Bonhoeffer Chapter 5

       

      Confession and Communion

is the title of the 5th and final chapter of Bonhoeffer's Life Together. This chapter ties the whole book together, stressing the importance, nay, the necessity of the community of  the believers. As the title suggests, he expounds on both the act of confessing sins to a brother, as well as taking communion. 

       The topic of confession is one that I really appreciated reading about. In modern, Protestant Christianity/theology, this is not something you hear lectures on very often. Why have we belittled this subject so much? 

                  I think Bonhoeffer does an incredible job of explaining it, and very eloquently. 

       The truth of the matter is as he explains on page 112:

        "The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation."

      Never have I read such a perfect description of the dangers of sin and isolation. I believe this hit close to home for me because I can be a very isolated person at times. Thus, the things I struggle with, I tend to make "my own problem." But that is neglecting one of the very purposes of God's establishment of the church! Isolation and sin are an endless circle that can only be broken by the community of the believers.

      And taking Bonhoeffer's description of confession, the power and depth that it is on behalf of Christ himself that our brothers and sisters hear and forgive our confession, is one that should not be taken lightly. However, it should also not be ignored. 

       If we want to break the cycle of sin, it must be through the support system God has graciously prepared for us. 

Bonhoeffer 3

Bonhoeffer 4

          

In chapter four of Bonhoeffer's Life Together, he dives into areas of ministry of the believer. However, unlike our modern Christian minds would assume, these areas are not the worship team, children's ministry, & work projects.

       No, Bonhoeffer lists some areas of ministry that one might consider unusual: "The Ministry of Holding One's Tongue," "The Ministry of Listening," "The Ministry of Helpfulness," and others.
   


       I found these discussions very refreshing and beneficial -both Biblical and very applicable.
       One that struck me the most was that of "holding one's tongue."
       I believe the book of James got it right when it speaks of the difficulty of controlling one's tongue. In fact, just today I was discussing with a non-Christian coworker about the destruction that gossip can do. We can hurt people with our actions, but it's much quicker to cut them down with our words, and many times it cuts deeper. Gossip, insults, lies, broken promises... the very mention of these words sinks my heart, as many others, I believe, can easily identify moments of being hurt by these.
       The ministry of holding one's tongue is an interesting one because at first it appears to be an inaction rather than an action. It appears to be not doing something. But go one day while trying to control one's words, and you will realize how much action it physically requires.

     The reason this one stuck out to me the most is because words hold a great weight for me. I would always rather write something than speak, because I value the time it takes to say exactly what is meant.
     But people, Christians and non-Christians alike, do not always live by this (indeed, I do not always use my words for good). I find it fascinating that so many Christians criticize those who swear, and yet they're found gossiping or making racist slides themselves.
"Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?" (James 3:11). If we cannot master our tongues, how can we be in service to the Lord?


     

Bonhoeffer Chapter 2

"The Day with Others," Machen's second chapter of his book Life Together, explores the liturgy of what worship ought to look like among Christians, this is not limited to Sunday morning worship but includes other gatherings including Christian families' daily practices. He addresses points of reading the Psalms together, reading other Scriptures, singing, common prayer, sharing at "the table," and finally, proceeding to the rest of the day: working.
       The Morning - this is what Bonhoeffer revolves his discourse around. This is how Christians ought to start their mornings, he says.
      I must admit, this was an interesting chapter for me to consider. I have never considered myself as a morning person, but have never deeply considered it a theological issue! Now, as an upfront clarification: I don't think whether you have a hard time waking up early or not is a sin.
    However, there is something to Bonhoeffer's position that Scripture presents the morning as a special time of day. There are lots of verses that can back this up, but I think we can even see this from experience. The morning is quiet, amidst the storm of colors that arise. The birds sing. The sky awakes and stretches. Darkness is broken. There is so much imagery in the creativity of God that is the morning.
       Thus, it is not a surprise that Christians coming together in the morning to worship God has a special significance. Does it mean it is sin if they do not? I don't think so. However, these little details of Scripture should also not be ignored, or we ourselves could miss out on something.

      One of Bonhoeffer's most moving paragraphs for myself in this chapter is on page 43:

For Christians, the beginning of the day should not be burdened and oppressed with besetting concerns for the day's work. At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it.  At the threshold of the new day stands the Lord who made it. All the darkness and distraction of the dreams of night retreat before the clear light of Jesus Christ and his wakening Word. All unrest, all impurity, all care and anxiety flee before him. Therefore, at the beginning of the day let all distraction and empty talk be silenced and let the first thought and the first word belong to him whom our whole life belongs. "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Ephesians 5:14).

       

      My days are long, my semester is brutal, my heart is heavy. Mornings are not a time that bring me joy, but exhaustion. What if my days could start like this? What would change if my first thought was the joy of Christ? If every day was committed into his hand? Would my heart sing? My lips smile? My hands do good? 

"Behold, the morning sun

Begins his glorious way;
His beams through all the nations run,
And life and light convey.

But where the gospel comes
It spreads diviner light;
It calls dead sinners from their tombs,
And gives the blind their sight."

