Bonhoeffer Chapter 1

    This week’s reading caught my eye because I am a huge quality time type of guy and love community with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Community in the church and community outside of the church often gets confused or looked at as the same. It is not. There is a blatant difference between relationships with a fellow believer and a relationship with a non-believer. Both are important, but one has more aspects and a greater meaning. Our relationship with a non-believer will be for the strong reason of spreading the Gospel and encouraging them to follow Christ. It is so different with a believer.

    When we are in relation with a non-believer, we do not get much of anything that truly matters. We might show them love but get a different outcome from them in return. That is different with a fellow believer. Bonhoeffer says on page 22, “Our righteousness is an ‘alien righteousness,’ a righteousness that comes from outside of us (extra nos)”. Believers have a distinct feature of their relationships together. Our relationship with God, through Jesus Christ who has provided righteousness for us. Not of our own doing, but solely through Christ. Before I was a Christian, I can recall what type of encouragement I received from my non-Christian friends. It was thoughts of lust, greed, pride and other sinful thoughts. I was told to drink, watch pornography, go to strip clubs. When I commune with other Christians, the encouragement is much different. I am held accountable for reading my bible, asked if I watched porn and told not to. It is things like that, which separate community within the church. I have a few accountability partners, but one specifically. Him and I have been friends for close to four years now, and we decided to hold each other accountable on our struggle with pornography. It was a long battle and still is, but the encouragement each of us were able to provide for each other has been life changing. It is all because of the love of God. I am in his wedding coming up in May and when I get married, he will be in mine. Our relationship is not one of weakness, but the boasting of Jesus Christ within us.

    Bonhoeffer also mentions teaching one another in God’s word. That should be done from as early as possible till death. He is quoted saying, “And that also clarifies the goal of all Christian community: they meet one another as bringers of the message of salvation. As such, God permits them to meet together and gives them community” (pg. 23). We should be meeting weekly, if not daily. We should be looking to our pastors and elders for solid, biblical teaching. After that, we should be taking that teaching and living it out. Church community is vital and is the body of Christ. It is the make-up of believers whom are striving to live a life for and like Christ. It is an amazing thing, and I am looking forward to the rest of this book.