Dietrich Bonhoeffer, on relationship and worship
In this passage, DB says nothing but what Christ has said, and it has made me marvel how much we disobey in this regard.
"When a man gets angry at his brother and swears at him, when he publicly insults or slanders him, he is guilty of murder and forfeits his relation to God. He erects a barrier between himself and God. He no longer has access to him; his sacrifice, worship and prayer are not acceptable in his sight. For the Christian, worship cannot be divorced from the service of the brethren, as it was with the rabbis. If we despise our brother our worship is unreal . . . . We are both individually and as a congregation worshiping an idol. . . . He who loves God and hates his brother is a liar." (I have omitted some really good things from pps. 128-9.)
My first response is to say, "I don't hate anyone," but. I stop there. Contempt is often shown by ignorance, by calumny (a great word, look it up), by meanness.
"When a man gets angry at his brother and swears at him, when he publicly insults or slanders him, he is guilty of murder and forfeits his relation to God. He erects a barrier between himself and God. He no longer has access to him; his sacrifice, worship and prayer are not acceptable in his sight. For the Christian, worship cannot be divorced from the service of the brethren, as it was with the rabbis. If we despise our brother our worship is unreal . . . . We are both individually and as a congregation worshiping an idol. . . . He who loves God and hates his brother is a liar." (I have omitted some really good things from pps. 128-9.)
My first response is to say, "I don't hate anyone," but. I stop there. Contempt is often shown by ignorance, by calumny (a great word, look it up), by meanness.
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