The horizontalizing of...wait, what?

Last month’s book of the month still has me chewing over some big points about our relationship with God. Today I want to talk about John Piper’s concept of the “horizontalizing of Holy things.” This is the idea that the effectiveness of our spiritual acts is at the horizontal level of the people around us, and not at the vertical level of in front of the face of God. For example, when I pray at dinner and others see me, it’s good for them.

It's funny, because this is precisely how the Bible says a wife can win over their husbands.

Likewise, wives be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. – 1 Peter 3:1-2

There are plenty of scripture that encourage us to be good examples in a world that doesn’t know Jesus…so why would the “horizontalizing of Holy things” be a bad thing?

The thing is, just like the discussion in Enemies of God, it doesn’t start as a bad thing. What happens is this gradual, unconscious shift in the motivation behind our actions. A shift that starts to focus on how we’re affecting others when they see it happening and loses focus on the fact that everything we do should be primarily to honor God.

This is a difficult topic for me to think about, because I can see how often I would measure my success or failure as a disciple of Christ against the outward effect I have on those around me. I think about the baby that’s almost here, and how I want to do so differently to raise her to love Jesus that we did with our older children (when we were lost in our walk with Christ ourselves.) I think about any of my ministry work and how deliberately I have to remind myself that God will bring who needs to come – the numbers don’t matter.

When I really think about it, I’m just having to break habits that the world has instilled in me. We’re told our whole lives that our success is defined by what those around us experience or see. Everything is graded or ranked. Graduating with honors. Climbing the corporate ladder. High salaries. Big houses. Nice cars. All of those things’ equal success to the world.

You know what Jesus wants from you? Your prayers throughout the day. Time set aside to spend with him. Your heart focused on following his Word, worshipping him, and honoring who he is and what he did. Immediate obedience to what he says. He wants you to seek him, his acceptance, his approval.

Therefore do not be anxious saying, ‘what shall we eat?’ or ‘what shall we drink?’ or ‘what shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. – Matthew 6:31-33

The entire chapter of Matthew 6 is Jesus asking us where our focus is. “Are we content in God when no one but God knows that we have done what we ought to have done?”(John Piper)

I’m not always successful at this orientation. Not so much because I’m concerned with how others see my walk, but mostly because I just do a miserable job at prioritizing my personal relationship with God sometimes. In a lot of ways, this blog isn’t even about who it’s reaching – it’s personal accountability to sit down and evaluate where my heart AND my head are on a day to day basis. When I start slipping in my daily walk, the demands of writing pull me back in.

Oh, how I wish I didn’t need something to reel me back in – but I’m human, and in the grand scheme of things I’ll take anything that helps me stay focused on growing and building my personal relationship with God when things in my life get a little too hectic.

What do you have in place that helps you stay focused in the moments that life becomes busy? If you don’t have anything, I would encourage you to set up a safety net. Things can get overwhelming quickly, and the things that are less tangible usually get deprioritized first.

But when you do find yourself slipping, and the days have turned to weeks and your Bible is still in the car from Sunday a month ago – don’t be too hard on yourself. The Father is always sitting patiently, waiting with open arms for you to return and spend some quality time with him.