Stanford Eric - Humble orthodoxy: holding the truth high without putting people down

I suppose the opposite of humble orthodoxy is arrogant orthodoxya rather ugly pairing of words since orthodoxy takes us to King Jesus, who is gentle and humble in heart. Defending orthodoxy, a perennially urgent responsibility, so easily degenerates into our defending ourselves and our opinions, a perennially deceptive form of idolatry. May this short book by Joshua Harris encourage many to love and articulate the truth with the same tears of compassion that Jesus shed over the city.

D. A. C ARSON , research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, IL, and author of The Intolerance of Tolerance

When I think of the words humble orthodoxy, I think immediately of Josh Harris. In this book you will find not merely an expert calling us to an abstract idea. You will find the heart of a man who demonstrates humility and conviction, mostly in ways that he doesnt see himself (or he wouldnt be qualified to write this book). Humble Orthodoxy will show you, with authenticity and vulnerability, what it means to realize that, left to ourselves, we are all arrogant heretics. But the Spirit of God can crucify our pride and our unfaithfulness. I heartily commend this good, practical book.

R USSELL D. M OORE , dean, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY, and author of Tempted and Tried: Temptation and the Triumph of Christ

When many years ago I first heard my good friend Josh Harris talk about the need for humble orthodoxy, the phrase resonated with me immediately. Because, as Calvin said, the heart is an idol-making factory, we often take a good thing and make it an ultimate thing. We take something that is meant to help people, and we use it in hurtful ways. Sadly, many thinking Christians do this with doctrine. We argue for the glory of God in an unglorious manner. Josh knows this and is on a mission to change the tone of our theological conversations and put doctrine in its rightful placeas a servant to all but a master to none. He understands that if we dot all our doctrinal is and cross all our doctrinal ts but have not love, we will be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Thanks for this, Josh. A much-needed message for our time.

T ULLIAN T CHIVIDJIAN , pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, FL, and author of Jesus + Nothing = Everything

I love the message of Humble Orthodoxy. It further fueled the fire within me for a passionate commitment to truth that would put me on my knees instead of puffing me up. God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. I pray that God will use the message of this book to topple tall towers of pride that are so out of place in the church of Jesus Christ. May pure worship flow from humble orthodoxy!

J ASON M EYER , pastor of preaching and vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, MN

H UMBLE O RTHODOXY
P UBLISHED BY M ULTNOMAH B OOKS
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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NIV ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

eISBN: 978-1-60142-476-1

Copyright 2013 by Joshua Harris

Cover design by Kristopher K. Orr; cover image by RF Images

Content in this book is drawn from and is an expansion of the chapter Humble Orthodoxy in Dug Down Deep, copyright 2010 by Joshua Harris, published by Multnomah Books.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

M ULTNOMAH and its mountain colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Harris, Joshua.
Humble orthodoxy : holding the truth high without putting people down / Joshua Harris, with Eric Stanford. 1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Christian life. I. Stanford, Eric. II. Title.
BV4501.3.H375 2013
248.4dc23

2012042305

v3.1

To Robin Boisvert,
a faithful friend and pastor

Followers of Jesus want to be like our Lord. And maybe we think we are. But all too often were really more like the group Jesus warned about most frequently: the Pharisees. Sadly, the journey into Pharisaism is an easy one.

In Jesuss day the Pharisees were not a bad group. In fact, they were the orthodox group with the right doctrines and the right zeal for the faith of their fathers. They were the guys you wanted to speak at your conference and whose books topped the bestseller lists. Yet not only did they miss the Son of God when he stood before them, but they actually helped crucify him.

The Holy Spirit did not go into such detail about the Pharisees in the New Testament just so we could understand a group unique to the first century. Pharisaism is a poisonous weed that grows in every garden of orthodox religion. Pharisaism is every bit the threat to the orthodox today that it was then.

Pharisaism has less to do with what doctrines we hold than with how we hold them. As Josh Harris shows in this book, getting doctrine right is a matter of life and death, but holding that doctrine in the right spirit is essential too. A great deal of damage is done by those who hold the truth of Christ with the spirit of Satan. Knowledge in their hands becomes a tool for puffing up, which produces pride, which leads not to life but to the condemnation of the devil (1 Timothy 3:6).

Consequently, I can think of few books as pressing for our moment as this one. In this helpful, accessible work, Josh presents us with gospel truth and does it in the generosity of spirit the gospel produces.

I love Josh Harris both as a writer and as a friend. He radiates love and humility, not only toward Jesus, but also toward the church. His commitment to the Word challenges and inspires me. His love for Jesus and for Jesuss people humbles me.

The truths presented in these pages lead me to worship. And then repent. I believe they will do so for you as well. So I challenge you to study them, not in the way a seminarian studies doctrine, but in the way you might study a sunset that leaves you speechless.

Throughout this book youll find yourself wanting to set the book down and lift your eyes upward. Or write a letter of apology. Obey those impulses. That is faith working through love, and that is the goal of the gospel.

J. D. Greear, senior pastor, The Summit
Church, Durham, North Carolina; author
of Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made
Christianity Revolutionary

Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.