What is Triangular Christianity? (1)

The phrase “Triangular Christianity” is an attempt to describe the essence of biblical Christianity as we understand it. This should not be read to imply that previous attempts at describing the essence of biblical Christianity have failed or that we have suddenly found the secret message of Jesus. In fact, it will be abundantly clear that we are dependent upon multitudes of others, most recently Scot McKnight and his excellent book The Jesus Creed. Triangular Christianity is simply a phrase that resonates with me and helps me understand Christianity. The phrase itself was taken from a brief description in Gary Burge’s commentary on 1 John in the NIV Application Commentary series.

1 John might be the most obvious treatment of Triangular Christianity, and is clearly stated in his prologue: “so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and His Son” (1 John 1:3). John’s purpose as a pastor and as one who proclaims Jesus Christ is to bring others into fellowship with the church, which in turn leads to fellowship with the Triune God. In short, Triangular Christianity emphasizes Christianity as consisting of three primary relationships, each of equal importance: 1) my relationship with God, 2) your relationship with God, 3) our relationship with one another.

Christianity in America often only focuses on the first relationship, my relationship with God. This is evident in our individualistic presentations of the gospel (”God has a plan for your life”), our individualistic responses to the gospel (”I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior”), and our individualistic spiritual disciplines (”personal daily devotions”). However, Triangular Christianity says otherwise. Triangular Christianity says that I must be just as concerned about and nurturing of your relationship with God as I am my relationship with God. Furthermore, I must be just as concerned about and nurturing of our relationship with one another as I am my relationship with God.

Each of these relationships will be described further in the next few posts titled, “What is Triangular Christianity?”