Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Emergent Village

Home
Progressive Christian
The Orthodoxy of Humility

The Orthodoxy of Humility

Last updated on: February 7, 2013 at 1:29 pm by Sean Graham

The Orthodoxy of Humility 2013-02-07T13:29:43-06:00 Sean Graham

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have heard it said that all prayer is heresy, but God in His infinite love magnetically draws our badly misdirected arrows directly to his heart.

Having always considered myself to be a faithful follower of the way of Christ, I have called myself “Christian,” I have called myself “evangelical”. I have considered myself orthodox. As I have continued to grow, I have begun to see that the labels I have worn have very different meanings for different folks. I used to think the slice of the Christian pie that I was reared on was the whole pie; and that my ways of thinking about God and Christ were the right ways. This mindset, that I am all too familiar with, is known as “dualistic thinking”; for my conclusions to be correct, if somebody differs with me, they are wrong. If my beliefs about Jesus differ from someone else’s beliefs about Jesus, one of us has to be wrong. And, because the group I have been a part of agrees with my perspective and my point of view, then I must be right, and other perspectives must be wrong. The problem with this equation is that the other person across the table from me who differs has a group behind them that agrees with them, and they think I am wrong.

So if we were to use the big, scary word “orthodoxy”, which simply means “right thinking” (ortho = right, doxy = thinking) then there would be two orthodoxies sitting at that table – mine and theirs.

Now I have no delusion that I could solve the problem that some of you might be thinking, which is, there can only be one right. Which is right? Which is wrong? Which is orthodox? Which is unorthodox? Here, I would like to elevate the conversation rather than degenerate it. This is where I contend for an orthodoxy of humility.

By humility, I refer to the recognition that my best thinking, and my groups’ best thinking, is limited to a point of view – to a perspective. For me to sit in judgment of another’s beliefs is to take on the role of referee which falsely elevates my perspective over another.

Let’s take a tangible example. I have a close friend that doesn’t believe in a physical resurrection of Jesus. I on the other hand believe in a physical resurrection. Were I to degenerate the conversation into statements of orthodoxy as it has been typically used, I would be left with a black and white decision that that person is a heretic and does not really know Jesus (sadly, this is a typical conclusion in this type of didactic).

The reason I would come to this conclusion is because in the black and white pseudo-orthodox dialogue, the chronic lack of humility only leads to division and accusation. Whereas, if I were able, and I am thankful in a growing measure I can, hear the sincerity of their perspective, and if we were willing, we could see their sincere love of God and Jesus then does it really matter if we disagree? Do we need in any way to correct their thinking? Or, rather than attempting to correct, what if we were attempting to engage? To learn? And to offer our perspective as a perspective?

Here are a few questions for us to consider regarding our thoughts on orthodoxy. Is God really waiting for us to get our theology right? Or, is He eager for us to learn to love through the diversity of thought about Him, to allow our differences to create more dialogue because we humbly recognise that I might be wrong, too? Some might say I am watering down theology with these statements, I think rather I am creating an environment for robust theological discussion, where controlling words like “orthodoxy” are no longer used as weapons.

Rather, we all sincerely struggle together to discover what we truly want – which is a living, vibrant, loving encounter with God, ourselves and others. It doesn’t require me to let go of my beliefs or thoughts on theology; it allows me to wrestle with them on deeper levels where I move beyond fear and into the place of grace; where finally in the end we will all discover that all of our best thinking was far off the mark of what actually was and is.

Coming back to the words mentioned earlier that all prayer is heresy, but God in his infinite love magnetically draws our badly misdirected arrows directly to his heart, what is prayer if not theological thinking directed to God in personal dialogue?

Simply replace the word “prayer” for our words with “theology”. All theology is heresy, but God in His infinite love magnetically draws our badly misdirected arrows directly to His heart.

Please don’t miss the “all” part. I would suggest we not give up on the word “orthodoxy,” we just simply re-frame it. We re-frame it in love which is always humble, always kind.

Previous Post

February 7, 2013

Refuse to do Nothing - an Interview

Next Post

February 8, 2013 #SKEPTIMERGENT: the atheist's dilemma

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Atheism Authority Bible Cartoons Christian Year Christmas church church planting Civil Rights Community Contemplative Spirituality Culture emerging church Empire Eschatology Evangelism Events Gender Healing Humanism Islam Justice Kingdom Lent Movement Building Multi-Faith Music mysticism New Wave Emergence origins Personal Poetry politics Prayer Preaching Privilege Racism Religious naturalism Resurrection salvation SKEPTIMERGENT Theology Trauma Uncategorized

Select a Month December 2017 November 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Paul say is the greatest of faith, hope, and love?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hope Strength Love Faith