Freedom in the Fellowship

"A Christian Community should know that somewhere in it there will certainly be 'a reasoning among them, which of them should be the greatest.' It is the struggle of the natural man for self-justification. He finds it only in comparing himself with others, in condemning and judging others. Self-justification and judging others go together, as justification by grace and serving others go together." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

This writing of Bonhoeffer has really hit me lately. He mentions that it happens in Christian Community and I think that means more than a church on Sunday, but it means any Christian living in any community. It seems to be human nature for us to want to "do" things that justify us when in fact it is by grace. I also think that is why Jesus came as a servant to give us the example of serving. In John he says he didn't come to condemn the world but to save it...save it by serving.

Bonhoeffer has an interesting solution:
"It must be a decisive rule of every Christian fellowship that each is prohibited from saying much that occurs to him. Where this discipline of the tongue is practiced right from the beginning, each individual will make a matchless discovery. He will be able to cease from constantly scrutinizing the other person, judging him, condemning him, putting him in his particular place where he can gain ascendacy over him and thus doing violence to him as a person. Now he can allow the brother to exist as a completely free person, as God made him to be. Now the other person, in the freedom with which he was created, becomes the occasion of joy, whereas before he was only a nuisance and an affliction."

Where I work we talk about "Think the best, speak the best" in regards to others sometimes I think we are so busy speaking we accidently travel down the slippery slope of self-justification and judging just because we say too much. I am not sure what else I think about all this as I am still processing it, I do know that it is human nature to measure ourselves against others. We may not say it out loud but we are like James and John wanting the best seats in heaven because we are the best of the 12 disciples, we are the best Christians. I know this because I have lived there most of my Christian life and am more and more coming to realize that I am a messy Christian. I am just trying my best to follow what the bible tells me, trying my best to be a follow of Jesus in spite of my many weaknesses and downfalls. And I find myself more and more giving more grace to other messy Christians like me.
There but for the grace of God go I.
K