The New Attitude Letters, Part 2

Dear Reader,

As I sat through that first session of New Attitude, I found myself immediately overwhelmed by a sense of God’s hand at work in that building. Joshua Harris presented the conference’s opening message and core theme of “rediscovering humble orthodoxy.” Referencing II Timothy 2:15, which says, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth,” Josh posed the question: “Whose approval are we going to live for?”

The answer that any believer would, of course, desire is that we are going to live for God’s approval rather than man’s approval. Before he even began to explain what it looks like for a Christian to live for God’s approval above all else, Josh said something that I thought particularly applicable to the rising generation of believers who have a heart for cultural regeneration. He said that there is a difference between reaching the culture and impressing the culture. How easy it is, I thought to myself when he said those words, to blur that distinction and become more focused on presenting ourselves as “culturally savvy” rather than primarily and wholeheartedly devoting ourselves to the Truth.

From there we may transition into the first point of the message which was that we must handle the Truth faithfully. So often modern Christianity tries to repackage the Gospel and embellish the Truth with presentation. This, however, is a gross injustice to Truth. Because, you see, we can never make the Gospel sound as good as it actually is in its most basic form. By trying to present a Gospel that appeals to man’s worldly desires and needs, we are stripping away the essence of what the Gospel truly is. This point is really what New Attitude was all about this year. Do not reinvent the Gospel; rediscover it.

The second step in rediscovering humble orthodoxy and living for God’s approval was that we must live the Truth personally. To open up this point, Josh said that “Living Truth becomes a living lie when we fail to obey it ourselves.” Even if we are committed to not reinventing the Gospel, it means nothing if we are not living out the Gospel in our lives. Mike Bullmore’s message on the following day proved particularly helpful and applicable in this area, of which I will write to you shortly. The question asked at the end of this point was one that I had heard before, but in context struck me as significant: “Have I grown comfortable with my current level of godliness?” Have you? A crucial aspect of living the Truth personally is growth in godliness, and if we are comfortable with our current level of godliness, then surely we have neither a motivation to grow nor an understanding of our need to grow.

Lastly, Josh said that we must represent the Truth humbly. “Humility is not a technique,” Josh proclaimed to his audience of New Attitude attendees, “it’s God’s command.” While this may fall in part under the banner of living the Truth personally, as humility is certainly a biblical characteristic we must cultivate in our lives, representing the Truth humbly speaks more specifically to our actual presentation of the Gospel to unbelievers. We must take care not to fall into the temptation of self-righteousness, and thinking that we are somehow better than those we witness to because we know the Truth. Certainly this contradicts the very nature of the Gospel, which is that we, helpless sinners, dead in our sins, could do nothing to redeem ourselves. As Josh put it, “When you understand grace, you do not walk around trying to force that same grace on others; you walk around with tears of gratefulness in your eyes, saying ‘why would God choose me?’”

As I arrived back in my hotel room that night, I began a new page in my journal. I wrote,

“Thank You for meeting me not with what I ‘wanted’ but with a beautiful reminder of the seriousness of wielding Your Truth.”

I knew that God was at work. Even as I write this I see items in my notes from that first session that I have not yet begun to write about. The waterfall had certainly begun on that first night and I have much more that I would like to yet share with you, but I will conclude for the time being. I hope this finds you well and that you are encouraged by hearing of the work God did at New Attitude. I will write again soon.

Until then,
Brian Whalen