Jesus said this to Nicodemus the Pharisee,

I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? John 3:11-12

Jesus was of course talking about horizontal and vertical learning and living. I talked about this in my sermon recently. (Click here to listen to that message.)

Jesus spoke about this very thing almost 2000 years ago. Let me just say, if Jesus sees it as an issue, we need to be on guard and fully informed.

Here is the essence of what I said about it in my sermon.

Most of the world lives horizontally. What do I mean by that? Taking life as it comes and only seeing what’s right in front of you. We all do it to some degree.

We build relationships with others at this level. We sort people into categories at this level by picking and choosing who you will associate with and who you won’t.  People acquire knowledge at this level.

Naturally we surround ourselves with people we like and hold the same positions. As a result, our horizontal lifestyle becomes deep-seated.

You do this long enough—and you will suffer from confirmation bias, and not even know it.

Wikipedia defines it this way, “Confirmation bias, a phrase coined by English psychologist Peter Wason, is the tendency of people to favor information that confirms or strengthens their beliefs or values and is difficult to dislodge once affirmed.”

This is what happens when we exclusively live a horizontal life. We gather information that supports what we agree with and discount anything that might call into question our beliefs. The people we choose to spend time with reinforce what we believe with contributions from our favorite news network and personally cultivated social media follows.

Living horizontally can get in the way of the higher thing, the things of Jesus. Vertical living and learning come from above. Jesus calls us to live higher and better than the rest of the world by loving everyone. Even Jesus reminds his disciples at the Last Supper that Christians “are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” John 17:16

One of the biggest obstacles to vertical living and learning are the people around us if they don’t point to Jesus in their lives. Your social circle may be all Christians, but if they never talk about their faith (but lots of other things), this can impede your walk with Jesus.

Remember what Jesus said, I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?

Extreme horizontal living will cause you to question or ignore the more important vertical living that is found in Jesus.

Imagine a cross for a moment. It is the horizontal beam that is supported by the stronger vertical beam. That vertical bar supports the horizontal plank.

What comes from above is always better than what we conceive of from below.

Jesus puts this teaching into practice when he was pointing out how some religious leaders were living.

What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Matthew 23:23

Horizontal living is concerned with appearances. “Look at what I am doing or what I believe.” The teachers in Jesus’ day pointed to their offerings.

Vertical living is concerned with the well-being of others within the confines of relationship and building community. Therefore, concepts like justice, mercy and faith take precedence over appearances and horizontal living.

That is why when Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment, he replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” Matthew 22:37-38

First and foremost, love God and keep a vertical mindset. Keep God and the love of Jesus as the number one thing in your life. This is primary.

But Jesus highlights a second command that falls under the first. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:39-40

Vertical and horizontal living put in their proper place.

Horizontal living isn’t bad. It only becomes a detriment when we forget what comes first and we forget to love.

God bless,
Pr. Ben

Near the beginning of the greatest sermon ever preached (The Sermon on the Mount), Jesus said this..

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:17-20

Wait a minute, are we supposed to be following the Jewish Law as Christians?

Is Saint Paul wrong when we wrote, “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6:14

It seems like these are two contradictory statements!

Before we jump to any more conclusions, let me take a moment to unpack this.

Jesus tells us that he came to fulfil the law. He came to do what we and countless generations could never do: live up to God’s expectations for how we live in relationship. (Romans 3:23)

What is the fulfilment of the law? Or to ask it another way, what does it look like if we lived according to God’s will 100% of the time?

Saint Paul gives us the answer…

The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:9-10

Love. Love God, love each other. Just love. When you boil it all down, the Law of Moses tells us to love.

Clearly, we don’t do that very well. God knew that and came to us (in Jesus) to do for us what we can’t do for ourselves. Jesus showed “the full extent of his love” (John 13:1b) by dying on the cross for our forgiveness. Specifically for the times we couldn’t love others.

Jesus takes on our brokenness and, in the process, fulfills the law (God’s expectations for his chosen people).

We no longer need to wonder about God’s intentions towards us. We see it clearly in Jesus. (John 3:16)

At the same time, Jesus encourages us to live out our faith by loving others without the fear of judgment and punishment. “…whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven…”

Our salvation doesn’t depend upon how “good we do” but we are encouraged to be a people of love wherever we go. Every loving thing we do is in response to what Jesus did for us. That is called discipleship.

God bless,

Pr. Ben