Life Together - Week #6

We've come to the final chapter of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book, which is on Confession and Communion.

I commented on this in an earlier blog but want to express again my appreciation for Bonhoeffer's large perspective on life together as God's people. The fact that he presents our life together as something bigger than our immediate relationships (in other words, we are part of a universal family in the Lord Jesus that extends back into human history and forward to the end of humanity's earthly pilgrimage as we know it) is a wonderful faith-builder and an encouragement to persevere in the intensity of the end of the age.

In this final chapter, I love how he points out that in confessing my sin to even just one other believer and receiving forgiveness immediately makes me part of the whole:

A confession of sin in the presence of all the members of the congregation is not required to restore one to fellowship with the whole congregation. I meet the whole congregation in the one brother to whom I confess my sins and who forgives my sins...If a Christian is in the fellowship of confession with a brother, he will never be alone again, anywhere."


This underscores the importance of personal and trusting relationships within the Body of Christ. One doesn't need many at all in order to feel part of the whole, if we understand this reality that our connection in to the larger Body is through open and healthy relationships (even if it's only a couple of people) in which we can confess and receive forgiveness.

I believe Bonhoeffer is right on when he contends that we "remain alone with our sin" because we don't have fellowship together as "sinners." In other words, if there isn't a place in the Body where I can speak openly of my sin and there lies hidden something unconfessed and unforgiven, I am truly alone...somehow psychologically, we can't get free unless it comes to the light as confession in the presence of another believer:

Who can give us the certainty that, in the confession and the forgiveness of our sins, we are not dealing with ourselves but with the living God? God gives us this certainty through our brother. Our brother breaks the circle of self-deception.

The author ends with a section about who we should trust to open our hearts to: Anybody who lives beneath the Cross and who has discerned in the Cross of Jesus the utter wickedness of all men and of his own heart will find there is no sin that can ever be alien to him.

Holy Spirit, thank You that you know us well and love us perfectly...do Your good and kind work of bringing hidden things to light and give us the courage to open our hearts to trusted brothers and sisters in You. Thank You for those You have given us with whom we relate in this way and for the greater Body of Christ with whom we genuinely commune because of the few who are close. Teach us in this day in the Church's history how to be Your people together, for Jesus' sake...Thank You! Amen.


This week we start the book Living in the Freedom of the Spirit by Tom Marshall. Our first reading is the Introduction and Chapters 1 and 2.
Grace and blessing on you this week!