As I am reading through Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s classic exposition on Christian community – Life Together, I am beginning to detect a thread in his writings. Bonhoeffer exisited as a practicing theologian and pastor in the midst of Nazi Germany under the rule of Adolph Hitler. He was martyred at the end of World War II just days before his prison was liberated by the Allies for crimes against the Reich. When one reads Bonhoeffer one detects a constant low level warning against the bestowing of too much power on a man.

 

In Life Together Bonhoeffer at one point contrasts human community with the community of the Spirit and he points out that in human community our natural desire to become one with one-another becomes twisted and perverted to the point where power and influence are used to force one or the whole community into your sphere of influence.

 

Again and again in various other writings and recordings Bonhoeffer always manages to warn against this rising cult of personality and to point out that it does not reflect God’s desire for humanity. In a famous radio address Bonhoeffer delivered in 1933 when he was 27-years-old he heavily criticizes Hitler and warns strongly against giving too much authority to one person and setting him up as an idol offensive to God. Bonhoeffer’s radio address was cut short by censors.

 

Community, whether it be church community, work community, political community or whatever, is always in danger of allowing itself to be lulled into the control of an individual.

 

In the Bible, I Samuel 8 relates the story of Israel’s request of God for a king of their own. "We want a king, just like the other nations have," the elders of Israel ask the prophet Samuel. God responds by telling Israel that He is their King and they need no other. Israel persists in its complaints and God ultimately relents having warned them that living under human authority, even authority designated by God, will not go nearly as well as they hope. God tells them that the king will eventually become a tyrant and abuse the authority he has been loaned.

 

In every community this is our broken nature and desire. We are not satisfied to be led by God but rather we constantly seek to set a person in authority over us. That person might be a pastor, or a mayor, a boss, a husband, a wife, a friend, a prime minister. It might even be the divisive head of a clique within the larger community. If we are not seeking to be king-maker then we are usually seeking to be the king. Anyone set into a position of authority over others needs to know that the greatest temptation will be to abuse the power they have…to use it without regard for God or the ones you hold authority over. This temptation to abuse power (usually either through sex or money) will likely destroy the individual but not before the community the individual leads is destroyed.

 

To submit the community to the leadership of God through His Spirit is the one way to avoid this disaster. Bonhoeffer writes that this is not worldly leadership but rather self-sacrificing servant leadership that models healthy relationship to others.

 

I think this wisdom of Bonhoeffer’s was a reflection of another kind of wisdom. The word of God is most powerful in our lives when it comes to us in the context of where we are and not randomly from a disconnected daily devotional. Bonhoeffer synthesized God’s truth within his own context – that of Nazi Germany and what resulted was powerful and life changing.

 

The question we need to ask ourselves is what context do we live in and how does the Word speak to that? Then – how can we speak into the context of our neighbour’s life? We cannot unless we are in relationship with them. It is only through relationship that we come to best understand the context of our brothers and sisters. When this happens then we can speak God’s Word and it is as if Christ Himself speaks to our neighbour. I wrote this in relation to preaching earlier.

 

This is why, as the good news of John 1 says in the Bible’s New Testament, "the Word became flesh and made His dwelling amongst us…" God came came into our context and lovingly related to us and spoke directly to us. The question isn’t whether he spoke effectively but whether we choose to listen.