We are bound…

“We are bound together by faith, not by experience”

Nearly every article, book, or essay I have read about developing a stronger community inside or outside of the church mentions the need for shared experience. This kind of community is often marked by some type of shared activities meant to bring us all closer together. Its pretty tough to argue against this concept. It makes some sense. If we want better communities than it is necessary to commune together. This become significant we we share in partaking Communion together at the Lord’s table. It is an individual experience for sure, but it is also a corporate experience that serves on some mysterious level to foster a deeper connection between us.

However, Bonhoeffer reminds us that it is not simply the experience that binds us together. The experience itself play a role, but there is something deeper at work at the table. We are not simply bound by a shared activity, but by the faith we share in Jesus Christ that brings us to the table to begin with. The same is true for any activity that shared by brothers and sisters in Christ, it is never the event itself that connects us to one another, but it is the presence of Jesus that does the uniting.

This is also how we can be bonded to others in Christ that we have never met. Those Christians that live on the other side of the world are still connected to us not through shared experience but in and through Jesus. This make the church a truly global body. As Bonhoeffer makes clear we are connected by much more than our shared time together. Our communities are not defined by the accumulation of hours spent together, but through our head; Jesus Christ. I know Christians are often separated by denomination, culture, ethnicity, and any number of other things that we lean on to keep us apart, but maybe its time we spent more time focusing on the one thing that transcends all of those differences and unites us together in the body of Christ as its head…and just in case your not sure who that is yet, its Jesus.

Community Break Down…

 

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“Innumerable times a whole Christian Community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream.” (Life Together)

I am not sure that I can come up with a word that conveys just how much I agree with Bonhoeffer on this point. I must also confess that I am guilty of this infraction as well. For that, I need to repent. I find that when I take to time to reflect on the positive and negative experiences I have had as part of the church, I come to the realization that the negative experiences most often where a matter of either unreasonable or unmet expectations by myself or someone else. On the other hand, my positive experiences have occurred when people where able to get beyond their expectations, whether they were legitimate or not, and show real grace and love when those expectations have not been met.

This is a profound point for as the church because all of us carry around ideas about what the church should be. A pastor has many hopes for his or her church; that people will grow in faith, and that they will share that faith, and lives will be impacted by their ministry. Similarly congregations all have hopes and dreams for the people and the pastor. But we must be very careful with those hopes and dreams, because the church really is not ours to begin with. the church is God‘s and what truly matters are God’s designs for the community, not our own. Bonhoeffer goes onto say it this way:

“Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive.” (Life Together)

Instead of working hard to see our dreams achieved in the church, let us accept the community that God has gifted to and blessed us with. Let us hand those dreams over to God and allow Him to fill us up with His dreams for His community, so that an authentic and Christ centered community would emerge in our churches instead of an egocentric idea of community that is nothing more than unrealistic fantasy. No church community is perfect and will never be perfect as long as human hands have any say int he matter, but God has chosen to work in and through the church and it is our responsibility and privilege of those who have chosen to answer Jesus’ call to follow after Him to be a part of that community with all of its good and bad attributes. May we lay aside our dreams and accept the reality of God’s gift of community and remember as Bonhoeffer reminds us:

“…that Christian brotherhood is not an ideal, but a divine reality” (Life Together)

Community…

Bonhoeffer’s first chapter in “Life Together” is titled community. I got about half way through the first chapter yesterday and had to stop because there were too many ideas to mull over. so I stopped to consider them. Here are my thoughts on a couple of the things that were especially interesting to me. Most of this at the moment is me just wondering out loud (I can say out loud on a blog if I am talking to myself while I type can’t I)

Here is a quote in the first chapter that really got me thinking. “The death and life of a Christian is not determined by his own resources; rather he finds both only on the Word that comes to him from the outside, in God’s Word to him. The Reformers expressed it this way: Our righteousness is an ‘alien righteousness’ a righteousness that comes from outside (extra nos). They were saying that the Christian is dependent on the Word of God spoken to Him. He is pointed outward to the word that comes to him. The Christian lives wholly by the truth of God’s Word in Jesus Christ. If somebody asks him, Where is your salvation, your righteousness? He can never point to himself. He points to the Word of God in Jesus Christ , which assures him salvation and righteousness.”

I find myself wondering if the church really believes that salvation and righteousness really rests outside of ourselves and in Jesus. Do I even really believe this? What would the church look like if we not only believed this, but told others about it? I feel like that despite my best efforts it seems like many if not most of the people in my congregations might verbally acknowledge the truth of “alien righteousness” but don’t seem to live like it is true. ( I must confess my guilt in this as well. Even the word effort that I just used seems like the kind of language that indicates that somehow I am not working hard enough to earn God’s favor). Most people that I talk to just want to be good. They try really hard to be the best people that they can. They want to be charitable, and loving, and kind. Those things are certainly noble pursuits, but they aren’t Jesus. Instead of pursing those kinds of characteristics individually or corporately, maybe we should think less about being good people or a good church and think more about what it means to pursue Jesus who will instill within us those characteristics.

It seems that far to often Jesus is taken out of the equation altogether in favor of a works based Gospel we know is untrue, but feels a little more comfortable to us because our culture teaches us things like: you have to work hard to get ahead, that we have to earn our keep, and that love is something you fall into and out of at the drop of a hat instead of a selfless committment as described in 1 Corinthians 13. If we believe that love is like this, then it is no wonder we find it hard to imagine that God has always and will always love us and that we do not have to do anything to earn it. What would the church look like if we all love like God loves; without condition or clause, but with selflessness and commitment demonstrating grace and mercy to others every step of their journey.

Anyway, these are just some of the initial things that I am pondering after my reading. Still more to come when I have time.

"Life Together"…

The church is a fascinating phenomenon. Despite its historical transgressions and its nigh limitless list of flaws, the church continues to survive and even thrive. Its an amazing testimony to the love, power, grace, and mercy of God that the church continues to participate in the churches mission and ministry. I have found myself after 3.5 years as Pastor with some inner turmoil. I found a profound love and appreciation for the church, but I also have a deep sadness when I look at the overall state of the church, especially in North America in Europe. As I survey the scene, I am left in awe and wonder at the handy work of God and the transformational power of Jesus Christ in and through the church. I am also frustrated with institutionalism that leaves its laity powerless and unable or unwilling to change in the face of continued decline.

With this in mind I have made a decision. I want to better understand how as the church, we can work to over come our flaws and transgression. I also want to learn how the church can work towards a deeper sense of community and fellowship both inside and outside the door of the church. I decided that I am going to spend some time reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together”. Over the coming days and weeks I will be reading through his book and posting about some of my discoveries. I read the book several years back, but after having had much more experience in the church, I am curious what I will find looking through new lenses.

My hope is to learn and share what I find and hopefully we can learn together how we might live together more fully the call to follow after Jesus.