Vertical and Horizontal Christians

I’ve been unable to come to grips with how an extremely sinful, petty, cruel, narcissist could be the person over 70 million Americans looked at and said, “Yes, please, four more years of that.”

The coalition that voted for him contains a lot of Evangelical Christians. I find it almost impossible to believe given the incompatibility of the values the Evangelicals profess and the actions of the one they voted for. It may be an exaggeration, but rationalize the Evangelical vote because most of those are “Vertical Christians.” 

Generally, Vertical Christians have their priorities in an upward vertical line. There’s a lot of emphasis on rules with God at the top. There is very little to do with other people because there is a greater focus on personal holiness which is gained by following the rules. There’s also lots of judgment about others. 

A quote from George Berhard Shaw that seems applicable to how Vertical Christians think is, “No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says. He is always convinced that it says what he means.” 

Horizontal Christians, on the other hand, prioritize  community, empathy, and social action that helps others.  Social justice is more important than following rules. The Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew capture the spirit of this mindset. Things like compassion, peacemaking, enduring hardship for doing what’s right, and showing mercy and forgiveness. Those are the values of the Horizontal Christians. 

We have a long way to go, but I am optimistic we will get through this and come out stronger and better. Even so, I need to remember that ever the cynic, Shaw, said this about Christianity: "Christianity might be a good thing if anyone ever tried it."