Grappling With Evangelicalism
October 10th, 2007 | by Scott |I grew up in the conservative Churches of Christ. It is still where I hang my hat ministerially. However, as I have grown in my “knowledge and understanding” of Scripture and the nature and character of God I have developed my own doctrine, if you will, that sometimes runs counter to what is traditionally viewed as orthodoxy.
I know I’m not alone and that what is going on with the Churches of Christ is a microcosm of what takes place across the broader evangelical world.
But, I wrestle regularly with what to say as I struggle with what this faith means.
What is too critical and nit-picky?
What truly needs to be said?
How do we sound the call away from orthodoxy and toward orthopraxy without losing the audience?
How do we broach controversial topics that need to be addressed and re-studied without alienating others and thwarting essential dialogue?
11 Responses to “Grappling With Evangelicalism”
By Phil Wilson on Oct 10, 2007 | Reply
The biggest part of it is knowing your audience. I think if you’re in a group where questioning anything about the church is bad, then you have to figure out where you can poke and prod. If you’re in a place where it is ONLY acceptable to slam the Church and/or Churches of Christ then perhaps we’re to be a voice of reason, pointing out some of the positives.
I think the biggest call right now is to join orthodoxy and orthopraxy together, not create a distinction. Orthodoxy should lead us to orthopraxy and perhave vice versa as well. But simply we’re not called to be only believers in Jesus. As Randy Harris once said, demons have great theology but lousy practice.
By Scott on Oct 10, 2007 | Reply
I agree about not making distinction between the orthos ultimately. However, I believe that the right practice will lead you to the right belief a lot quicker than vice versa.
I’m talking primarily in the context of this blog. How do we talk openly about these things in a productive atmosphere.
By Pat on Oct 10, 2007 | Reply
Give me an example of right practice that, in your opinion, leads you to a right belief. I tend to think the opposite.
By Scott on Oct 10, 2007 | Reply
Pat, I think we have a history of showing how right doctrine can be a far cry from doing the right thing. We have spent so much time worrying about trifling matters (no greater example being the instrument) that we often fail to be light to others. We have quibbled over minors while missing out on what Jesus cared most about: people.
If we DO what is right then surely we will begin to believe that it is the right thing to do. I know I run the risk of being overly reductionistic here but so was Jesus. If we focus on the two greatest responsibilities of Christian, loving God and loving people, then the only way to truly believe the importance of that is to do it. We can believe it all day long and never do anything about it. I think that is evidenced in our history of drawing very regimented and subjective lines of who is in and who is out. But if we do ministry to people the right way then I believe that we will come to believe its primacy in our lives.
I read recently the idea that legalism is putting the rules and laws above the people. There is much that we can learn from that.
By Steve Allison on Oct 11, 2007 | Reply
One approach I’ve seen a minister employ involves telling stories of Christian sacrifice and love that involve a person not of the CofC. Its early and I can’t think of a specific example. When you hear one though, the implication is that the other person who is not of our heritage has unquestionably acted in a Christian manner. Amazing as it is, some of the leaders in a church I formerly attended, would purportedly frown on referring to folks in other denominations as Christians.
By Scott on Oct 11, 2007 | Reply
Great thought, Steve. You are right it is amazing how that heresy perpetuates itself in our churches. During my job search I was actually asked by one congregation if either Tracy or I had been members of a denomination BEFORE we became Christians.
By JTB on Oct 13, 2007 | Reply
Can “right doctrine” be considered even remotely right if it leads to something other than right practice?
By Scott on Oct 13, 2007 | Reply
I guess I would say it depends upon your perspective/viewpoint. If “right doctrine” is, to you, the ultimate end then practice can be almost beside the point.
I’m not quite sure where I am going with all of this yet, so bear with me. For years, we have focused on having the right position on various doctrinal matters but how many of those have led to true godly behavior. To me, all doctrinal positions must be subservient to how we treat others. But the converse of that has been “true” in our heritage. We have been able to justify mistreating and marginalizing people if it means that we preserve and protect our doctrine.
By Scott on Oct 13, 2007 | Reply
Adding to that, I would say that right doctrine, for lack of a better term, should lead to right practice but the order is reversed for true discipleship.
By Jeff_R on Oct 14, 2007 | Reply
Scott -
I’ve recently become convinced that the entire idea of orthodoxy and orthopraxy as separate concepts is itself an illusion. I can claim to believe things, but my real belief is always and exactly (mathematically; axiomatically, even) what I do.
The idea that I can believe one thing but do another is just a misunderstanding of human psychology and neurology. Every system is perfectly designed to produce the results you are seeing. When a person says they believe in Jesus, but they are violent, they don’t believe in Jesus. Period.
The problem at least lies in our misuse of the term belief. Most “Christians” use the term belief in the sense of “wish” or “hope” or “gee, that’d be a nice way to behave if I weren’t such an oaf”. This is just wrong. If I say I believe in the nonviolent path of Jesus, and then I use violence on another person, it’s not that I believed one way and acted another. It’s that I don’t really believe in nonviolence.
We can be upfront about this and say, “I want to believe in purity of heart and mind; I long for a time when I will desire to be that way. But right now, I’m far from really believing those things are practical ways to live.” We can aspire to believe that way. We can wish for it. But if we aren’t practicing it, we aren’t believing it. Orthodoxy and orthopraxy, at least as categories of human experience, are the same thing.
By Scott on Oct 14, 2007 | Reply
Jeff,
I hear what you are saying but I’m not sure I follow you completely here. I believe that it’s wrong to yell at my kids but I still slip up and do it sometimes.
I can’t make the leap to the understanding that I don’t really believe that because I sometimes come up short. Are the two ortho’s categories of human experience or are they categories of human behavior?
I do believe that in essence if you don’t live it out regularly than it is not a core belief but what about the times we just plain fall short? Where does this leave sin?