The Site

un·or·tho·dox (ŭn-ôr’thə-dŏks’)
adj. Breaking with convention or tradition; not orthodox.

Faith is composed of two interconnected pieces – doxis and praxis. In English, “belief” and “action.”  To be orthodox is to supposedly hold to the right beliefs.

In religious circles, the term has been used historically to define the beliefs (and erroneously, the practices) of the Eastern Church as opposed to the Western, or Roman, Church.  But it is also used in evangelical circles as a synonym for the doctrinal fundamentals of Christian belief such as the deity of Christ, the virgin birth and the like.

Orthodoxy claims to be the historically correct version of Christian belief; but often it is simply the current version of Christian belief that is held to be historically correct by whatever group of Christians using the word at the time.

To seek out unorthodox ways is to consider how the “right way”, or more appropriately the “right ways” might be wrong.

And this is the reason this blog is called UNORTHODOX. We are not seeking to destroy Christianity.  We are not planning to rediscover or reform what exists today.

This unorthodoxy is simply questions.  We can no longer accept that what our camp or tradition holds as orthodox must be orthodox.

The Author

My name is Erik DiVietro, and I am the senior pastor of a small church in New Hampshire called Grace Baptist. Our church is a composite of two congregations, Heritage Baptist and Grace Baptist.

I am also a husband and a father.

Our family joined Heritage in 2004, and since then we have been constantly working at being who Jesus wants us to be and less what people expect us to be. In December of 2009, we led Heritage and Grace into a merger.

I grew up in church as a pastor’s kid. I’ve seen real faith, fake faith and everything in between.

For those of you who care about academics, I went to college at Boston Baptist College (www.boston.edu) and got my Master’s Degree at Master’s International School of Divinity (www.mdivs.edu).

There are a few things you should know about me.

I do not believe we were put on earth to be right. God made us; Jesus redeems us; and the Spirit propels us toward Kingdom greatness – the transformation of lives, culture, society and the world.

I would rather die than just go through every day doing some Christian thing that salves my conscience and makes me feel secure about going to heaven.

The Way of Jesus calls us to become spiritual activists, radical earth shakers, and that does not happen by doing “devotions” and sitting in comfy chairs while a preacher tells us wonderful things about Jesus and terrible things about sin. The way of Jesus is the way of the extremist – the way of accepting impossible challenges and plunging headline into transforming our would around us by the grace and power of Jesus Christ.

Many readers are uncomfortable with the things I write and say. I apologize for making people uncomfortable, but please understand that I cannot apologize for not conforming to what people think I should believe. Conformity has never been my strong suit, and believe me when I tell you that I have tried to conform and be “good.

The Way that Jesus taught was opposed to Caesar, opposed to religion and downright abrasive. Jesus was caustic and irritating because he wanted to drive us to greater things. Comfortable conformity is a sure prescription for unfocused faith and self-righteousness.