The Practical and the Sublime

We often try to distinguish between theoretical Christianity and practical Christianity. You know how that goes. "All that doctrine and stuff is all well and good, but I need something that relates to me." The idea is that the theoretical and the practical don't really mix. There's all those highfalutin "Christianese" words like "justification" and "sanctification" and "the perspicuity of Scripture" (which, unfortunately, means that it's basically simple to understand -- couldn't they have chosen an easier-to-understand term for that?) and such, but what I need know is what I should do tomorrow and where my needs are going to be met. I mean, we're happy (theoretically) with all those cool doctrinal things, but what we want is where the rubber meets the road.

It's funny, then, how Scripture often seems to go in reverse. For instance, Paul wrote to Timothy, "I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth" (1 Tim 3:14-15). Thank you, Paul. "How one ought to behave" is imminently practical. Just the kind of thing we need. Then he follows that with "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory" (1 Tim 3:16). Right from "how one ought to behave" to the wondrous glory of Christ. Without missing a beat.

It appears as if the two depend on one another. It seems that orthodoxy and orthopraxy are interlinked. (Yes, I know, a couple more of those "Christianese" words. "Orthodoxy" refers to the right way of thinking, in this sense about biblical doctrine. "Orthopraxy" is the right way of living -- right practice.) It appears that only when we get the right way of thinking about God and His universe can we get the right way of acting in it. Conversely, acting rightly in our existence leads us closer to the right way of thinking. In the 1st Timothy example above, Paul indicates that the glory of Christ was the truth, the reason for "the church of the living God" whose task is to be the support of the truth, and that task is accomplished by behaving as one ought to behave. We best defend God's truth when we live it, and we best live God's truth when we know it. A circle.

"Relevant." That's the word we keep using. "How is this doctrine stuff relevant?" "How is the sermon at church relevant?" "How is all this singing worship songs and gathering with believers relevant?" They are interlocked and self-feeding. One encourages the other and vice versa. Want to follow Christ? He is "the Truth" (John 14:6), so know the truth. What does knowing the truth lead to? A changed heart and a changed will and an intent to follow Him better. Round and round it goes, the practical and the sublime. Embrace them.