Breaking Down Fortress Theology

Fortress theology is the idea that the world around us is so bad that we need to isolate ourselves from it by creating our own separate culture that lives up to our standards of safety and purity. I see much of this today in women who vilify secular music, movies, TV shows, even businesses. Women who try to make you feel guilty for buying the newest Kanye album or not homeschooling your children.

I want to make something incredibly clear up front: choosing to abstain from societal things is not in itself a bad thing. For example, I do not watch TV shows or movies that have graphic sex scenes because I struggle with lust and I know it could easily cause me to sin. The temptation is too great. I don’t want to put myself in that situation. I would not tell an alcoholic that it’s wrong for them to avoid bars. I would not tell a recovering materialist that it’s wrong for them to avoid going to the mall. God calls us to avoid temptation and speaks against anyone who would do something to try to stumble a brother or sister in Christ (see 1 Corinthians 8:9-11 or this really cool article for more on being a stumbling block).

Fortress theology happens when we see things that might cause us or others to be tempted and immediately write it off as something to avoid at all costs. I understand that these intentions are good, but how does this help us reach others for Christ?

In 1 Corinthians 9:22, Paul says, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” We have the same calling. When we go to reach the lost, we need to show them that we accept them and understand them where they are at, because that is where God meets them. God doesn’t expect them to clean up our act before we start a relationship with Him. We need to make sure that we are communicating that to others.

I have seen this countless times when trying to evangelize to younger women. They balk at the idea of becoming a Christian. They would have to give up all their fun and become someone that they are not in order to please God. That is what people see when they look at communities of Christians who focus more on the evils of smoking or drinking or R-rated movies than they do on the transforming grace of God.

When I became a Christian I was not sold on the idea of giving up worldly things that were holding me back from truly surrendering my whole life to God. It took time. It took me learning how to trust God. It took me accepting the loving correction of those who had already proven to me that they love me. It took me figuring out on my own how God viewed me and seeing how that transformed my heart. I didn’t give up drinking and smoking weed at an altar call. I didn’t drop it in one conversation. I surrendered those things to God through prayer and the support of a loving community.

Part of what convinced me that this loving community was worth being part of was that they all seemed so normal. They would have a Bible study and then go to a bar afterwards and hang out. They would host movie nights and watch Judd Apatow films. They were current on books and TV shows and movies that I was into. They did all this while displaying an authentic faith in Christ and a vibrant, accepting community. I could be myself there. I could see God meeting me where I was at.

God calls us to be in the world but not of the world. This means that we can live our lives being a part of society while rejecting societal values that are against God’s will. In fact, being conversant in pop culture and being able to think critically about it can give us a huge advantage when sharing Christ with others. If we’re able to speak knowledgeably about the world around us and have deeper answers for why we abstain from things like premarital sex or drunkenness, we could have a huge impact on other people. Just telling people, “Oh, those things are so sinful,” or “I would never do that,” is only going to alienate people.

Here’s the thing about living in the world while rejecting its values: we need to understand why those values are bad. If we can dialogue with others about why we choose to abstain from things instead of just vilifying them (and, as a result, make it seem like we are vilifying the very people we are reaching out to), we will see more successful spiritual conversations with those who don’t know the Lord.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself to see if what you’re avoiding is actually fortress theology:

•  Is it Biblical? Does the Bible expressly forbid what I’m trying to avoid, or am I taking it beyond what God’s word says? The Bible doesn’t talk about dating, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t condone it. The Bible says to flee from sexual immorality, but that doesn’t mean that kissing before marriage is a sin. Have you taken God’s word and extended it beyond what it actually says?
• Am I focusing more on avoiding things than I am on learning to say “yes” to God and “no” to temptation? It’s easy to shut out the world and never have to face temptations like stepping into a bar and choosing not to get drunk or watching TV and having to wade through whether or not what I’m viewing is promoting the world’s values. It’s easier too to try and protect our children by never having them face the world system in an attempt to help them remain pure. I truly believe that this prepares us more to fall than it does to help us say no to sin. We have the Holy Spirit guiding us and leading us. We have prayer as a direct access to God. We should be able to face the world and rely fully on the Father to be able to say no to sin.  Plus, this will model to those around us that it is possible to grow and change and choose to say yes to God more and more.
• Is my attitude about this going to alienate others? Am I able to have a respectful conversation with others who disagree with me on this? Is my explanation of my decisions going to make people feel judged? Am I making others feel like they’re too “sinful” for me to accept?
• Am I doing this to please myself or to please God? Am I abstaining from this because I deeply desire to please God? Do I understand that I am free from the slavery of sin? Is this a step towards victory over past struggles? Or am I doing this because it makes me feel righteous? Am I adding this to my list of reasons why God should give me what I want? Am I viewing my choices as a checklist that I have to adhere to?

The American church is rapidly losing millennials. If we want to reach young women for God, we need to look at the message that we are sending. Are we expressing God’s acceptance and love? Or are we building up walls around God’s message and refusing to let anyone in?