17-29 Entry One
“The believer feels no shame, as though he were still living too much in the flesh, when he yearns for the physical presence of other Christians. (19) God created us to live in community with other believers. One benefit is the ability of God to speak to us through His people. “The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure. (23) ”they meet one another as bringers of the message of salvation.” (23) Of course, this can only come through the love of Christ. That is our connection. Without Christ as our center than community would unravel. So many people have these delusions of grandeur when it comes to Christian community. Bonhoeffer eplains that their “wish dreams” do not honor God. Rather, I see that community is difficult, slow, and messy. It encourages me in growing the college ministry that I am involved in. My church tried a weekly, large scale, college age event. It sprung up quickly and had a lot of momentum for about 8 months. We had many ideals about community and intimacy, but none ever came about. I think, in the end, most just wanted to get their shot of community on Sunday nights and then not work at it any other day of the week. And quite frankly, how could I fight that? They had their own church’s and small groups. How could they be expected to invest in multiple communities. And that is why I am not a big fan of para-church ministries.
31-40 Entry Two
We must pursue spiritual love over human love. Spiritual love comes from Christ and is focused on serving rather than being served. Where human love chases desires, spiritual love is disciplined. This applies greatly to romantic relationships. My commitment to guard my girlfriend’s heart and purity must not stem from selfish reasoning; otherwise it will fall short. Rather, when my mind entertains thoughts that could be unhealthy I am reminded of how my actions would effect my small group community, the work we’re doing, and the example we set. My own purity often seems less important than the fact that one single unwise action could have detrimental effects on the community that God has just started to grow within our small group.
40-57 Entry Three
Morning prayer and worship. That’s not easy for me. I’m certainly not a morning person and have failed miserably every time I tried to develop a morning quiet time routine. I have been content to hold to my regular evening quiet time, but Bonhoeffer has shaken my contentedness. I’m certain I should develop this discipline, but I honestly doubt I will without the intervention of another brother or sister in Christ. To do this on a family scale would certainly require a restructuring of how most people view mornings. I’m not saying it is impossible, just difficult. Perhaps even more difficult than in D.B.’s day. Maybe not, I just don’t know. I also agree with praying the suffering psalms. Lamentations makes for a great reflective reading.
57-76 Entry Four
D.B. has a detailed analysis for everything. His insight on corporate singing is great. “There is no place in the service of worship where vanity and bad taste can so intrude as in the singing” (60) I’ve never before thought of the community aspect of singing together. It really is a great opportunity for us to all be individuals, yet in unison, and in like mind. Communal prayer is a great thing that I find to be misrepresented in only one aspect. I have read multiple views that claim that a dating couple should not pray together. I find this to be absurd and unbiblical. The person one is dating is either a brother or sister in Christ, first off, and a potential marriage partner second. By discouraging something within a dating relationship that was originally encouraged outside of it, you are implying that the romantic relationship trumps the spiritual one. I have a problem with that.
76-82 Entry Five
My life has reflected different levels of silence and community over the last few years. When I first moved to NC I had a lot of time for aloneness and silence. By the next year I had become very active in my new church and lived in a constantly active house. I had very little silence or aloneness in this time period, and true to D.B.’s claim community suffered. I harbored resentment for my roommates lack of concern for times of quietness and I found myself spread out among many different groups and activities. The following year, I moved out of that house and went perhaps a bit to the other extreme. I hung out with fewer people and not as often. I quit teaching children’s Sunday school and I took over and ended a somewhat large college ministry in order to better invest in my Small group. Now I have more solid relationships and nearly all of them are through the community of my local church. I’m still seeking to find that balance of community and silence.
82-90 Entry Six
Alone time is the time of testing. That is scary for both the disciple and teacher. As I sought to teach a new convert in the way they should live I was less worried about how they answered my questions or the solutions the claimed, than I was worried about how they would actually behave when they did not have me to account to later on. I wish I better understood that balance of discipleship. How much guidance is appropriate? When does advise become legalism? When does freedom become the neglect of teaching? When does patience become fear of confrontation? I will inevitably screw it up somehow. It just makes me all the more thankful that it is God who guides the heart and not me.
90-100 Entry Seven
“The elimination of the weak is the death of fellowship”(94) How often do we find ourselves wishing for more charismatic and attractive converts at the unintentional neglect of the meek? I love the fact that my Small group consists of a bunch of weirdos. (Well at least the guys) My goal within our group is to find something that every person can be involved in, in order to assert their importance in fellowship. Diverse ministry opportunities may be just as important to reaching others as it is at keeping those who are already there.
100-109 Entry Eight
“The basis upon which Christians can speak to one another is that each one knows the other as a sinner, who, with all his human dignity, is lonely and lost if he is not given help.” There is no room for pride or fear, yet we let both rule us. I fear that this is the most important thing lost in our churches today. We are either too prideful to accept instruction, or too fearful to give it lest we get accused of pride ourselves. Also, our own sin may be revealed through confrontation and we usually don’t want to deal with that. We have become very adept in our culture at avoiding issues by shifting the focus. Oh how I wish we could all just humble ourselves and put away our righteous indignation long enough to see that we are all equally scum, that God has cleansed and given us each other to help.
110-111 Entry Nine
Confession. Ha, that answers my plea from last weak. Confession is the only way we can truly have fellowship. It is pride that keeps us from it. A good example is how the church has failed to properly address the issue of homosexuality. The issue is so taboo in our culture that I honestly believe Christians have neglected to be honest about their thought life. Our culture is inundated with homosexual images and discussions so much that it would be nearly impossible to avoid having some form of homosexual thought or question. This, of course, is not a sin. It is only the natural response when faced with an issue. However, our culture has been so quick to label and ostracize others as “gay” over such things as fashion and physical characteristics, that instead of honestly addressing the issue, we have accepted false truths (being genetically pre-determined) and perpetuated the lie by refusing to be candid about our own thoughts, lest we be judged.
111-122 Entry Ten
“Sin demands to have a man by himself.” I must confess that I found my mind dwelling on the thought of how easy it would be to move away and live a purely hedonistic life for a short time, then to move to another location and resume the “Christian” lifestyle. I know the spiritual and emotional implications aren’t that easily avoided, but I found myself realizing how thankful I am for Christian fellowship. I thank God for my accountability partners and how enormously helpful they have been to my Christian walk. Finally, I would say that if a person is neglecting Christian fellowship, there is more than just a theology or time issue. There is a sin issue.
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