Orthopraxic Christians

How do I know whether I am orthodox or you are orthodox? Maybe neither of us is orthodox? Last Thursday I was asked to give a paper to a study group in Oxford composed mainly of Orthodox Christians (of the Russian, Greek, Romanian, etc. variety) but this week on Thursday I will be meeting with another group of orthodox Christians - orthodox Anglicans - those who have felt it necessary to set themselves apart from those within the Anglican Communion who have become rather un-orthodox. I'm referring to the Conference of the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (FCA) or GAFCON. One newspaper described their conference on Monday as "Anglican rebels descend on London"!

The word 'orthodox' is often used as if it means 'right believing' or 'the correct understanding of the Christian faith' but of course it actually means 'right worship'.  So who should judge whether my worship - that which I do in church, but also the worship offered by the way I live - is 'right'? Surely that is God's prerogative, the one to whom all worship is offered.

Reflecting on my encounters with (in fact, fellowship with) both groups of orthodox Christians, the Eastern Orthodox ones and the Anglican ones, I am tempted to try to invent some new language. I think I want to become an Orthopraxic Christian - one who tries to live correctly, to be a faithful disciple of Jesus, to walk in what the early Christians called "The Way". Of course we do still need to struggle with belief and I have no problems with the slightly heated debates which take place between so called 'orthodox' and 'non-orthodox' Anglicans or between 'Orthodox believers' and 'non-Orthodox believers' - they are all part of the 'right belief' struggle.  But we also need to struggle to get our 'life witness' right - to be orthopraxic - because it will be our orthopraxis which will witness to the power of the Risen Christ as much, as, or even more so than, our orthodox beliefs. My prayer for all of our gatherings is that our struggles for orthodox belief will be bathed in orthopraxis - our love to one another, which speaks of Christ's love for all.

On reflection I don't want to be an Orthopraxic Christian afte all! What I really want to do is to reclaim the title Orthodox for all of us whose heart seeks to worship God rightly, in word and life.