A Word From David

In 1935, German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer was called by his comrades in the confessing church to return from the relative safety of London to lead an underground seminary training young pastors to lead faithfully in the face of the Nazi dominance of the German Christian church. Bonhoeffer led the seminary at Finkenwalde until it was shuttered by the Gestapo in 1938. Out of his experience at Finkenwalde, Bonhoeffer wrote Life Together, a brief reflection on creating Christian community in the face of fascism.

In its opening pages, Bonhoeffer names the purpose of any Christian community: to “meet one another as bringers of the message of salvation.” 

We need each other. None of us can thrive, none of us can be healthy, none of us can be whole outside of community. None of us, Bonhoeffer knew firsthand, can confront and resist the horrors of rising fascism on our own.

Moreover, if the rising totalitarian regime is clothing itself in the language of Christian faith by coopting large parts of the church, then intentional Christian community is essential.

In recent years I have heard a lot of speculation about whether or not we are living in a “Bonhoeffer moment” in the United States. Bonhoeffer was a committed pacifist, and most of the time, such speculation focuses on Bonhoeffer’s participation in a plot to assassinate Hitler. In other words, such speculation focuses on an imagined point at which we compromise with our principles for the sake of taking actions opposed to the regime.

While limit cases are important, the real “Bonhoeffer moment” arises when we commit to creating a community whose very existence testifies to the possibility of living otherwise. That is to say, life-giving Christian community testifies to the possibility of living not bound by the death-dealing structures of the state.

Does this resonate with you? Life Together is only about 100 pages. Let me know if you’d like to read it together during Lent, and we’ll figure out the details. Together.