Drinking at the well of Christian community

“The Christian has the privilege of
living among other Christians.”

Why are today’s Christians so often disappointed with their church experience?   Many reasons for this have been offered, and, indeed, enough is published annually on the theme to fill a shelf at the local Christian bookstore.  As for me, I have no intention of adding to the list of books on “What’s wrong with the church?”  If that were my design I doubt you would bother to keep reading.  Instead, I want to share some thoughts penned by Dietrich Bonhoeffer over seven decades ago which speak to our current dilemma.  

On the very first page of his 1939 publication, Life Together, Bonhoeffer writes, “It is not simply to be taken for granted that the Christian has the privilege of living among other Christians” (p.17). The author recorded these thoughts after Gestapo agents closed his school for pastoral training and arrested his students.  Those who survived the ordeal testified that the school had been much more than a traditional seminary: the students and their professor had experienced life together.

Has your free access to Christian fellowship ever been limited or even denied?  If it has, I invite you to reply to this entry and share your story.  If it has not, then it’s natural for you to take for granted the privilege you have always enjoyed, and you are one of those Bonhoeffer had in mind while writing his book.  However, reading Life Together will force you to ask yourself, “Have I truly experienced Christian fellowship?” And this in itself can be a worthwhile exercise! Bonhoeffer lived among his students. His definition of fellowship as “living among other Christians” seems to exclude mere attendance at a weekly worship service, or even growing up in a religious home where, perhaps, Christian talk and practices were restricted to Sundays. 

Back to the problem of disappointment with church, some join on the basis of their preferences of worship style and preaching, on the availability of programming that meets their needs, and perhaps for the opportunities afforded them for involvement. Or else they join for a shallow version of fellowship—that feeling of community that comes with being in the company of people they find interesting, attractive, and like-minded.  Indeed, they may not join at all, at least not in a formal sense.  The statement, “this is where the Lord has led me…for now,” suggests loyalty to one’s own interests.  My point is that even those who confess to the sin of taking Christian community for granted may not have experienced such community in its fullness.  At one level or another, then, our disappointment with church stems from complacency toward community or, as Bonhoffer describes it, our tendency to take for granted the privilege of living among other Christians.  His description of Christian community carefully builds on the foundation of God’s word, beginning with the Psalm 133’s “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”  Those who read these pages may testify that Bonhoeffer speaks of fellowship like one describing a cool drink after a long dry spell.  Indeed, we read Bonhoeffer because his writing refreshes us like a cool drink. Those who have no need of refreshment will not be helped by this writing; those who prefer their own company will not be satisfied at the well of community.  Bonhoeffer’s experience of community enriched his understanding, and his writings will enrich those in search of true community.  If our quest leads us to unexpected challenges, at least Bonhoeffer has warned us!