Dietrich Bonhoeffer's little book on Christian community, Life Together, has served as a source of inspiration to Christian congregations and leaders for many years. I have used it as a reflection tool in a number of settings and always found it helpful in creating new life in myself and in others.
Most recently, I have had all the pastors who go through licensing school read the book and then I spend a day of licensing school unpacking and discussing it with them. Each year, the students seem to struggle with the book, but they come alive when we discuss it. I've found that the book is rich, profound, and extraordinarily practical. But it needs some unpacking and applying for many folks.
I've decided to blog about some of the insights that serve to constantly refresh and reorient me. Life Together is increasingly becoming a constant teacher to me. I want others to learn what it teaches me.
Let me begin where Bonhoeffer begins: "It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians." We assume that being with other Christians is the norm, something we have always had, something that is a basic part of life, something that we have a duty to participate in. Not so.
Here's why. Jesus was on a mission. He was sent from the Father, alone, to be among those who were hostile to him: "His own received him not." As Bonhoeffer says, Jesus lived his life among enemies. So we, his followers, live our lives as Christians "in the thick of foes," for no servant is greater than the master. Bonhoeffer, who lived much of his later life under Nazi threat, knew that the fellowship of other Christians could be taken away at any time, and in fact, it was taken away when he was arrested and confined and eventually killed.
We, God's people, are the seeds of the Kingdom of God. We cannot be fruitful as long as we are bunched up together. We grow the kingdom when we are scattered. And so, God scatters us. We wait for the end of all things when he will gather us together and we will be with all the saints with Christ in glory. But for now, the fall-back position is to be separated from one another.
Many Christians only truly appreciate being with others when they can no longer gather with the fellowship. This is why we are so grateful when someone visits us and prays with us in the hospital. It's why people in the nursing home are so grateful when we bring communion to them--they can no longer come to the Lord's table and they feel its preciousness when they can only have it if it is brought to them. Missionaries, students away from home, many others know what it is to want to be with Christians but to be unable.
Many times we look back on times we were with Christians we love in fellowship long ago with longing and appreciation. I think often of the great times I've enjoyed serving on fantastic church staffs and miss my friends and the wonderful dynamics of our community of servants. Once I taught Life Together to a group of forty amazing college students. I was keenly aware that it was unlikely I would ever have the chance to have a group like that again. I knew I would never have that particular group of wonderful young people again. What I would give to visit my high school youth group again, to play some old songs with the guys in the praise team, or to pray in the early morning with the guys who I prayed with when I was in college. The challenges of each church fellowship I've encountered fade with time, but the memory of being with wonderful saints and friends seems so much more rich in retrospect.
So, why not appreciate it now? Why not look around at the other Christians with whom we are gathered at any time and say, "Thank you God, for these people who are gathered in this way at this moment. We will never be together quite like this again, and some of us may never see each other's face again until we gather at the wedding supper of the Lamb. What a joy it is to be together like this! Thank you!"
I know the day will come when I will find myself at another church, and I will look back at my time at my current church with longing and fondness. So I've decided to experience each time I am with the people now with the kind of view I once had only in hindsight. It's given me amazing joy and sustained me through troubles. Every Bible study, every cup of coffee with a friend, every staff meeting, every conversation in the hall is a great gift and a divine privilege, an anticipation of our final gathering in heaven. We might as well get the joy of those moments as they are given to us.
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