Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Life Together

I started Dietrich Bonhoeffer's LIFE TOGETHER this morning. I have picked this book up twice before and been crushed by the first few pages...just not ready to take in what he was saying...but I'm going to tackle it this time.

"It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the Kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed. Therefore, let him who until now has had 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."

This may seem insignificant or pessimistic...but when you take it in the context that Bonhoeffer wrote in, as a pastor in Germany of an underground seminary...who would eventually be executed in a German camp, the words gain an eternal echo.

So, gut check...some of us have the fellowship and take it for granted...forsaking God's grace.

Some of us have access to the fellowship...but choose to not connect with a church...rejecting God's grace.

Some of us want to trade in the fellowship that is present in our current context for a 'better model', denying God's grace.

Do you thank God on your knees for the privilege of Christian community?

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