Life Together

Life Together  By: Dietrich Bonhoeffer  Chapter 5: Confession and Communion  Confess your faults one to another James 5:16 In this chapter Bonhoeffer is addressing what the Christians call a desire for authenticity. Too often in the church it has felt like sin is left outside and only Sunday's best comes in. Bonhoeffer argues that is not true and not only is it not true it also keeps Christians from true brotherly fellowship. Not one of us is perfect and that is not a promise only for the un-saved. Granted there is no condemnation is Christ but there is confession. Bonhoeffer is advocating for the Church to be honest about sin because lying about it is not going to help anyone. True fellowship only occurs in any Christian community when the members of Christ are able to honestly share their sin. Sin isolates but confession brings sin into the light so that it can no longer hide. We know this but will we live like it?  For example I know that the couple...

Chapter 4: Ministry  Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer  Luke 9:46 An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.   In this chapter Bonhoeffer describes a few ways in which Christians ought to be doing ministry.  He suggests that just as the disciples argued about who was the best in their group the church members are likely to argue, even if just in their minds, each person's position. Some may walk into the room and assess who is the strongest or the weakest, the most spiritual or furthest from God, or who is the best prayer or speaker. The problem is that this makes this person a self-interested judge over his or her brothers and sisters in Christ. Bonhoeffer proposes seven different areas of ministry which God invites each individual church member to take part in. These include the ministry of holding one's tongue, the ministry of meekness, the ministry of listening, the ministry of helpfulness, the ministry of bearing, the min...

Chapter 3: The Day Alone  Dietrich Bonhoeffer  Christian Community as we discussed previously is a gift which Jesus has given to the church so that we can build one another up as we await Jesus' return. However, as Bonhoeffer proceeds to explain that community is not created simply to fill a hole in the life of a lonely person. It is meant for more than that and God has not called His people to reliance on others but reliance on Him. He has also not called His people to utter solitude nor isolation from the body of Christ. Community within the church is meant to be enjoyed as a gift not as a god.  I love Bonhoeffer's line which says "let him who cannot be alone beware of community and let him who is not in community beware of being alone". When I read this line I think of myself at different times throughout my Christian walk and other Christians who I have seen struggle with finding the balance between the two. For me, as a younger Christian I sought out C...

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer  Chapter 2: The Day with Others Bonhoeffer writes "At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it". Every day is an opportunity to worship God in conjunction with the saints. Bonhoeffer suggests this is done from morning til evening through prayer scripture reading and singing hymns.   Bonhoeffer does not take devotion to the Lord lightly. The day he writes about is fully focused on God so that everything a person does is geared towards honoring God. This means that the God-worshiper wakes up and the first thing on his mind is prayer and scripture because this is the foundation for his day.   This can involve reading, praying, and singing the psalms. The psalms are expressions of God's people who have experienced great joy and also great tragedy. Bonhoeffer encourages Christians today to start their day by focusing on the psalms and learning to apply them and pray them well. For example there are the psalm...

Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer  Chapter 1: Community  Psalm 133:1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity It will be the most beautiful day when we are all together in eternity for about a million reasons and one being that all the brothers and sisters will finally be together in perfect unity. It is in and through Jesus Christ that today the church has any hope of existing as a community connected through brotherly love.  As we wait in anticipation we live out Christian fellowship as the church though unfortunately it is scattered about at the present moment. Though our fellowship is not perfect Jesus instituted the church for a purpose. Part of that is that it is a source of incomparable joy and strength for believers.God has gifted us with a means of coming together to support one another. Bonhoeffer points out that too often we forget that our community created through Christ is something not everyone has. Some people don't ...