The Church - Reflections: 5

“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart…” Acts 2:46.

“Nor was there anyone among them who lacked…” Acts 4:34.

It seems to me that the early church spent time with one another and cared for one another. In a recent series I did on this blog about “How Much Is Enough?” I explored the New Testament portrait of Christians caring for Christians; I was particularly challenged by 2 Corinthians Chapters 8 and 9 - we are supposed to take care of one another, and not just our immediate neighbors but people across the sea. No Christians should do without if there are Christians elsewhere who have the means to give. Sadly, in our own metropolitan areas we see wide disparity between believers who have excess and those who are hungry; believers with health care and those without it; Christians with safe housing and those whose housing lies in gang and drug infested neighborhoods. We live in racially and economically segregated areas and our Sunday morning gatherings testify that we don’t know one another.

Of course even within congregations people can go hungry, face medical crises, lack clothing for their children; while other congregants have more than enough and don’t really need “just a little bit more”. Even within congregations people often don’t really know one another - perhaps if we did know one another we’d see less disparity.

Perhaps this is a lesson to draw from Acts; if we spend time with another we are more likely to know one another and knowing one another to care for one another. After all, if the mark of the Christian is to love as Jesus loves, then spending time with one another, eating with one another, sharing life with one another, caring for one another - all of this is part of the fabric of loving as Jesus loves. What I may say is in my heart means little if it is not expressed in the life I live; I may say I love others but if my actions do not express love then I am just kidding myself...and trying to pretend and convince you.

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Acts 2:42. The gatherings of the church in Acts 2 were not one big group hug without definition. What I mean is that their assemblies had a focus on the apostle’s teaching (as received from Jesus and about Jesus), shared life (fellowship/koinonia), eating together, and prayer. As has been pointed out by others, these are key elements of small groups; they are also key elements of the larger church, however the church might be found. (As we might note in Acts 6, this does not ensure an absence of conflict - but hopefully it provides context for working through conflict).

I see this as living life together, as having other Christians woven into the fabric of life. Frankly, I see it as the church, of Christ and in Christ, being our life; yes, of course Jesus is our life, and that being the case the people of Jesus are our life, the Body of Christ is our life. The very idea of laying down our lives for our brothers and sisters indicates that our relationship, love, and passion are more than showing up on Sunday or Wednesday or spending an hour a week in a small group.

This is not the same as being the slave of an organization, nor is it feeding an organizational apparatus as it grows and expands and demands more and more. This is loving and being loved and serving and being served and blessing others and learning to be blessed and sharing joys and sorrows and victories and defeats and being in a safe place in Christ with brothers and sisters. If this seems impossibly idealistic it serves to show how removed we are from the Gospel and the Biblical image of the Bride of Christ.

Have you ever known a pastor so busy with church matters that he doesn’t have time for people? Have you ever known a church member so busy with church work that he or she doesn’t have time for people? Have you ever been like this? Are you living like this now?

We may have “correct” doctrine, our preaching may be great, our music wonderful, our buildings updated and inviting - but if we don’t have time for one another what do we have?

But then, as I ponder these things, I have also been in gatherings of believers in which Jesus is seldom mentioned and prayer never suggested - if Christ is the focus and source of life how can this be? My experience, and perhaps yours is different, is that this is more likely to occur in middle class and above socio-economic contexts - I think we take our cues from the world and that when we are not in our church buildings that we tend to revert to the culture - and sadly we can be embarrassed by Jesus and prayer. We don’t want to be “too religious”.

If we ever taste the koinonia of Acts 2 nothing else will ever satisfy - that taste will remain with us and we will be ever seeking it. Maybe some will say it was their imagination and that what they thought they tasted wasn’t real, that it was wishful thinking; but there will be others who will know that it was true, if only for a moment, if only for a season - and for those people nothing else will satisfy. Yes, it may have had its immaturities (we are all growing, shouldn’t we expect that?), there may have been errors, stupid things, mistakes; there may have been pain (what else is new?) - but oh, we touched heaven and we continue to look for that City.

Here’s the thing - we see in Acts 2:47 that it was the Lord who added to the church, and Psalm 127 reminds us that, “Unless Yahweh builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” We can’t make things happen in and of ourselves, but we can be obedient to Christ and love one another. Jesus says that this is our witness to the world, He says that our oneness is our testimony (John 17) - yes, we do also preach and witness with words, but oh my...when the power of life together lies behind the Word we speak - then we indeed have Good News to both proclaim and to show. Then we can say, “Jesus Christ loves you, come and share life with His people.”

