Three Strands of Relationship

The pursuit of right relationship will address and ultimately remedy every issue within the church today. Much of the church in America is operating under a misconception, believing that her top priority is to reach the lost. The so-called Great Commission has been prioritized above what Jesus calls the first and great commandment: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind' . . . And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Matt. 22:37, 39). The church is in desperate need of reestablishing and reordering her three strands of relationship: believer-to-God, believer-to-believer, and believer-to-world. We are to have a singular devotion to God, bringing forth a sincere devotion within the church, and thereby becoming a sign and a wonder to the world. Three Strands of Relationship builds on the scriptural examination in Stephen Smith's previous book, Kiss the Son, further showing the centrality of relationship for the individual follower of Christ as well as the local assembly of the church and encouraging the church to regain "a threefold cord [that] is not quickly broken" (Eccles. 4:12).