“Even when sin and
misunderstanding burden the common life, is not the one who sins still a person
with whom I too stand under the word of Christ? Will not another Christian’s
sin be an occasion for me ever anew to give thanks that both of us may live in
the forgiving love of God in Jesus Christ? Therefore, will not the very moment
of great disillusionment with my brother or sister be incomparably wholesome
for me because it so thoroughly teaches me that both of us can never live by
our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and deed that really binds
us together, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ? The bright day of
Christian community dawns wherever the early morning mists of dreamy visions
are lifting.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life
Together, Fortress Press, 2015 (Reader’s Edition), page 11.
Continuing our reflection on
Bonhoeffer’s above words from our last post…
A functioning body of
believers, a body in which every member is contributing to the life of the body
by building one another up in love (Ephesians 4:11 – 16), is a body more apt to
be able to work through great disillusionment and conflict because its members
are living in the realty of Christ and learning to work that reality out in life together. A body learning to
experience the reality of life together
is a body which is strengthening its
connective tissue in Jesus Christ.
All too often when we think of
every member participating in a local church we think in terms of everyone
having a “job”. While there may be many “jobs” to do in a congregation, we are
not talking about everyone having a “job”, we are talking about everyone
sharing the grace of God, we are talking about exercising our gifts according
the grace given to us and encouraging one another to do the same (Romans
Chapter 12). Often having a job will detract from discovering the grace given
to us, especially if the job is the focal point. We don’t need the equivalent
of job fairs in church, we need grace fairs, gift fairs – places and environments
where men and women and young people are encouraged to function in grace toward
one another.
Everyone in Christ has the
grace of Christ to share with others. Everyone in Christ has the Word of Christ
to share with others. Everyone in Christ has the prayers of Christ to pray on
behalf of others. It is the role of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors
and teachers (Ephesians 4:11-12) to nurture and encourage and facilitate a
functioning body of believers sharing life
together; it is not the role of
the people in the foregoing ministries to preempt the growth of the body nor to
put themselves in place of Jesus Christ, the head of the body.
When people have a voice then
there is opportunity to listen, to discuss, to conciliate, to work through
concerns and to refine direction. When people do not have a voice then
undercurrents develop until they burst forth with such force that they damage
relationships. God’s people are to be transformed into the image of Christ, not
the image of a pastor or a national leader or even in the image of a denomination
or tradition or the latest teaching, “revelation”, or movement.
Bonhoeffer’s great disillusionment is a great opportunity to live in the reality
of Christ, a great opportunity to
learn to live redemptively toward others in Christ, and a great opportunity to practice mutual submission in Christ. If there
can be no resurrection except there first be a death, then let us learn to see great disillusionment for what it can be
– the Good Friday before Easter in our life
together.
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