What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. [James 2:14-17 (ESV)]
Jeopardy introduced me to the word “performative” but, in an article about how scandals are hurting organized religion, the New York Times introduced me to another new word, “orthopraxy.” While “orthodoxy” means correct belief, doctrine, or teaching, “orthopraxy” has to do with correct practice, behavior, or action. Orthodoxy says, “Hear my words!” but orthopraxy says, “Watch my behavior!” With the flood of scandals throughout the Christian church, it’s easy to point our fingers at the disgraced Christian celebrities, megachurch pastors, and Roman Catholic priests whose orthodoxy didn’t match their orthopraxy—people who espoused devotion to God and adherence to His word while disregarding it in their own lives. Let’s remember, however, that whenever we point a finger at someone, three other fingers point at us! Although the Times article was about the disconnect between orthodoxy and orthopraxy in the church at large, there’s often a disconnect between the two in our personal lives, as well.
As a Christ follower, correct doctrine or belief must come first; nevertheless, that doctrine should lead to correct behavior! In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul spends the first eleven chapters focusing on theology—the message of the Gospel. Paul, however, doesn’t stop at correct belief or orthodoxy. In chapter 12, he transitions to the application or orthopraxy of that belief or doctrine. Paul does the same thing in his letter to the Ephesians. The first three chapters highlight doctrine and emphasize that we are saved by God’s grace through our faith rather than works [2:8-9]. Then the Apostle continues by telling his readers how to put that doctrine into practice. He urges them to “lead a life worthy of your calling,” by being humble, gentle, united, patient with one another, making allowances for each other’s faults, and by binding themselves “together in peace.” [4:2-3]
Making it clear that orthodoxy and orthopraxy are two sides of the same coin, Paul told Titus to “insist on these teachings (orthodoxy) so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good (orthopraxy).” [3:8] James makes the same point when he asks, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?” Just as a Christian’s belief or doctrine should lead to walking as did Christ, the believers’ actions or “works” are evidence of his belief in that doctrine!
While we tend to think of “works” as good deeds, orthopraxy is more than writing a check to a charity, teaching Sunday school, or helping at the food pantry. Our works are the way we conduct ourselves every moment of every day. It’s the way we demonstrate the integrity, goodness, honesty, truth, peace, love, patience, compassion, generosity, self-control, and forgiveness that should be the result of our faith or orthodoxy. Our secular behavior—the way we do our work, vote, compete, negotiate a contract, accept criticism, disagree, serve, talk with (or about) other people, spend our money, and use our leisure time is our orthopraxy. We can’t have one without the other!
For a Christian, correct belief must come first but, out of that belief, correct conduct must follow. Although we are saved by faith and not works, God’s purpose in saving us is so we’ll do good works. Our problem as Christians isn’t that we don’t know what to do—the problem is that we do know what to do but we often fail to do it!
In the category of “Newer Words,” the night’s Final Jeopardy clue was, “Philosopher’s use it for language that accompanies an action, like ‘I dub thee knight’; it also means done for show or signal.” The correct response was “performative.” A new word to me, I encountered it again the following day in an article by Rich Villodas about “performative spirituality.” After asking, ”If a good deed is not posted on social media, did it really happen?” Villodas continued with another rhetorical question, “If an act of generosity is not caught on camera and never goes viral, was it a worthwhile gesture?”
I was married fifty-seven years ago today. When I promised to love, comfort, honor, cherish, forsake all others, and to have and to hold my husband “for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health” until we parted at death, I had no idea just how bad “for worse” could get, how little money “for poorer” might be, or that sickness could mean much more than a case of the flu. I certainly never pictured us growing old with wrinkles, white hair, hearing aids, bifocals, arthritis, and the limitations that come advanced years.
Jesus offered fishing advice to the disciples twice after they’d spent a night of fishing with absolutely nothing to show for it and, twice, after doing as He directed, they ended up with a miraculous catch of fish. The first time, their catch was so heavy that their nets began to tear and the two boats hauling it in nearly sunk from the weight! The second time, unable to pull the net into their boat, the men had to get out and drag it into shore!
After using Peter’s boat as a preaching platform, Jesus told him to take the boat out to deeper water and let down his nets. Fishing was a way of life in Galilee and Peter, Andrew, James, and John probably started fishing with their fathers when they were just youngsters. Can you imagine their reaction to this inexperienced carpenter’s son from Nazareth telling them how to fish? Didn’t the rabbi know that net fishing was done at night when the fish were more active and less likely to see the linen nets? Having fished all night, the men were tired. By that time, they’d cleaned their nets and hung them to dry; they were ready to go home, eat, and get some sleep. Experience told them that if they’d caught nothing that night, they certainly weren’t going to catch anything in the light of day! Nevertheless, even though Peter balked at Jesus’ unusual command, he and his partners reloaded their gear, took out their boats, and let down their nets.
In Sharon Garlough Brown’s novel, Two Steps Forward, a character choses to pray the Hebrew word hineni during Advent. When another character calls it a beautiful but “costly” prayer, I grew curious about this word. Hineni is composed of two little words, hineh and ani. By itself, hineh is usually translated as “behold” but, when combined with ani (meaning “I”), it usually is translated as “Here I am,” “I’m here,” or “Yes.” However, like shalom, the Hebrew hineni loses the depth of its meaning in translation.
Devotions of the Heart 