Vision Glorious

You can’t talk much about community and discipleship without acknowledging some of the better authors on these subjects. One author whose heart was near and dear to authentic, Christian living was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Stories swirl about his life, ideas, theology, hair color, and if he ever watched Hogan’s Heroes. But whatever historical side of the fence you take, you can’t ignore the depth in some of his insights. We think Bonhoeffer hit the nail on the head in a number of areas. So, we occasionally want to share some of those spot-on nuggets with the VG community. Consider them “Deitrich-chewers” if you will. Written from an underground seminary in Germany during World War 2 - here’s the first:

Psalm 133:1 It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians. Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies…to bring peace to the enemies of God. So, the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission. The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared? (Martin Luther)

According to God’s will Christendom is a scattered people, scattered like seed “into all the kingdoms of the earth.” ( Zechariah 10:9; Deuteronomy 28:25)… “and they shall return” ( Zechariah 10:8-9)… Until then, God’s people remain scattered, held together solely in Jesus Christ, having become one in the fact that, dispersed among unbelievers, they remember Him in the far countries.

So between the death of Christ and the Last Day it is only by a gracious anticipation of the last things that Christians are privileged to live in visible fellowship with other Christians…Not all Christians receive this blessing…They know that visible fellowship is a blessing…The physical presence of other Christians is a source of incomparable joy and strength to the believer.

The believer feels no shame…when he yearns for the physical presence of other Christians…The believer therefore lauds the Creator, the Redeemer, God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, for the bodily presence of a brother. The prisoner, the sick person, the Christian in exile sees in the companionship of a fellow Christian a physical sign of the gracious presence of the triune God…But if there is so much blessing and joy even in a single encounter of brother with brother, how inexhaustible are the riches that open up for those who by God’s will are privileged to live in the daily fellowship of life with other Christians!

It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God tha any day may be taken from us…Therefore, let him who until now has has the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.¹

1. Excerpts from Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community. Harper & Row Publishers Inc., 1954. pages 17-20

   [all bold emphases are added by Vision Glorious] [back]