Quote of the Week-- Humble Orthodoxy

I am guilty of putting up exceptionally long posts. This isn’t because I am generally a windbag, but because some of what I post are modified from Sunday School lessons or from other more in-depth studies. In other words, they don’t start out as blog posts; I simply modify them, and post them, with the attitude that, if they help just one person, it was worth the effort.

Today, you get a break from my lengthy posts. I simply want to offer a quote that has significantly impacted my life over the past couple of weeks. It’s from Josh Harris, pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD. The quote is taken from a message he gave at the New Attitude Conference a few weeks ago in Louisville, KY. For those not familiar with the conference, it is for singles and young married couples. The idea behind the “new attitude” is that we, as Christians, should embrace what Josh Harris calls a “humble orthodoxy”. We should care about the truth, love the truth, live the truth, and share the truth; however, a true response to what God has done for us in Christ should be that of humility, not brashness or arrogance. The conference messages are all worth listening to, and are available for download from http://www.newattitude.org/conference/. Josh also preached a message entitled “Humble Orthodoxy” at his church recently; it is available for download from http://www.covlife.org/sermons/.

Here’s the quote:

“Orthodoxy is a commitment to the teaching and application of the established and cherished truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We want to rediscover these ancient paths and to let them shape us. We want this truth—which has always been—to completely shape us. We want to humbly live this truth, and humbly proclaim this truth—not merely as people who are right, but people who have been rescued.”

May God grant us all a love for the truth which leaves us as humble rather than proud. And may God forgive my own desire to be right, rather than a demonstration of tears that God should be so gracious to such an undeserving one as me.