“The Church is the Church when it exists for others.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words from a German prison in the latter days of World War II. A German citizen himself he was jailed for, as he put it, trying to “jam a spoke in the wheel” of the Nazi regime. While his main offense was joining the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, he also was an irritant to the Third Reich because he insisted on the church being the church.
The majority of church leaders in Germany at the time had been swept up in Hitler’s propaganda. The german church supported the political regime to such an extent that those who dissented felt compelled to start a new church. This so-called “Confessing Church” needed a seminary in which to train pastors, and it was Bonhoeffer who leaders tapped to create a school where future pastors could practice being the church.
When they left seminary, these students would be entering a world engulfed in war, violence, and the persecution of God’s people. So how would they remain free to promote the faith and love and justice of Jesus Christ? How would they maintain enough independence from the broader culture to continue to be the church? Bonhoeffer’s answer was to teach them to build Christian community. “The restoration of the church,” he wrote, “will surely come from a new kind of monasticism.”
I am fascinated by Bonhoeffer for lots of reasons, but this emphasis on Christian community as a source of strength and freedom has really grabbed my heart these last few weeks. Christians are followers of Jesus which means — in theory — we should be less susceptible to being blown about by the prevailing winds of our world, our culture, our politics. But standing apart, being different: this is hard work. It is hard work to walk the way of Jesus if everybody else is going a different direction. It’s like walking into a football stadium just as the game is ending. Not impossible, but it takes some effort!
Bonhoeffer helped his students build the community that would give them the strength to remain faithful in the world. he was specific about the practices they should keep: worshipping together, singing together, meditating alone on the scriptures for the day, serving one another, listening to one another, playing together. These habits build Christian community, and being rooted in a Christian community gives one freedom in the world — to be the Church, to exist for others.
For the last couple of weeks, Adult Forum has been learning about Bonhoeffer the man, his context and history. This Sunday, we’ll being working through his description of Christian community in his book Life Together. It’s not too late to join us! I hope you will, not just because you might be interested in history, but because you’re interested in the Christian community we’re building here at Nativity, on that is meant to sustain us a followers Jesus in the world, the empowers us to be the church, existing for others in the world.
Peace,
Peter+