So what is the “right” view of the Bible? Is it inerrant? How literal is it? All good questions, but I’ve been convicted recently of what seems to be a much more important question. And that is whether or not I’m actually living out the teachings of the Bible. An article by Scot McKnight in the current issue of Relevant Magazine spurred this for me. In it he describes the difference between Orthodoxy (believing the right things) and Orthoproxy (doing the right things). He says “Orthodoxy that does not lead to Orthoproxy is dead”. I could not agree more. Of course this is not an original idea. James says, “What good is it my brothers and sisters, if people claim to have the right view of the Bible but don’t live it out?”.
For me, talk is easy, action is hard. While I’ve always viewed actions more important than words, and have tried to carry this idea out, I often find myself too stuck on ‘Orthodoxy’ instead of ‘proxy’.
I spend a lot of time pondering the Bible in terms of what it really is, and how divine and inerrant it really is. Mulling over questions like… What’s up with the canon? Was John high when he conjured up Revelation? And how about the letters and documents that aren’t in the Bible? Instead I could stand to give that a rest and focus more on the way I carry myself day to day.
McKnight says, “Deep inside we know that the reason that God gave us the Bible was not so we could figure out what the right view of it was. No, God gave us the Bible so that we could love God with reckless abandon and let that love overflow into reckless love for ourselves and for others in this world”.
He goes on to say that if you find yourself loving others, and living selflessly, and loving God then your reading the Bible right.