Intellectual Defenestration

I have been searching for folks who blog more spiritual and discipleship themes. Nice to find this site.

Let me remember this: "Intellectual Defenestration"

As for Bonehoffer, I have read life together twice once last year. He also has this idea of our relationships being mediated by God. It is something like we don't have real love and so we take our weakness and give it to God and He makes community.

I think it is very good. Much like Watchman Nee ideas about our exchanged life. Community makes us live by grace.

I lived in Christian community, no possessions and twice a day prayer meetings and stuff for about 10 years. It was heaven. Then, we all got married and had to get real jobs. Half the guys moved out of state. Today, we are building community at our church. I live on the church campus. I like people around all the time. We call it living with porous borders.
brad

I gotta call you on this, more for clarification than anything else. First off, that is a great perspective on loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as they are and not as they should be. Nothing brings that into more light then looking ourselves in the mirror and seeing that same weak, flawed and failed human being.

What I question is the idea of not checking ones spiritual pulse/community’s temperature constantly. While I understand it is physically impossible to continually do this and live a life that is going to bear any fruit, I believe there needs to be a balance here. There is an element of constantly testing ourselves and our actions against the Gospel. Are we living in the truth or not?

“Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth. I do not sit with deceitful men, nor do I consort with hypocrites;” (Psalm 26: 2-4)

It is easy to follow the true bent of our hearts towards sin. Though we are treated as righteous, we are not just as Christ was treated as sin but is not (2 Corinthians 5: 21). We must “continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise” (Hebrews 13: 15).

Perhaps I am a bit more proactive than I need to be and do not rely enough upon God to be thankful for my flaws and for the flawed people around me. Perhaps I am bit too idealistic in trying to play a role in God’s plan to move his people towards that perfect community.

Of course that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

Brad - thanks for the encouragement.

Jeff - although I haven't finished the book, I don't think he's saying there is never a time for examination. I think he's just saying that the primary, foundational attitude should be thankfulness towards God, rather than criticism, since community, like sanctification, is entirely a gift from him. I'll loan it to you after I'm done, if you want.

Yes I would like to borrow it. I wasn't necessarily disagreeing. I just wanted to balance your conclusion!

I think Bonhoeffer's point is an issue of Spirituality. He is saying see your community as God sees it through the Gospel and not constantly pressing toward community in a perfectionistic and legalistic way. His point is to mediate all out relationships through the Gospel of Grace and forgiveness. Then, when the love of God fills your heart, act out of the Spirit. This keeps all our community as an act of WORSHIP of the Lord and not the idolorty of the worship of community.
Mother Teresa makes the same point regarding ministry to the poor. She says it is Christ she is feeding not the poor themselves. All her work is mediate by Christ's identification with the poor.
So to we mediate our relationships through Christ's identificaiton with the believer.
brad

<unrelated topic> I'll bet you and Methodius from Cruciforge would get along really well. That guy has the biggest personal library of books such as this that I've ever seen -- it's absolutely ASTOUNDING. He's a real bookworm and he's all about Christian community. You should check out his blog sometime if you've never seen it.

http://bran.vicksburgblogs.com

Just a thought, really.</unrelated topic>