The past Sunday, at the end of our worship service I made reference to the book Life Together, by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. It’s hard to overstate the value of this book’s teaching on the subject of Christian Community. Here’s a couple of powerful quotes and a link to order the book online.
“Nothing can be more cruel than the leniency which abandons others to their sin. Nothing can be more compassionate than the severe reprimand which calls another Christian in one’s community back from the path of sin.”“The person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create community.”
“The Christian…must bear the burden of a brother. He must suffer and endure the brother. It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated. The burden of men was so heavy for God Himself that He had to endure the Cross. God verily bore the burden of men in the body of Jesus Christ. But He bore them as a mother carries her child, as a shepherd enfolds the lost lamb that has been found. God took men upon Himself and they weighted Him to the ground, but God remained with them and they with God. In bearing with men God maintained fellowship with them. It was the law of Christ that was fulfilled in the Cross. And Christians must share in this law.”
Pastor Roy Layman 