I have never been much of a student. I struggle with memorizing things. I often sit down with an idea to study only to find myself completely overwhelmed with the thought of where to start. This leads me to a mental flailing about that ends in a resulting low test score. There are times that in a feverish amount of studying I manage to grasp the flecks of knowledge I need to pass the test. I remember in many of my math based classes that I would do poorly on tests, not because my answers were wrong, but because the way I got the answer was not the process the teacher desired.
I found that as I went through college that there was a bit more freedom in the perspectives that I had. The professors and even the other students saw that I had a different perspective, and for the most part, were welcoming. It wasn’t that my perspectives were wrong (anymore) it was that they were different.
A bit unorthodox…
…so how can you be unorthodox with your orthodoxy?
Orthodoxy is described as being of, pertaining to, or conforming to beliefs, attitudes, or modes of conduct that are generally approved.
How are you a part of something that you don’t fit into well?
As I sit here and type that out, I wonder how many people feel about their faith like I felt about my geometry class.
They have the answers, they believe in Christ and may even feel the leading of the Spirit, but do they work out the process the way that mankind that call themselves religious think they should? I am not talking about people living in an unbiblical way. I am talking about people following God in a way that seems unorthodox to the system.
Many of the biblical leaders were unorthodox.
I am not trying to be liberal here. I am not suggesting there is any way to God but Christ, because there isn’t.
I am not suggesting that everything orthodox is bad. I am just suggesting that maybe a little unorthodox isn’t bad.
I guess this comes from a lot of thinking I have been doing about my future. I don’t know where I fit in, where I will be, and what that will look like. I am sure that it is all in God’s hands, that is my orthodox way of thinking. I am not sure how the unorthodox parts of who I am will fit into an orthodox system though. I know my calling, and I rest in the One who has called me, it is enough. So, I walk in that and grow into the person He has called me to be.
What would we do with John the Baptist in the modern church? Noah? Jesus was even seen as unorthodox, when actually, He was the very person that everyone (who thought He was unorthodox) was supposed to be conforming to. That’s the story of Jesus, saving those who thought they were orthodox from their orthodoxy which was unorthodox into a true orthodoxy that was based on Him since He was/is God.
He came because their orthodoxy was faulty. He instilled a new orthodoxy and left those who were of that orthodoxy to continue in it and spread it. I often wonder though if we have made His orthodoxy more of our orthodoxy and set up “unspoken rules” that make people feel like I did in geometry class…
…I have the answers, but do not understand the process.
Does our orthodoxy line up with Jesus?
This is a vital question that I think should be asked often.
Does our orthodoxy line up with what we have always known?
It is easy to follow what has always been taught. The problem with that is you don’t always experience what you are taught.
I can learn geometry, I can kind of experience it, but it is solely external. I can learn about God, I can kind of experience Him, and it can be solely external. However, if that is the experience you have with God that will lead to a faulty orthodoxy. Learning about God, then searching to experience Him and the leading of His Spirit, and experiencing Him internally leads to pure orthodoxy. I believe that is the orthodoxy this world longs to see.
I understand that I am an idealist. I understand that there are those much wiser than me that would disagree, but I am used to seeing things a little differently. I am used to having a bit of an unorthodox orthodoxy.
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