Isaac Watts

Machen Chapter 7

 Machen Chapter 7 - "The Church." This chapter addresses the issue of liberally-minded teachers being accepted into the church as teachers and preachers. The issue Machen has with this is not so much that these people want to spread what they want to teach, but rather their dishonesty in it all. Their desire is to spread their message, but they do it through a dishonest way of pretending they agree with the specific church's doctrine but then proceeding to teach otherwise.
      I thought it was interesting that Machen brought up the point of tolerance. Tolerance in our modern American society is much-used word, but I didn't realize it was on the radar of those in Machen's generation. Machen is not saying that, while evangelicals clearly do believe that the liberal "theology" is wrong, that they should not have be allowed to share what they believe. He is simply saying that there is no place for it in the evangelical church. He mentions how tolerance under certain authority such as governmental should be promoted; however, a voluntary organization such as religion (a church), should not be required to be "tolerant" of another belief, as that shakes the very ground the organization was built on.
     I appreciated Machen's balance here, and was actually a little surprised to how much 'grace' he gae to liberals. His argument was on the basis of honesty, which I also found intriguing.
     Considering Biblical as well as the ancient history of the church, the dealings with "false teachers" has tended to be very severe. Paul has some pretty harsh words for those people in his letters. Others in history were accused of heresy. While there must be a balance and an aspect of love for all humans, I might be so bold as to say God has used severe treatment of these false teachers as a way to preserve the Gospel. Of course I do not think this means we should imprison or exile people, it is a duty of Christians to call it like it is: a false doctrine. Not only must we publicly recognize it, but then deal with it as well: it has no place in the evangelical church.
      How might one do this? This would of course depend on the context.
      But it must, first and foremost, start with the church being in agreement of the need to preserve the holy doctrine of the Gospel.


In conclusion, while I don't necessarily agree with everything Machen says, and at times his arguments became a little repetitive, I believe the book was an effective one in recent church history. It was used to call out liberalism for what it was, contrast it to Biblical doctrine, and give Christians a practical response to implement as a result. It is difficult to judge books written in past generations because there is so much modern perspective/bias that influences, but we can only do the best we can to understand where the author is coming from in his time of life and take the good that we can learn from.

Machen Chapter Six

"Salvation" - the title of chapter six of Machen's Christianity and Liberalism.
       I'll admit, I asked myself, "What more can Machen say?" This chapter follows his arguments against liberals' views on God, man, and Christ. Finally we get to the case of the Gospel, but in my opinion, once you've proved the error in their thinking in these areas, there's not much left of the Gospel to need to speak about.
     However, Machen found a new point to bring up.
     This time he brings up the liberal argument that Christ's sacrifice, and God's forgiveness, is simply a matter of looking over trivial issues such as sin.
     This is a perspective that even some conservative Christians can easily fall into. It's easy to convince oneself of doing something with the argument that "It's not that big of a deal; God forgives." 
       But what a messed up world this would forever be if God simply left it at forgiveness. This position denies the very grace of God, because simple forgiveness does not change a person. From the liberal point of view, grace is not needed. They may recognize that people make mistakes, but they would not go so far as to say that sin is deadly and in need of atonement.
     But what would God's mere "looking over" our trivial sin actually mean in the world? It would mean people would be left selfish, unchanged, and even dangerous. It would also show that God does not seem to love people at all.
       People left unchanged would mean they keep sinning. And sin is not just against God (which in of itself is a very great deal), but we also sin against ourselves and others. When we sin against ourselves, we harm ourselves. It would be easy to say "Well, we had it coming then," and maybe that's true. But a God who does not interject in everyday life is not a loving God at all.
     What's worse, if God leaves us to our sin, He leaves us to continue to sin against each other. This is one of the point Machen makes in this chapter. Our actions, for good or bad, have an effect on others. We already get a sense for what this looks like in a world that is full of war, poverty, murder. When we are left to our own devices, we harm others. This can be on a terrible scale such as the points mentioned above, but often it starts on a smaller scale such as lying, crossing our neighbor, and gossip.
     Thus comes a conclusion that I think many times even conservative Christians forget:
Salvation is not merely for the individual.
                         there is an age-old question that states "Why does God not simply sweep up the Christians once they're converted?" The answer is simple, although not easy. God is in the business of redemption. He is not a God of abandonment; He does not avoid conflict. Rather, He promises to renew the world and has begun that process here and now, through the redemption of His children. This redemption is not simply a matter of a golden ticket into Heaven once you die. It is a process of redemption that God works not only in us, but uses us to work in others. As 2nd Corinthians states, we are agents of reconciliation to the world. God has not simply left humankind in despair until Heaven on Earth appears -He has started that ministry already. Thus, salvation is not simply for us. It's for the world.

Sin cannot merely be a looking over of our sin (it must effect a change).

Machen Chapter 4

How then, can we connect the historical events of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection with our modern life and experiences?

      This is a question I have wrestled with in recent years. First, the ramifications of what it means that Jesus was actually a living, historical person. And once you've come to terms with that, then understanding what that actually means for you, a person of the 21st century.
      Machen seeks to tie these points together, while combating the liberalist idea that Christian experience is enough to connect us with Christ. 
       His main point is that, as he mentions on page 60, "Christianity depends, not on a complex of ideas, but upon the narration of an event." This is how Christianity is unlike other religions. It is dependent on a specific event.
      Machen's main point is that this historical event has taken place, but it has effects on people today. We cannot separate these points; both of these truths are necessary for the Christian faith. What the liberalist Christians seek to do is say that the historical event doesn't matter, only the Christian experience that we feel today does.
     Machen argues this with the fact that Christian experience must be based off of the historical events; otherwise, it isn't Christianity.
   
       "Christian experience is rightly used when it helps to convince us that the events narrated in the New Testament actually did occur; but it can never enable us to be Christians whether the events occurred or not" (62).

       To speak on the flip-side of that, I think maybe in Western Christian society, we have almost gone the exact opposite and removed the validity of Christian experience altogether. In fear of those who have denied the historical events, we have almost made it almost entirely about the historical facts. So I appreciate Machen emphasizing that Christian experience does have a rightful place; however, that place is being checked against the historical truths of Jesus.
   
        God works in many mysterious and wonderful ways; but these will always be consistent with who He has revealed himself as in the inerrant Scriptures.