Life Together - 102

“In confession there takes place a breakthrough to community. Sin wants to be alone with people. It takes them away from the community. The more lonely people become, the more destructive the power of sin over them. The more deeply they become entangled in it, the more unholy is the loneliness. Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of what is left unsaid sin poisons the whole being of a person.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, Fortress Press, Readers Edition, page 89.

“It is a hard struggle until the sin crosses one’s lips in confession...Since confession of sin is made in the presence of another Christian, the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned (page 89).”

As I read this I cannot help but think of the many dangers inherent in what Bonhoeffer writes, but of course there are dangers  in much of what we practice and just because there are dangers does not mean that we should not be engaged in them - whether people will admit it or not, many Christians will not touch 1 Corinthians Chapters 12 or 14 because they have seen these things practiced without edification or they see danger in imbalance or excess. Many other Christians will not touch the “perseverance of the saints” because they see the danger of people living lives of sin because their salvation is secure. Other Christians will not touch what they term “pietism” because they see danger in subjective experience or emotionalism.

I suppose anything practiced in isolation leads to imbalance, misunderstanding, and danger. Confessing sin is different than seeking therapy, confessing sin has to do with seeking forgiveness from God and restoration to fellowship with Him and with the church. Our therapeutic society often applauds those who parade their “mistakes” and “errors” in front of others - Bonhoeffer is not writing about the equivalent of a “tell all” voyeuristic television show transposed into a congregation; nor is he writing about one-to-one relationships in which one person dominates another, or one in which a group of “leaders” dominate followers.  What he is writing about is sacred confession within the priesthood of all believers.

As I have previously written, telling another brother about temptation can open the door to overcoming the temptation; often once temptation is exposed to the light it dissipates. While temptation is not sin, if it is hidden it often leads to sin - whether in thought or action. Hidden temptation takes root and the plant grows into sin; sometimes we need another brother's help weeding the garden of our own soul.

James writes (James 5:16), “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed…” Unless we are going to cherry pick what Biblical commands we will obey we are faced with the question, “What does this look like in my life and the life of my local fellowship?” I want to hasten to remind us that on page 81 Bonhoeffer cautions, “Other persons have their own secrets that may not be violated without the infliction of great harm. Nor can they divulge without destroying themselves.” There is to be no coercion, no pressure, no manipulation. Yes, there is danger when we trust one another - but then, if we cannot trust one another what do we really have?

Where is Bonhoeffer going with all this? I think the heart of the matter, or at least near to the heart of the matter, is found in, “...the last stronghold of self-justification is abandoned (page 89).” Leading up to this chapter Bonhoeffer has written about the danger of self-justification within the Christian community - when we seek to justify ourselves we introduce elements into our relationships that are destructive; manipulation, judgmentalism, hypocrisy - we become a people who pretend and judge according to our standards rather than God’s. We may preach and teach justification by faith but we find it hard to escape the gravitational pull of self-justification; having begun in the Spirit (Galatians 3:3) we seek perfection according to the flesh, our self-will, our traditions, our personal standards, our social standards, our religious standards, our legalism.

Even though I may say that I sin, even though the fellowship of saints that I am with acknowledges that we all sin; as long as I have never confessed specific sin to another brother there may always be that facade that I am the exception, that somehow I make it through life without sinning, without transgressing the Life and Spirit and Word of God, that I do not have a self-centered prideful ego pulling at me and imploring, “Put yourself first, put yourself at the center of the universe.” If I am given an opportunity to justify myself I will be greatly tempted to take it - what harm could it do?

Bonhoeffer wants to put to death our self-justification, just as I imagine he wanted to destroy his own self-justification. This is in line with Romans Chapters 1 - 8; we cannot justify ourselves but we can believe in Him who justifies the ungodly who trust in Him, we can reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, we can determine to owe the flesh nothing and to, by God’s grace, live by and in the Holy Spirit.

I think what Bonhoeffer writes about confessing our sins one to another, brother to brother, sister to sister; the power of hidden sin (or temptation); the destruction of self-justification; is important for life together, necessary - not sufficient (as our therapeutic society might tell us), but necessary. My own sense is that for most of us this is something we must tentatively and carefully work out with trusted brothers (or if women with trusted sisters). This, I don’t think, can be a program, it can’t be superimposed on congregations or fellowships, it cannot be mandated - to do any of these things would lead to violations of who we are and would trespass on our hearts and minds and souls. The practice of what Bonhoeffer is writing about was no doubt a rarity in his day and it is a rarity in ours - the dangers are many but the rewards are great.

I think we must do the best we can do and pray that our Father and Lord Jesus will lead us by the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God to be faithful to our brothers and sisters and not pretend to be something we are not.