Orthodoxy and doctrine are two words that well up a lot of emotion in most people, and I’d venture to guess that most of that emotion is negative. More often than not, when someone gains knowledge, they want to impress that knowledge on others, but no one likes to be pushed around by a know-it-all. The missing piece that causes animosity towards orthodoxy when it comes to “sharing” right or correct belief with others is love. In 1 Corinthians 8:1, Paul writes that “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” Although he is specifically writing about idols and food that is offered to idols, this truth about knowledge and love can be applied to any part of life.
When we learn something new (to us), it can be easy to lord it over others to elevate ourselves as holier than them. If we instead look at that knowledge through the lens of love, the focus turns to the Giver of Knowledge and we are humbled as we share that knowledge with others. Take for example a teaching pastor. When they are convicted in their study as they prepare a message, the message is usually then taught through humility and love. I personally relate better to those messages than any other and they are the ones that I remember and look back to when I struggle.
The best way to have humble orthodoxy is to have orthopraxy. If orthodoxy is right (correct) belief, then orthopraxy is right (correct) action*. If you read my last post, you know Joshua Harris tore me up with a chapter from Dug Down Deep. The final chapter is titled Humble Orthodoxy and I think he sums it up nicely here:
Do you want to keep your orthodoxy humble? Try to live it… Spend more energy living the truth you know than worrying about what the next guy does or doesn’t know. Don’t measure yourself by what you know. Measure yourself by the practice of what you know.
I like to think that I know a lot, but when it comes to the practice of what I know I can’t help but be humbled. If you’d like to read a chapter from Dug Down Deep, Joshua Harris has made Humble Orthodoxy available to all. It’s embedded below, or you can click on the link above. Just scroll down to page 14 to get right into the chapter.
* Gotta love Wikipedia