Orthocardia

Why is it so important? Because I think French's article helps us understand the polarization between America’s Democratic Progressive Christians on the political far left and the country’s Republican MAGA-Trump Christians on the far right. And the article hints at what I think may be a path to reconciliation.

French’s article includes these four paragraphs:

(Consider) three related concepts, each captured in a single word. The first two might be familiar to some readers; certainly, the first one will be. Orthodoxy is the term for the traditional beliefs in any given religious tradition. The second, Orthopraxy, refers to righteous conduct.

The final word, however, is arguably the most important, even if it is easily the most obscure. I first heard of orthocardia in a Sunday school lesson taught by Josh Strahan, a professor of biblical interpretation and the New Testament at Lipscomb University, where I teach.

Orthocardia means what it sounds like — “having a right heart.” In essence, it means that our beliefs and behaviors flow from our heart — and that the combination of a right posture toward God and toward man makes us eager to learn God’s truth (encouraging us toward orthodoxy) and to love our neighbor (encouraging us toward orthopraxy).

Or, as Jesus said, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

Notice the link in the third paragraph in italics above. It  points to a different article by Shiao Chong in “The Banner.” That one includes the following analogy:

Your heart is like your spiritual compass, for “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt. 6:21, also in Luke 12:34, and somewhat in Colossians 3:1-3). Wherever your heart points affects the other dimensions of your spirituality—your beliefs and behaviors. The triune God is our true north. Only when we love God with all our hearts will our hearts be rightly aligned and rightly influence our beliefs and our behaviors.

But have we unwittingly allowed other things to distract our hearts away from God? Our hearts can be pulled by the magnetic attraction of other things—even good things. For example, we can love God’s truth more than the God of truth. We can love God’s justice more than the God of justice. We can love God’s church more than God. We can love a right cause—whether it’s being pro-life or anti-racist—more than God. Have our hearts loved the gifts more than the Giver? As such, are our orthodoxy and orthopraxy distorted, overemphasizing certain beliefs and behaviors and underemphasizing others? Are we polarized because our hearts aren’t properly aligned?

I think David French and Shiao Chong are onto something: the MAGA-Trump Christian right prioritizes orthodoxy; the Progressive Christian left prioritizes orthopraxy. It’s time for both extremes and those of us in between them to 

1. Acknowledge the legitimacy of what each side is trying to protect: that both orthodoxy and orthopraxy arise from genuine Christian convictions.

2. Repent of demonizing the other, recognizing that contempt is incompatible with the unity Christ commands.

3. Pray for Christians whose political judgments differ from our own, asking the Spirit to correct, refine, and guide all of us into greater wisdom and humility in public life. 

4. Place orthocardia—rightly ordered love—above both orthodoxy and orthopraxy, in keeping with Jesus’ summary of the Law and the Prophets in Matthew 22:34–40.

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?”

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

– Tim Isbell