Christian Ministry and Community

Christian community is essential in the Church. The Church cannot thrive without community. Bonhoeffer refers to an instance in the gospels where the community of the Twelve disciples was threatened. It was when they began to discuss with each other who among them was the greatest.

The pride packed into the question and the pride in the arguments that occurred during the conversation were poison to the community that Christ was developing and cultivating with the Twelve.

“We know who it is that sows this thought in the Christian community. But perhaps we do not bear in mind enough that no Christian community ever comes together without this thought immediately emerging as a seed of discord.” (Page 90)

As we have been discussing in recent assignments for this course on Christianity and Culture, this quote is fitting. We know as believers that this world is under the domain of darkness. Satan is the ruler of this world and he works to tempt and destroy humanity. It is the work of evil that sows these seeds in our thoughts and minds, in conjunction with our sinful nature.

These thoughts must be fought against, and as Bonhoeffer says, we must “absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words.” (Page 91) This is what the Twelve failed to do and they required Christ’s rebuke. This is what Christians must actively fight against and put down if Christian community is to persist.

If Christian community is without its strains, then ministry will be that much closer to purity and harmony. Bonhoeffer hits on many other ways that Christian community and ministry may be maintained in this chapter. Another way is that of pursuing meekness.

Christians must humble themselves for the service God calls us to. They must count the interests of others as more important than their own. We must do this if we are to pursue the community that God intends for his people. Here is what Bonhoeffer writes about humility: “He who would learn to serve must first learn to think little of himself,” (page 94) and, “Only he who lives by the forgiveness of his sin in Jesus Christ will rightly think little of himself. He will know that his own wisdom reached the end of its tether when Jesus forgave him.” (Page 95)

The next ministry that Christians have within community that can be forsaken or pursued is the ministry of listening. Learning to listen to other believers is an important must that Bonhoeffer lists and points out as a ministry that Christians owe to each other. If there is no listening to one another, there cannot be the love that God intends within the Church.

The last ministry that I want to mention that Bonhoeffer writes about is the ministry of bearing the burdens of others. Bonhoeffer approaches bearing burdens from the perspective of God bearing our burden. “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.” (Page 100)

Because of what Christ has done for us, we should bear each other’s burdens in service to one another. In promotion of the community that God has established in Christ, we should seek to minister to each other. Removing the stains of sin and pursuing holiness is the aim of the Christian life.