Orthopraxy, the Pendulum and the Protestant Reformation

or·tho·prax·y[awr-thuh-prak-see]
1.correctness or orthodoxy of action or practice.
Literally, "straight"+"Practice"

In the aformentioned book by Alistair Mcgrath, I was reminded that Martin Luther's ideology was focused on renewal, not innovation. In other words, he had hoped to bring some needed reforms to the existing Church rather than retooling the whole thing. Obviously, the whole thing was retooled as the Lutheran Church and the Protestant movement, but this was not his original idea.

Historically, Church Movements take a certain pendulum type action. If there is something that disturbs congregants, either doctrinally or in practice, the reaction will be strongly to the other side. The Pendulum, rather than always being a corrective back to a semblance of orthodoxy or orthopraxy, will reach a peak in some radical other direction. Not that this is necessarily bad and sometimes it is a much needed change. However, sometimes it can be change merely for the sake of it.

Consider church movements in modernity. For a time, the reaction to any sort of change was the mantra "We have never done it that way before.".

The answer to this in Churches came to the point of, "Let's get rid of that, because that is the way we always did it." or "Lets do this, because we have never done it that way before.".

The goal of innovation has, in instances, become innovation. Something new and different for the sake of being new and different.

While being new and different can be enjoyable and exciting, is it really a worthy goal? Perhaps our goal in reviewing our practices should be the idea of renewal. The driving thought being that we have gotten off track somewhere, be it in our hearts and lives, our outreach, our passion, our purpose, or whatever other defining item is in need of renewal. This will, in turn, lead to innovation.

So, what drives innovation in your life, your Church, your organization? Is it a result of focusing on your purposes and passions, or is it innovation for the sake of just doing something different?