What is the Line?

The Line is a Christian church in northside Chicago.

"We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

Ephesians 2:10

“Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost.”

Isak Dineson

Why did we come to the city?

To work. To build. To do our utmost. The chef plating an amuse bouche, the resident responding to a 3 A.M. call, the father explaining Jackson Pollack to his son; all these are building. From such endeavors cities are born.

We want to build a city that works. So why doesn’t it? Inequality, poverty, hate, corruption, why do they still exist after hundreds of years of effort? Why our vacant relationships, our unsatisfactory careers?

Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ came to our city. Babel. Enoch. The city of Man.

Why? To work. To build. Specifically, to build us. To do his utmost on our behalf. To build the city we could not.

The cross has measured. We have been found wanting. Our city does not work. We set out to build, but instead destroyed.

Jesus gave his utmost. He is building. We are his work. And he is teaching us to build anew.