Orthodoxy & Orthopraxy - James McManus
It is Christmas season again, and the older I get, the more time I spend reminiscing about Christmas’ past (but not in a Dickens manner). I don’t do that to avoid Christmas present (again, not in a Dickens manner), but because I am prone to do that sort of thing in all seasons, and especially with Christmas! In God’s grace, there are so many good memories for me to think back on and get that tearful, wistful look like Clark Griswold’s when he was stuck in the family’s attic, attired in his mother’s old clothes, watching old family films from Christmas’ past.
As I reminiscence, I am reminded of God’s saving grace, first as a 15 year old boy, praying for God’s salvation … then as a 21 year old college student, repenting of wanting Jesus only as Savior and not as Lord, and realizing you can’t have one without the other. This will mark my 24th Christmas of walking with the Lord, and that is the greatest gift I have ever been given, and I love thinking about that!
Something that comes along with reminiscing has been summed up well by another pastor, “faith over form”. My personality is not only bent towards sentimental reminiscing, but also responding positively to something being modeled for me. If you want me to do a task, then show me how to do it. You can describe it to me a hundred times, but I will learn more by you showing me how to do it. Over my life, especially in ministry, I have seen how important that has been to my faith and my ministry.
The Lord has blessed me with a number of Christians who have modeled the faith for me, and faithful pastors who have modeled the ministry for me. From those folks I have learned more from their lives and examples than all the books combined that I have read on the Christian life and ministry. When Paul counsels in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ”, it strikes very close to home for me because I have benefited from Christians who have taken that teaching very seriously. I can show you how my prayers and prayer life have been affected by prayer meetings … my devotional life that has been shaped by others showing me how they handle theirs … my preaching from sitting under good, faithful preachers … my marriage by faithfully married Christians. The list could go on and on!
There is another side to this coin for me and maybe this is true for you as well. It is easy for me to look at a pastor, or group of pastors, and be influenced by their orthodoxy and orthopraxy, and think that I have to do it exactly as they do it. In other words, I look over the faith and go straight to form. I think to myself, “well, if this pastor(s) are good, and they do things x,y,z, then I have to do the same to get the same results”. What I don’t always factor in is that God has made each of us fearfully, wonderfully and singularly (emphasis mine). Yes, I can learn so much from other pastors and groups of pastors, but it doesn’t mean I have to be a clone of them. For example, when I was in seminary, Dr. Tim Keller and his ministry in New York City was becoming very popular. All of a sudden, church plants started taking on the name of his ministry, Redeemer Church, and pastors were trying to preach like him, think like him, write like him … and re-make their churches in the Redeemer model. There were a lot of Tim Keller clones running around … and it didn’t seem to me that many of these folks were taking into consideration that God called Tim Keller to a particular ministry to be handled in particular way in a particular place. Just because Redeemer had an evening jazz service in Manhattan doesn’t mean that I should do the same at my church in Winnsboro, SC! It become form before faith.
This can be true for any pastor(s) and group of pastors. Name an influential pastor or group of pastors, and I think you will probably find someone struggling with form over faith, instead of the other way around. God, in His graciousness, has given us people for us to imitate, because they are imitating Christ. They are modeling for us that true Christian faith that exalts in Christ, depends on Christ, leans on Christ, is all about Christ. They model a faith that endures the hard times, rejoices in the good, and at all times glorifies God and enjoys Him forever. I thank God for those Christians in my life!
It is also our responsibility to be that model. We are to be givers, not just takers. We are called to live out our faith in such a way that others can look to us and be encouraged. What good is our theology if it doesn’t bring glory to God in our minds and hearts, thoughts and lives? Good orthodoxy will always lead to good orthopraxy - and good orthopraxy will lead us to model the faith for others.
Continue to look to your heroes of faith - both well-known and not known - and be encouraged by their faith. And, where they have done things well, learn from that. You can have a hero without becoming a clone of them - because God has made you fearfully and wonderfully! Let us also make sure that we live out our lives like our heroes, modeling the faith for others.
So, as I go back to listening to Handel’s “Messiah” and reminiscing about Christmas’ past, I rejoice in my heroes of the faith … and I hope you will too! And, this Christmas season, may our orthodoxy be Biblically rich so our orthopraxy will be glorifying to God and an encouragement to others! Merry Christmas!