Time Alone: A test for the Church
Here is another excerpt about church life from "Life Together"
"Every day brings to the Christian many hours in which he will be alone in an unchristian environment. These are the times of testing...Has the fellowship served to make the individual free, strong, and mature, or has it made him weak and dependent? Has it taken him by the hand for a while in order that he may learn again to walk by himself, or has it made him uneasy and unsure? This is one of the most searching and critical questions that can be put to any Christian fellowship."
Note: It is important to realize that when he mentions strong and free he is not implying that as Christians we should be independent of one another, without need of Christian fellowship. He is simply talking about moving from babies needing to be spoon fed to adults who are able to get the food themselves as well as feed others.
"Furthermore, this is the place where we find out whether the Christian's meditation has led him into the unreal, from which he awakens in terror when he returns to the workaday world, or whether it has led him into a real contact with God, from which he emerges strengthened and purified. Has it transported him for a moment into a spiritual ecstasy that vanishes when everyday life returns, or has it lodged the Word of God so securely and deeply in his heart that it holds and fortifies him, impelling him to active love, to obedience, to good works?
"Is the invisible presence of the Christian fellowship a reality and a help to the individual? Do the intercessions of others carry him thru the day? Is the Word of God close to him as a comfort and a strength? Or does he misuse his aloneness contrary to the fellowship, the Word, and the prayer?
The individual must realize that his hours of aloneness react upon the fellowship...Every act of self-control of the Christian is also a service to the fellowship.
On the Other hand, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not inflict injury upon the whole fellowship. An element of sickness gets into the body...The body is infected. We are members of a body, not only when we choose to be, but in our whole existence. Every member serves the whole body, either to its health or to its destruction. This is no mere theory; it is a spiritual reality." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Every day brings to the Christian many hours in which he will be alone in an unchristian environment. These are the times of testing...Has the fellowship served to make the individual free, strong, and mature, or has it made him weak and dependent? Has it taken him by the hand for a while in order that he may learn again to walk by himself, or has it made him uneasy and unsure? This is one of the most searching and critical questions that can be put to any Christian fellowship."
Note: It is important to realize that when he mentions strong and free he is not implying that as Christians we should be independent of one another, without need of Christian fellowship. He is simply talking about moving from babies needing to be spoon fed to adults who are able to get the food themselves as well as feed others.
"Furthermore, this is the place where we find out whether the Christian's meditation has led him into the unreal, from which he awakens in terror when he returns to the workaday world, or whether it has led him into a real contact with God, from which he emerges strengthened and purified. Has it transported him for a moment into a spiritual ecstasy that vanishes when everyday life returns, or has it lodged the Word of God so securely and deeply in his heart that it holds and fortifies him, impelling him to active love, to obedience, to good works?
"Is the invisible presence of the Christian fellowship a reality and a help to the individual? Do the intercessions of others carry him thru the day? Is the Word of God close to him as a comfort and a strength? Or does he misuse his aloneness contrary to the fellowship, the Word, and the prayer?
The individual must realize that his hours of aloneness react upon the fellowship...Every act of self-control of the Christian is also a service to the fellowship.
On the Other hand, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not inflict injury upon the whole fellowship. An element of sickness gets into the body...The body is infected. We are members of a body, not only when we choose to be, but in our whole existence. Every member serves the whole body, either to its health or to its destruction. This is no mere theory; it is a spiritual reality." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer
posted by Mike Rea at 2:05 PM
3 Comments:
Dude, looks like you are in New Zealand. I hear that is an incredibly beautiful place. I encourage you to walk outside and take a look at the creation around you and ask yourself do you really believe there is no creator? That all that happened just by random chance. Seems to me it takes more faith to believe there is no God than to believe that there is one.
mike, i really enjoyed this entry. It really affirmed what is happening around us as God continues to frustrate my penchant for false unity and false comfort... Last night our meeting time was dominated by prayer for each other adn encouragement in the love of God...
i love peter quixote's comment... it causes me to reflect deeply on God's existance, love for us, patience with us, and great mercy in Christ...
Thank you, peter. May the Road rise to meet you, friend.
Thanks Lew, our Sunday gathering was similar this week. Lots of prayer around a person in a messy family situation. I am truly thankful to be part of a community sharing real issues and yet I'm longing for more and deeper. Jesus manifests in the mess and brokeness.
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