Horizontal Transformation

Red Revolution from Threads on Vimeo.

(The following video was done by Adam Thomason of Red Revolution. I met Adam at the Legacy Conference this year. He taught a workshop I attended called "Living Out Biblical Community." I am still unpacking all that I learned!)

During my time at Moody Graduate School I became aware that historically and currently in America we have bought into and lived out a very individualized, "me and Jesus" Christianity. It is focused primarily on the vertical reality of what Christ accomplished on the cross (reconciling us back to God), while either excluding or minimizing the horizontal reality of the cross (reconciling us one to another). When this happens, the church mirrors society's emphasis on individualism and materialism. The church than also becomes infected with our cultures "caste system" built around race and class.

Although, this "one-sided" Christianity has unfortunately plagued the Church, it is not found in Scripture. I like what Mark Dever says in his book entitled "What Is A Healthy Church." He states, "It should be no surprise then that Jesus said that 'all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments': love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. The two commandments go together. The first produces the second, and the second proves the first. Through Christ, then, being reconciled to God means being reconciled to everyone else who is reconciled to God." I am thinking a lot lately of what it means than to practically love our neighbor as ourselves, and exploring afresh what it means to truly be this new blood-bought family of God. How can we best reflect Christ to a watching world as His covenant people? How do we sacrificially love and bear with one another the way it is described in Acts 2?

I would love to chop it up if you have thoughts, questions, etc. Also, do you have any books you would recommend on Biblical community? I just purchased "Life Together" by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Let's chop...