“Not only immature Christians,
but also mature Christians will complain that the Scripture reading is often
too long for them and that there is much they do not grasp. In response to this
complaint it must be said that indeed for the mature Christian every Scripture
reading will be “too long,” even the shortest one. What does that mean? The
Scripture is a complex unity, and every
word, every sentence, contains such a diversity of relationships to the whole
that it is often impossible always to keep track of the whole when listening to
an individual portion of it. Therefore, it appears that the whole of Scripture
as well as every passage in it far surpasses our understanding. It can only be
a good thing when we are daily reminded of this fact, which again refers us to
Jesus Christ himself…So one may perhaps
say that every Scripture reading always has to be somewhat “too long” if it is
not to be aphoristic worldly wisdom, but God’s Word of revelation in Jesus
Christ. ” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life
Together, Fortress Press, 2015 (Reader’s Edition), page 34. [Italics mine].
The world and the church are
falling down around Bonhoeffer, and instead of looking for quick fixes he seeks
long engagement in the Word of God. There is no sustainability in a quick fix,
and perhaps he sees that the disintegration of the church is due to leaving its
first love, Jesus Christ (the Person of Jesus Christ, not the idea of Jesus
Christ), and concomitantly descending into Biblical ignorance. The German
church, in most of its forms, is compromising with the culture – it has lost
Jesus Christ as its foundation, it has lost the Bible as its structural system.
When Bonhoeffer looks to the ecumenical movement for help from abroad, what he
thinks is a staff of Christian brotherhood is transformed into a weak and
broken reed for it is not founded on Biblical absolutes – it has placed
compromise and sociological harmony above all else. Bonhoeffer in many respects
is isolated not only geographically from others, he is isolated theologically
from others – for he is insisting on Biblical obedience to the revelation of
Jesus Christ.
Bonhoeffer is asking for what
is impractical, but he is also asking for what is true – better to have a small
house standing than no house at all. Better to have a cutting of the true vine
which can be propagated than have the entire vine destroyed. Better to nurture
that which is small and can be preserved and grow than to be awed by that which
is huge but rotten and which will collapse.
What about us today? Only
those who are engaged in the Bible as a whole can know the truth and beauty of
Bonhoeffer’s statement, “The Scripture is
a complex unity, and every word, every sentence, contains such a diversity of
relationships to the whole that it is often impossible always to keep track
of the whole when listening to an individual portion of it.” Will we patiently,
and perhaps not so patiently, lead others into the Bible, asking them to trust
us as mountaineers trust Sherpas? Will we go before others so that we may
safely lead others up the mountains and valleys of Scripture? Are we willing to suffer hardship and deprivation in order to accomplish this calling,
this act of love and service to our Lord Jesus and to others?
Are we willing to
protest when we see the Bible reduced to “aphoristic worldly wisdom”? This is
akin to the Temple of Solomon being reduced to rubble – the individual elements
of the Temple remain, but they are no longer built one upon another, they are
no longer in right relationship with one another. The stones can be picked up
one by one and used for isolated individual purposes apart from their original relationship
to each other – but the stones have lost their context, the stones have lost
their meaning – the stones now serve the purposes of man and not God.
A quick review of Christian preaching,
teaching, music, and writing show us that we have reduced the Bible to
utilitarian sayings, self-help paradigms, self-focused maxims, and
short-attention-span studies that are more like children’s picture books with
limited vocabulary than material meant for adult followers of Jesus Christ. And
no wonder, for we cannot know the Bible unless we read the Bible and we refuse
to read the Bible. We insist that something or someone must always stand
between us and the Bible and break the Bible down into small digestible bits
and pieces – to borrow from Paul, we cannot eat solid food. Not to borrow from
Paul, we only eat that which is regurgitated by others.
A local congregation is called
to experience and know the Bible just as is an individual disciple, a marriage,
a family. Are we preparing the way for others? Are we helping others begin the
trek up the Biblical mountain? Are we refusing the seduction of the quick fix,
of the appeal to the short term, of doing that which is popular? Is
faithfulness to Jesus Christ more important to us than anything else in life?
Is Jesus Christ our life?
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