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The following passage is
condensed from: Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoffer.
Psalm 133:1 says "A song of ascents. Of David. How good and pleasant it
is when brothers live together in unity!" We have the blessing of being
able to gather together without persecution as a fellowship of believers.
This is one of the things that Christ died for.
The physical presence of other believers is a source of joy and strength to
the believer. The apostle Paul called longingly for Timothy his "dearly
beloved son in faith" from the loneliness of his prison cell. Paul
wanted to see the face of the believers in Thessalonica (1 Thess. 3:10). In
his old age John knew that his joy would not be complete until he spoke face
to face rather than writing (1 John 12)
Since man was created in body and Christ came to us in body we should not be
ashamed to need each others presence. This is the way we are made. We are
thankful to the Father when we have the companionship of another believer.
This is especially true when we are sick, away from family and friends, or
overwhelmed by our circumstances. Another believer becomes our spiritual
brother through the agency of God and will be a comfort and joy to us.
We often forget what a wonderful gift this is. We are all the more likely to
forget if we live in Christian community every day. The gift of Christian
brothers and sisters is a gift of the kingdom of God that can be taken away
from us at any day. We should daily thank God for the privilege of living a
common Christian life and praise God from the bottom of our hearts.
The following poem and popular hymn express what the foundation of the church
is.
The Churches One Foundation
The churches one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is a new creation by water and the Word;
From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.
Elect from every nation, yet one over all the earth,
Her charter of salvation one Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses, with every grace endued.
Mid toil and tribulation, and tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation of peace forever more;
Till with the vision glorious her longing eyes are blest,
And the great church victorious shall be the church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union with Father, Spirit, Son,
And mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won;
O happy ones and holy! Lord give us grace that we,
Like them, the meek and lowly, on high may dwell with Thee.
Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No
Christian community is more or less than this. Whether it is a brief, single
encounter or the daily fellowship of years, Christian community is only this.
We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ.
What does this mean? It means, first, that a Christian needs others because
of Jesus Christ. It means, second, that a Christian comes to others only
through Jesus Christ. It means, third, that in Jesus Christ we have been
chosen from eternity, accepted in time, and united for eternity.
The death and the life of the Christian is not determined by his own
resources; rather he finds both only in the Word that comes to him from the
outside, in God's Word to him. The Christian lives wholly by the truth of
God's Word in Jesus Christ. If somebody asks him, Where is your salvation,
your righteousness? He can never point to himself. He points to the Word of
God in Jesus Christ, which assures him salvation and righteousness. He is as
alert as possible to this Word.
Because he daily hungers and thirsts for righteousness, he daily desires the
redeeming Word. It can come only from the outside. In himself he is destitute
and dead. Help must come from the outside, and it has come and comes daily
and anew in the Word of Jesus Christ, bringing redemption, righteousness,
innocence, and blessedness.
But God has put this Word in the mouth of men so that it may be communicated
to other men. When the Word strikes one person he speaks it to others. God
has willed that we should seek, and find, His living Word in the witness of a
brother. Therefore the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God's
Word to him. He needs it again and again when he becomes uncertain and
discouraged.
A Christian comes to others only through Jesus. Among men there is strife. In
Ephesians Paul says "He is our peace" (Eph 2:14), Christ has made
peace between God and man and between man and man. Without Christ the way of
peace is blocked by our own ego. Christ opens up the way.
When Jesus took on flesh He took on out of pure grace our being and nature.
Now we are in Him, which is why the Scriptures call us the body of Christ. We
have been chosen and accepted with the whole church in Jesus Christ. We also
belong with Him in eternity, and with one another in eternity. We live with
Him in fellowship today and will one-day fellowship with Him in heaven for
eternity. When we look at our brother is Christ it should be with the
knowledge that we are united for eternity.
Many of the letters of Paul deal with how the body of Christ, the church, is
to behave. In 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 he shows us that God himself teaches
brotherly love. In Philippians 1:14 he calls the church "Brethren in the
Lord". As we realize that we are brothers not because of what we have
done but, but rather because of what Jesus has done in us, a change is
worked. We no longer think of "mature" or "better"
Christians. It would be just as logical to think of tall or bald Christians.
In all cases we are to love and build up, not to lower. When we are called to
admonish our brother or sister in the Lord, which is seldom, we must be
motivated only by love for them.
