I Don't Have This Figured Out

Humble orthodoxy is my target.

Orthodoxy is the a commitment to the teaching and application of the established, proven and cherished truths of our faith--the most central of which is the message of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But I want more than just my facts straight. I want a posture of heart that reflects the incredible nature of this message. I want to be humble. I want to humbly believe and live and represent the saving truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I want to live a life defined by humble orthodoxy.

But again, that's my target, that's the bulls-eye at which I'm aiming.

I'm not there yet.

I don't want to pretend I've got humble orthodoxy figured out or act as if it were a product I can sell. Just because I can wear the phrase on a t-shirt or a slap it on a website doesn't mean I've got this down. I want to know and love the truth. And I want humility to characterize every part of this pursuit. But I've got a long way to go.

I'll be honest. Sometimes I'm lazy about truth. I'd rather veg. Other times I'm passionate, but my passion is driven more by my own ambition than awe before God. I want to smack somebody down. I'm not being a truth-lover, I'm being a punk. And in light of how little I actually know that's pretty sorry.

So I'm interested in talking about and writing about humble orthodoxy because I need it. And I think a lot of other people do, too. Not because it's new or novel, but because it's a way to sum up biblical Christianity that counters common errors in our generation. Humble orthodoxy is knowing you're small as you stand beside towering truth. It's basking in the glow of the gospel and realizing you didn't think it up and it isn't going to change after you're in a casket--or even after you rise from the dead and live with Jesus for a million years (wow, that's a cool thought.)

But for now I'm alive and I have a race to run. And I don't want to run the race alone. I want to get other people in on this. I need other people in on this. Partly because it just makes the whole endeavor a lot more fun, but mostly because I need the feedback and provocation that comes with interacting with other followers of Christ. This is why I'm excited about newattitude.org and the dialogue taking place there. We've got a lot to learn. We're different in so many ways. But we share a common desire to esteem God's revealed truth and see it translated into real life.

I hope more people will join us.

This post originally appeared on the Na site where a team of bloggers is currently talking about humble orthodoxy.