A Sundered Cross: Evangelicalism and the Public Sphere

Imagine a cross. The cross has a vertical pole and a crossbar. It is not hard to imagine the vertical pole representing the dynamic between below and above. Christ was nailed to that cross. He hung suspended between heaven and earth, deserted by the dwellers of both. In Christ reconciled with God, Christians the world over are participants in that vertical dimension. The connection with God has been established. The vertical pole represents the relationship with God. They also have a responsibility in the horizontal.

The crossbar is positioned horizontally and represents the world and all its relationships, communities, gatherings, interactions, and encounters as God’s work in Christ bears upon them. There is hope for the horizontal dimensions of life because the vertical relationship has been restored. Vertical and horizontal belong to each other. The horizontal depends on the vertical, while the vertical dimension is only meaningful to the extent that it becomes real in the horizontal.

Of course, thinking about the cross this way is not necessarily employing biblical metaphors, but it is still very helpful in showing us that the reconciling work of Christ on the cross and its salvific effect upon the world and upon humanity are deeply integrated. Anything that harms this unity is to be considered taking the Gospel apart…