“They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee.”
Acts 26:5 (NIV)

Over the last year or two, I have been listening to podcasts and watching documentaries about religious sects and mega-churches that have ended tragically in all manner of scandals and abuses both personal and corporate. I didn’t make some kind of conscious decision to do so. Looking back, it’s sort of fascinating that I found myself intrigued by the subject. I just finished another documentary series yesterday.

I have written in these chapter-a-day posts before about the common patterns of fundamentalism that can be found in more than just religious groups. Fundamentalism can be found in businesses, social groups, political groups, and family systems.

The Jewish religious system at the time of Jesus, and the time of Paul, bore all the marks of fundamentalism. In today’s chapter, Paul’s testimony before the Roman Governor Festus and King Agrippa describes it. It was a closed system with strict in-group and out-group distinctions. Stringent rules regarding thought and behavior were strictly dictated and enforced. Refusal to conform resulted in, at best, the threat of being ostracized and, at worst, the threat of death.

I found it fascinating that Paul states “They have known me for a long time.” As Paul stands before his accusers, he’s facing men whom he’s known almost his entire life. Paul was among the elite of this Jewish ruling class. He was a student of the greatest Jewish teacher of their time. He was on the fast track to leadership in this very ruling body. He drank the Kool-aid and conformed to the strictest of their religious rules. Had he not met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul might very well have been sitting among those accusing them.

Paul likely knew many of his accusers by name. He likely had dined in their homes, knew their families, and had shared memories from long-term relationships. He had been “in” with them, now he is “out.” Fundamentalist systems always turn on those who refuse to conform and comply. They want Paul dead in the same way Paul, when he was one of them, wanted Stephen dead back in chapter seven; In the same way they wanted Jesus dead. It’s the same system, operating in the same fundamentalist paradigm. Traitors to a fundamentalist system who threaten the power (and wealth) of the leaders of that system are systemically eradicated. The exact, same pattern can be seen in each of the podcasts and documentaries I’ve consumed regarding religious sects and megachurches in our own day.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on Jesus’ words in John 8:31-32: “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Fascinating that I’ve never paid much attention to the beginning of verse 31: “To the Jews who had believed him.” The religious system had people trapped, one might even argue “enslaved,” in strict religious rule-keeping and blind obedience to leadership through the threat of top-down intimidation and social ostracism. Jesus wanted to free them.

Paul had been spiritually freed from the system. Now he wants his old friends and comrades to experience the same freedom. He wants Agrippa to experience it, too. He even tells Agrippa and the entire courtroom: “I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

Along my life journey, I have experienced both unhealthy fundamentalist systems and the spiritual freedom of being Jesus’ disciple. I will always steer clear of the former as I daily embrace the latter.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.