the rest of us. I honestly think they don’t believe in converting anyone, because we are those godless liberal Marxist commie Demonrats (or leftists).
IFB….Grr….I hate it. Bruce, I’m venting here cos I haven’t got any other outlet for my anger. I attend a fundy church with family when I visit. This week’s preacher was IFB, though it’s not called that in the UK. He said he’s started a bereavement group in his church cos, you know, fundies never miss an opportunity to cash in on any recent events etc, and Covid, sadly, has meant more deaths and often isolation for their loved ones. He enthused with the sentence, ‘We started it as a way of recruiting,’…..Yes he actually boasted this was an evangelism opportunity!!!! And of course went on to describe a couple of wondrous and dramatic conversions in the group….which is a case of preying on the vulnerable if there ever was one….! Despicable!
There was a certain thrill to working at an IFB church (Longview Baptist Temple). When I became disillusioned with the movement, I didn’t know what to put in its place. It had given me a family, a purpose in life, and a sense that my life was worthwhile. As that was the only life I knew, I had no idea what to put in its place when it intellectually fell apart for me. So I stayed with my LBT haircut, total avoidance of alcohol, and a general separation from others. Such things had made me content in the IFB movement. All I knew was to continue them, even though the foundation of my beliefs had been kicked out. It took years to understand that the thrill I felt there could be duplicated in many other ways that gave me far more meaning in life.
Churches (synagogues, mosques, Elks clubs, VFWs, fraternities and sororities, the Shriners, etc) all provide places of community, ritual, and identity for people. Humans crave these things, and atheism itself does not provide these things (except identity, perhaps, but in many places that identity is treated as a negative).
A friend who attended the same fundamentalist Christian school (IFB curriculum) and I were discussing our lack of exposure to diverse groups of people. She mentioned that because of the homogeneity she learned that everyone should be treated the same – because everyone in her circle was the same. It wasn’t until she was older that she realized many of the adults in her life didn’t actually believe people should be treated the same…..interesting perspective…. I just remember being warned not to fraternize with “worldly” people.