Hello, and welcome to the site! You might be wondering what Christian Orthopraxy means; this post will hopefully clear that up. As used here, a Christian is a person who believes in Christ, and orthopraxy is correct conduct. So, Christian Orthopraxy is about Christians actively engaging in behaviors that would make them become “mini-Christ(s).” Aka, what would Jesus do? In the Western world many of us live in, the emphasis is on Christian Orthodoxy. That would be “correct belief.” It’s essential, of course, and Orthopraxy is even more so.
The challenging part of Christianity is that the things Jesus says to do in our New Testament are not possible for us. For example, when he said to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:38-48) when someone strikes us, he meant not to retaliate when insulted or otherwise mistreated; how many of us can reliably and consistently do that? But there is hope! A successful orthopraxy for a Christian is built on correct belief and the commitment to spiritual exercises that allow us to become like Christ.
A metaphor to help us grasp this: We are in an Olympic year, and many athletes worldwide will soon gather to compete. They will not have merely shown up and hoped for the best! No, they will have spent years leading up to this event training, dieting, and, in general, engaging in activities that will enable them to be the type of person who will merely perform their athletic activity as one of the best in the world.
Stay tuned for future blogs and books that will further explore this concept.