1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian Idolatry - The Sin Beneath The Sin | Page 10
Do you agree with his assessment? Do you have a “vision of sharing your resources
with the needy in your midst”? How can you develop that more?
3. In Life Together Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes,
‘The second service that one should perform for another in a Christian community is that
of active helpfulness. This means, initially, simple assistance in trifling, external matters…
We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God. God will be constantly
cancelling our plans by sending us people with claims and petitions. We may pass them
by, preoccupied with our more important tasks, as the priest passed the man who had
fallen among thieves, perhaps — reading the Bible.
How do you feel when your plans are cancelled by “people with claims and
petitions”? Write down some specific ways you could share space, goods, time,
needs and/or problems.
Saturday
The last three community-building practices are all about serving one another—
about how to be servants. Read the Scripture verses which accompany them.
Practice 7— Serving One Another Through Accountability
• James 5 v 16 – “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other”
• Romans 15 v 14 – “Instruct one another”
• Ephesians 4 v 25 – “Speak truthfully”
Earlier we mentioned that we must be willing to let others in the community know about
our problems or needs. Even more specifically, we must allow ourselves to be accountable
to others to live as we should, even in the more personal aspects. In particular, we must be
willing to admit where we have besetting sins and look to the Christian community to help
us overcome them. We must voluntarily develop a circle of Christian friends to whom we
are regularly accountable for areas of behaviour that are especially difficult, or in which
self-deception is easy. For example, life balance (work, health, and rest), sexuality, use of
money, and so on.
We must work out in community what a gospel-shaped life should be, and then allow
ourselves to be held accountable to live in this way. We are to let our Christian friends into
our lives deeply enough to see our weaknesses and hold us responsible to grow into
Christ’s likeness.
Note on specific texts: