“Blessed are those who are
alone [during the day] in the strength of the community. Blessed are those who preserve
community in the strength of solitude [during the day]. But the strength of
solitude and the strength of community is the strength of the Word of God
alone, which is meant for the individual in the community.” Dietrich
Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Fortress
Press, 2015 (Reader’s Edition), page 67.
This is the conclusion of the
chapter The Day Alone. We may be by
ourselves during the day, but we are not alone. We are to live in the strength
of life together, and we are to
preserve life together, as we submit
to the Word of God throughout the day. The Word of God speaks to us throughout
the day, and the community which lives under the Word of God speaks to us. Do
we listen?
When I am tempted with
disobedience do I hear the Word of God calling me to obedience? When I am
tempted do I hear the voice of my brothers and sisters? Do we live in an
awareness that we are “one bread and one body” (1 Cor. 10:17)? After the
victory at Jericho the people of Israel learned what happens when one person
brings disobedience into the camp (Joshua Chapter 7). Paul argues that “a
little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9). These things are
not written that we should become a kind of religious police – they are written
that we might live in an awareness that what we think and what we say and what
we do matters – not just to us, but to the Body of Christ. They are also
written that we might have mutual accountability in life together. The ways of the enemy can be subtle, the broader
culture can be seductive – we need each other to see what we cannot see, to
warn against what we may not readily perceive. Are there Trojan horses in my
life? In the life of my local fellowship?
When we gather together there
must be more of an “us” than there is at a civic association meeting, a
business meeting, a political meeting, a meeting at school. There must be more
of an “us” than those who patronize a retail store to take advantage of a sale.
And surely there must be more of an “us” than there is a football game. But is
there?
We speak of those who follow a
sports team as having become a “nation”. The “Red Sox Nation,” the “Atlanta
Falcons Nation,” the UVA or VA Tech “nation”. Alumni of colleges have their
networks and associations and often strong affinities – they may strongly
identify with one another whether they actually know one another or not.
Is the church more of an “us”,
more of a “we”, than what many people experience in other collective gatherings
and affinities? Does the enthusiasm of God’s people exceed that of a college
football homecoming game? If the church falls short are we grieved to the
extent that sports fans are who mourn the loss of a key game? Do we build our
lives around the living Church of Jesus Christ the way others order their lives
around civic, entertainment, or sporting events?
Do we believe that God
actually indwells His people? That we are bone of Christ’s bone and flesh of
His flesh? That we are one spirit with the Lord? Do we believe that our lives
are not our own but that they belong to Jesus Christ and to the Church of the
Living God?
If an outsider were looking at
my life what would he say about me? About you?
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