Dear Friends,
One of the books that has been on my “reading pile” of books this past year was one written by the German Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer entitled Life Together. It was recommended by a friend of mine who said that the book taught him more about the importance of community than any other book. Bonhoeffer wrote it to fellow pastors and the seminarians he was teaching at an underground seminary during World War II. The seminary was closed by the Gestapo, and because of Bonhoeffer’s resistance to Hitler and the Nazis he was executed just a month before the end of the war.
In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer reminds us that the dreams, agendas, and visions we bring to our communities are often our greatest hindrances and the sources of our crises. Yet, as Bonhoeffer points out, “God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and if we are fortunate, with ourselves.” He never flinches in writing about Christian Community from an honest analysis of human brokenness and sinfulness.
For Bonhoeffer, the path to gratitude in Christ-centered community is submission. We must first submit our own agendas and dreams entirely to create the space for gratitude to be cultivated and Christ to be truly central. Bonhoeffer chastises, “We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust great things to one who will not give thanks daily for the Christian fellowship in which we have been placed, even where there is no great experience, no discoverable riches, but much weakness, small faith, and difficulty; if on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so paltry and petty, so far from what we expected, then we hinder God from letting our fellowship grow according to the measure and riches which are there for us all in Jesus Christ.”
One of his interesting insights comes in a chapter called Ministry. There Bonhoeffer lists seven ministries of the church. The first one he names is holding one’s tongue. He says how quickly we want to speak, how quickly we want to say something when we see something. Bonhoeffer reminds his reader to hold our tongue and think before we speak.
The second ministry is the ministry of meekness. Because Jesus describes himself this way, “I am gentle and humble of heart,” we who are disciples of Christ should reflect that same approach in our ministry to one another.
The third ministry is listening. We need to learn to listen. First, we must listen to God as we read His word, and then we need to listen to others. Bonhoeffer says that sometimes people just want someone to hear them. How often in my office have people said they knew what they had to do simply because I listened to them, even though I had not recommended a way forward.
The fourth ministry is the ministry of helpfulness, of being a servant. At one point Bonhoeffer says, “Nobody is too good for the meanest service.” In other words, there is no task too small, too menial, or too ordinary for any of us. Do not wait for another person to be the servant, choose to be the servant first.
The fifth ministry is bearing burdens. As Paul commands, we are to bear one another’s burdens, to suffer and to endure our brothers and sisters. Bonhoeffer says it is only when your brother or sister becomes a burden that you really know that they are your brother or sister.
The sixth ministry is proclaiming. We are to speak the Word of God. That applies not only to the pastor but after we listen to others, we speak God’s Word into each other’s lives.
And then, finally, there is the ministry of authority, that pastoral service that holds the church together. If we are to be a community, then, in Bonhoeffer’s eyes, these are essential ministries. They all require us to die to ourselves a bit so that the community and behind that community, God’s will, would be done. That is the submission Bonhoeffer places at the center of following Jesus and being the community of Jesus’ disciples.
In our very self-centered society, submission is a challenging task. This could be a reason that Christianity and churches are suffering today. Everyone wants to be spiritual without a church. Bonhoeffer would tell us that this is impossible. Community leads us to Jesus, to beauty, to life. Without it, we have fewer burdens and fewer joys.
Peace,
Fr. Damian