Many times the Christian community breaks down because it has sprung from a
dream, and not from Christ. The serious Christian, set down for the first
time in a Christian community will have some very definite ideas on what
Christian life together should be like. Our own ideas will often cause us to
be disillusioned with others and often leads us to be disillusioned with
Christians in general.
By God's grace He will not allow us to live in a dream world. God does not
abandon us to lofty dreams or rapturous moods that come over us like a dream.
God is not a God of emotions but a God of truth. A community that cannot face
reality and insists on keeping its illusion will fail, sooner or later it
will collapse. These communities, or organizations are of man and not of God.
(Matthew 15:9) He who loves his dream of community more than the Christian
community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal
intentions may be ever so honest, earnest, and sacrificial.
We should enter the common Christian life not as demanders but as thankful
recipients. We thank God for what he has done for us. We thank God for giving
us brothers and sisters who live by His call, His forgiveness and His
promise. What God has given us are brothers who will go on living with us
through sin and need under the blessing of God's grace.
The Christian community is thankful, not only for the big things but for the
small things. (Matthew 26:26, Romans 1:8; 1:21, 1 Corinthians 1:4, 2
Corinthians 9:12, Ephesians 5:4, 20, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 2:7; 4:2,
Hebrews 12:28, Revelation 7:12)
God sanctifies us through the Holy Spirit in the church. (Acts 20:32; 26:18,
Romans 15:16, 1 Corinthians 1:2, 2 Thessalonians 2:13, 1 Peter 1:1-2:3)
The church is the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:1-18, 1 Corinthians 12:27;
10:17)
The church walks in the light of the Spirit. (1 John 1:5-7)
It is the believers responsibly to be in Christian fellowship. This
responsibility stems from two points. We are responsible to God to be part of
the body of Christ. (Heb 10:24,25) And we are responsible to our own self to
be in Christian fellowship, for growth and service.
The knowledge that each of us is different from each other is not a new one.
In the New Testament church there are many examples that there were
differences of opinion. The Apostles recognized differences between the
churches and indeed between each other (Acts 15:36-39; 28:23-26, Galatians
2:11). I will now offer you a guarantee; it is that you will not find a
perfect church to attend. This is because we and the other people in it are
not yet made perfect. Do not let this fact allow Satan prevent you from
worshipping and learning with your brothers however.
God does not call us to the life of the pure hermit. He has rather called us
to a life in Christian fellowship and community. While we do not seek bliss
or nirvana, we will be blessed. The fellowship and unity we have in Christ is
unique. We cannot expect this to happen in any common interest group or club.
It is only in Christian community that the individual can turn over his will
to that of a perfect God. It is very foolish and dangerous to turn our will
over to that of any man, because any of us us impure and imperfect.
A good test of Christian community is to see who is its leader. If it is
acknowledged verbally and practically to be Christ it is a good place to be.
If for any reason, no matter how noble, it is a man then it is dangerous
place to be. A good practical test of this is to ask if the direction of the
organization is subject to correction from Scripture.
Another test of Christian community is that of its fundamental reality. The
Christian community is a Spiritual reality first and last. The church has
fundamental social responsibilities, but these are always secondary to the
spiritual foundation in Christ. Social action without spiritual life is dead.
If the service we do is of man we will be limited by our humanity. If the
service we do is of Christ we have His infinite capacity for love and giving
at HIS disposal.
Now just so that you are not disappointed here are a few church statistics.
World wide about 1.6 billion persons count themselves as being Christians;
this is about 33 Percent of the world population. It represents the largest
religious belief by a factor of two over the next faith. About one half of
all Christians are associated with the Roman Catholic Church. The figures are
not all that meaningful when comparing "churches" or denominations
because of differences in record keeping.
In the U.S. about 60% of the population is associated with some formal
religious organization. About one third of these are Roman Catholics, about
sixty percent are Protestant, and the balance are of other faiths. The
largest Protestant denominations are the Baptist (25 million members), the
Lutheran (9 million), the Methodist (13 million), and the Presbyterian (3.5
million).
If you are counting buildings there are about 340,000 churches in America, or
about one for every 735 people.
The church of Christ has a place for you, and you have a place in the church
of Christ. No matter how much feeding and growth you are getting on your own,
or in other settings, your church life is not an option. The meeting of
Christian brothers together in fellowship allows for teaching, service, and
responsibility that should be part of every Christian's life.
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