MINISTRY PHILOSOPHY | ORTHOPRAXY
Jesus seemed to reserve His most scathing rebuke for those in the religious establishment. It is not that religious people are inherently worse than others. The problem is religion can often create a veil over the mind and heart that makes it difficult to see our need for Christ. Jesus said He came to minister to those who are sick—not to the healthy. Those who know they are sick will be open to get help. Those who say they are healthy often think they are OK and don’t need the kind of help that those “real sinners” need.
Religion can be unhealthy when it foists a veil over the real issues of the heart. Ephesians 6:6 demonstrates the importance of Christians having obedience start from the right heart when it says, "not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.”
A veil can be practicing certain sub-cultural behavioral codes that are revered in a denomination or church and thinking such practices are the trump card or designation of real Christianity. These codes can refer to dress, schooling practices, or prohibited activities that mark one in that culture as truly “Christian.”
Another veil can be doctrinal partisanship. Christians are judged “in” or “out” by holding to certain designations such as “reformed” or “Pentecostal” or “dispensational” and the list goes on. A recent inquirer from our web site asked about certain doctrinal positions for CCC and received the following reply from Pastor Kevin:
I appreciate your regard for orthodoxy and find it refreshing that there are still people out there who care about the doctrine of a church. We would however say that orthopraxis (our practice or behavior) should follow our orthodoxy. We do not think that our sanctification in Christ is found in just what we believe or in holding the right doctrines alone. Of course believing right doctrine is critical to our walk in Christ. However, our doctrine is to move us to act and behave in a way that makes us salt and light to the world. Doctrine provides the unity, love, grace, and holiness that are to be expressed in our lives. A church that has the right doctrine, but does not express unity, grace, holy living, and a heart for the lost is a dead church. You can’t sustain the right behavior on bad doctrine, but I have witnessed many dead churches that hold allegiance to certain credos thinking they were healthy. It is our desire at CCC to have orthodoxy and orthpraxis work in unison.
Consider the following biblical passages that speak of a healthy orthopraxis.
“5But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (1 Timothy 1:5) Notice that doctrine has a goal. The goal is love from a pure heart and a good conscience.
“Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.” (1 Corinthians 8:1) Knowledge alone in the Christian life actually has a negative effect because it creates an arrogance and partisanship. Unity in the body of Christ will be the result when biblical knowledge is fused with the right heart and actions.
"1If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. "2If I have the gift of prophesy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1-2)
In the above passage, Paul doesn’t just stop with doctrine alone. I could preach better than the most eloquent and skilled pastor. I could know special revelations from God and understand secrets that others don’t know. I could explain with perfect clarity the right eschatology and get rid of any tension between man’s free will and the sovereignty of God. I could have the kind of faith that does miracles, produces healings, and does other wonderful things for the people of God. I could do all these things, and yet, if I am not relating well to God and to others (love) it amounts to nothing in God’s eyes.
Love for God and others is the trump card. Love separates the immature from the mature when it comes to spirituality. Love is what Jesus prayed for to be seen in His children (John 17:20-23). Perhaps this is why John said later that the greatest thing that gave him joy was to see his children know and walk the truth. (III John 3)
Not only does a good orthopraxis spring from a correct understanding of scripture, but it is also consistent with our mission. The church has struggled for centuries and continues to struggle to keep doctrine targeted toward personal transformation. People can get hung up on issues of doctrine or nonessential practices and miss the log in the eye of the church.
Consider again Nehemiah, who exhibited a leadership that focused on essential matters. The wall around Jerusalem was in such disrepair that God called Nehemiah to build it up in the face of tremendous opposition. We read in Nehemiah 4:16-23 that the Israelites were to have a brick in one hand and a sword in another. Instead of a group split apart and nitpicking at each other, the Israelites enjoyed one of the greatest moments in their history as a focused unified body. “At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us” was the cry. How do you suppose they could have pulled off such a great feat if they were arm’s length apart at the wall and criticizing one another for the clothes they wore, or that they worshipped too slow or too fast, or whether the guy on their right was pre-millennial? Such actions would have appeared grossly out of place, and so disloyal to the cause, that a person would have certainly thought long and hard before daring to stoop so low.
Our mission--our “wall to build”--is to disciple others. Our mission statement says that we are “a Christ-dependent community equipping people to impact their world.” Because of the urgency of our mission, because of the importance of this calling, all other endeavors pale in comparison. Many Christians waste time with infighting and fretting over lesser issues because they miss the joy that comes from having their hearts beat consistent with our Lord. The mission of CCC is not to create one event after another, but to see individuals transformed by the gospel and loving others toward the same.
Consider the discipleship objectives in the next section that clearly call our community of faith to action. As a member of CCC, you are agreeing to make these biblical, life-long, heartfelt objectives. Instead of calling members to be faithful to programs, CCC is calling each and every member to be faithful to biblical objectives and allowing freedom for God to establish those programs that are culturally sensitive and biblically consistent.
