Life Together
“It is by the grace of God that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly in this
world to share God’s Word and sacrament.”
In 1938 Dietrich Bonhoeffer published his book Life Together. Bonhoeffer wrote the book when he was living and working at an “illegal” Confessing Church seminary in Germany teaching young men to lead a church in resistance to the Nazi regime. The German Protestant churches had voted to include anti-Semitic language within their governing documents and had permitted Nazi leadership to infiltrate the church. In response, many church leaders became publicly disaffiliated with the church. These leaders eventually started the Confessing Church over and against the Nazi state-sponsored German Protestant churches.
Life Together was published at a very tense and violent time, and German Christians were struggling with their identity as Christians. It was into this struggle that Life Together spoke of the Body of Christ as a community to be cherished and nurtured. In Life Together, Bonhoeffer wrote persuasively and honestly about the way that we live together well and minister to one another among the brothers and sisters in the church. During this Lenten season, our Wednesday morning women’s group is studying some of Bonhoeffer’s teachings about living together well in community. At this point in the life of The United Methodist Church, revisiting Bonhoeffer’s call to beautiful, sustaining, and nourishing ministry together, is vital.
Bonhoeffer calls the community of Christ to these ministries: of holding one’s tongue, of meekness, of listening, of helpfulness, of bearing, of proclaiming, and of authority. In a way, all of these ministries appear to be self-explanatory. We know that speaking out is not always the best option to maintain unity of the spirit in the body of Christ – particularly when we speak out of anger or out of our own need to be right. And, sometimes holding one’s tongue is unhelpful – even hurtful – in the body of Christ. There are situations when we need to hold one another accountable in love for our misdeeds, but, again, we speak not out of our own need to be right but in love for the other person. We must examine our motives.
Similarly, the ministry of bearing one another’s burdens calls brothers and sisters in Christ to walk in one another’s shoes so that we can understand their stories and honor their struggles. We are less likely to judge people unfairly or unkindly if we have taken their burdens upon our own shoulders and souls. We follow in the footsteps of Jesus when we carry the weight of one another’s struggles.
Consider these ministries that make up the life together of the Body of Christ. I have provided a few Scripture passages to read and think about related to the ministries – but they are only few examples of a living Word filled examples. We have a copy of Life Together in the Hayes Barton UMC Library that may be checked out. It is a slim volume – but a challenging volume. What would the Christian life at Hayes Barton UMC look like if we practiced these ministries with, among, and alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ?
Holding One’s Tongue - James 4:11-12 and Ephesians 4:29
Meekness – Romans 12:3
Listening – Hebrews 4:12
Helpfulness – Luke 10:25-37
Bearing – Galatians 6:2 and Colossians 3:13
Proclaiming – James 5:20
Authority – Matthew 23:8
What other Scripture stories and verses come to mind when you consider your ministry among your brothers and sisters in Christ? What ministries do you need to hone in your own life?
