Dietrich Bonhoeffer, arguing that Christian sanctification requires identification with the visible church-community:

A merely personal sanctification which seeks to bypass [the] openly visible separation of the church-community from the world confuses the pious desires of the religious flesh with the sanctification of the church-community, which has been accomplished in Christ’s death and is being actualized by the seal of God. It is the deceptive pride and the false spiritual desire of the old, sinful being that seeks to be holy apart from the visible community of Christians. Contempt for the body of Christ as the visible community of justified sinners is what is really hiding behind the apparent humility of this kind of inwardness. It is indeed contempt for the body of Christ, since Christ was pleased visibly to assume my flesh and to carry it to the cross. It is contempt for the community, since I seek to be holy apart from other Christians. It is contempt for sinners, since in self-bestowed holiness I withdraw from my church in its sinful form. Sanctification apart from the visible church-community is mere self-proclaimed holiness.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

Whatever the disciples do, they do it within the communal bond of the community of Jesus and as its members. Even the most secular act now takes place within the bounds of the church-community. This then is valid for the body of Christ: where one member is, there is also the whole body, and where the body is, there is also the member. There is no area of life where the member would be allowed or would even want to be separated from the body. Wherever one member happens to be, whatever one member happens to do, it always takes place “within the body,” within the church-community, “in Christ.” Life as a whole is taken up “into Christ.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

A truth, a doctrine, or a religion needs no space of its own. Such entities are bodyless. They do not go beyond being heard, learned, and understood. But the incarnate Son of God needs not only ears or even hearts; he needs actual, living human beings who follow him. That is why he called his disciples into following him bodily.

Currently reading: 8 Hours or Less by Ryan Huguley 📚

Currently reading: Preaching by Timothy Keller 📚

An Open Road by Patrick Nasmyth:

Currently reading: Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation by Jonathan Lear 📚

Finished reading: A Century of Poetry by Rowan Williams 📚

What a marvelous collection of poems. I didn’t quite make it through all of them before it was due back at the library, but wow is this a treat. I will need to acquire this volume at some point. Williams' reflections are often as subtle and profound as the poems themselves. For anyone unskilled in the art of reading poetry like me, the comments are a perfect bit of “hand holding” to inspire some confidence to go and read likewise.

Finished reading: The Insider’s Guide to ADHD by Penny Williams 📚