Our place in the conversation
Aug. 13 2007Why am I committed to a humble orthodoxy?
Well there are two parts to this answer.
The first is positive.
I want people to know God truthfully and experience the presence of God fully. That is why I am committed to humble orthodoxy. My passion and burden is to do all that I can to lead and direct people to a richer, fuller, grander, drop-your-jaw experience of God’s presence. I am convinced that fellowship with the Father through Christ is the most amazing, mind blowing, satisfying thing we can live our life for and that is what I want for my friends who know the Lord and for my friends that don’t know the lord. The way I believe we can experience this is by rediscovering truth about God and his gospel and recommitting to live that truth.
The second is negative.
There is a great conversation going on among many of my peers in ministry right now. A conversation about how to know God, how to experience God, how to understand the Bible, the importance of doctrine, the place of truth, how to do church, and how to reach our culture. There have been many beneficial books and articles written on how to be a Christian in a post-modern age and I think many in this conversation have been discerning in recognizing the problems and challenges that the evangelical church faces today. I think the dialogue and conversation has been very helpful and challenging.
In my study and conversations with these friends and peers I have been very helped by their diagnosis but I have been concerned about their solutions. And that is where humble orthodoxy comes in. We at Na would like to be a voice in the conversation going on. Not a loud voice, not an authoritative voice, but a voice nonetheless. A voice that would offer other solutions to the challenges of the evangelical church today.
That is why I am committing to believe, live, and represent the truth in God’s Word with humility. Instead of reinventing certain truths to accommodate our view on church and culture I would submit that we need to forget reinvention and embrace a humble orthodoxy.
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Eric Simmons leads New Attitude and ONE, the singles ministry at Covenant Life Church.