I have been reading Dietrich Bonheoffer's selected writings this week while in office transition due to installation of new carpet, new air conditioning, and a new desk. As a result of my readings, I would like to share this week some excerpts from those selected writings. In some ways I think this man was brilliant. Enjoy!
from Jesus Christ and the Essence of Christianity
Whether in our time Christ can still occupy a place where we make decisions on the deepest matters known to us, over our own life and over the life of our people, that is the question which we will consider today. Whether or not the Spirit of Christ has anything final, definitive, and decisive to say to us, that is what we want to speak about. We all know that Chirst has, in effect, been eliminated from our lives. Of course, we build Him a temple, but we live in our own houses. Christ has become a matter of the church, or, rather, of teh churchiness of a group, not a matter of life. Religion plays for the psyche of the 19th and 20th Centuries the role of so-called Sunday room into which one gladly withdraws for a couple hours only to get back to one's place of work immediately afterward. However, one thing is clear: we understand Christ only if we commit ourselves to Him in a stark "Either-Or." He did not go to the cross to ornament and embellish our lives. If we wish to have Him, then He demands the right to say something decisive about our entire life. We don't understand Him if we arrange for Him only a small compartment in our spiritual life. Rather, we understand our spiritual life only if we then orientate it to Him alone or give Him a flat "NO."
Something to think about! More from Dietrich Bonhoeffer tomorrow.
Thanks for reading, and God bless you!
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