“How very good and pleasant it
is when kindred live together in unity.” This is the Scripture’s praise of life
together under the Word. But now we can correctly interpret the words “in
unity” and say “when kindred live together through Christ.” For Jesus Christ
alone is our unity. “He is our peace.” We have access to one another, joy in
one another, community with one another through Jesus Christ alone.” Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Fortress
Press, 2015 (Reader’s Edition), page 21.
“…life together under the
Word.” In Christ we are called to “life together under the Word.” Only in
Christ can we have life together and
only as we live under the Word can
our life together be formed into the image of the Firstborn Son. The Word is in
Christ for the Word is Christ, and Christ is in the Word for Christ is the
Word; we are to live under the lordship of Jesus Christ and we are to live
under the Word – the two are inseparable.
Living under the Word means
more than submitting to an authority in the way we normally think about
submission to authority; while it includes submitting to the authority of our
Lord Jesus and His Word in the normal sense of the words, it is more than we
normally think of, for we normally think of submitting to an external authority
– but submission to Christ, for the believer, is greater than submitting to
something external, it is bowing our hearts and minds and souls to the Presence
of Christ within us as we are joined to Him – the same is true of living under
the Word. James writes of us receiving the engrafted word; Peter writes of us
being born again through the living and imperishable word of God – the Word of
God is alive within us, and living under that Word includes allowing that Word
to form our souls and recreate us in the image of God in His Son Jesus Christ.
The hope of the New Covenant, as seen in the Prophets, is that of the Law of
God being written in the heart and mind, no longer would it be external,
something only for the mind to perceive externally, but it would be woven into
the fabric of our innermost being.
The community of Christ is
called to grow up into the image of Christ as the community lives under the
Word of Christ and that Word produces transformation into the image of Christ.
We must allow His Word to produce transformation; we cannot do this if we
insist on forcing the Word to submit to us, superimposing our images and
desires on the Word and molding the Word into our own image.
Regarding our unity in Christ,
not only did Paul plea more than once for unity among believers, but Jesus
prayed that we would have the unity of the Trinity (John 17). What does it say
about us that we, as a rule, do not strive for unity? We live in our own little
denominational and doctrinal houses while the house of Yahweh lies waste (see
Haggai). Yes, there are probably a thousand hurdles to unity, but there is no
hurdle that is a reason we should not strive for unity and prefer one another
above ourselves. How can we read John 17 and not strive for unity? How can we
read John 17 and think that we can engage in evangelism without also striving
for unity? Better to be rejected again and again by the professing church while
seeking to obtain unity than never trying; better to fail in obedience to
Christ than seek self-preservation and protection behind a thousand excuses. Too
often churches are like shop keepers vying for customers, keeping to themselves,
not engaging in the big picture. Those shopkeepers will continue their parochial
ways until the big box store of the present age devours their community. Other
shop keepers have merchants’ associations designed to promote the economic
health of their communities, these people have learned that in putting the
welfare of the group first that they are benefiting their individual economic
health. Will the church ever learn that its parochial and proprietary ways are
an impediment to its witness, a barrier to growth into the image of Christ, and
disobedience to the Word of God? God is not in the franchise business, our
churches are not our own – if they are our own then they are not His.
““He is our peace.” We have
access to one another, joy in one another, community with one another through
Jesus Christ alone.” In concluding our reflections on the first chapter of Life Together, we can be challenged and
encouraged by Bonhoeffer’s Biblically-based vision of Christians living in
peace with one another. Do we primarily focus on our common life in Christ or
do we focus on our differences? A recognition of the peace we are called to
have in Christ ought to challenge us to “preserve the unity of the Spirit in
the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Let us look to build bridges so that we may
use the bridges to fill up the chasms that separate us – how can the Body of
Christ be divided?
Having “access to one another”
can be a frightening idea. This means that I let down my guard and allow others
into my life, into my heart, into my soul. But again, if we are to live in the
unity of the Trinity then this is that to which we are called. In this life together we can know the joy of Jesus
Christ just as Jesus knows joy in the Father and the Spirit, so we can know joy
in one another. Having “access to one another” means that we encounter one
another not merely in the world of ideas and actions, but in the world of the
heart – “deep calls unto deep” in our life
together.
Let us pray for the Church
without ceasing.
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