There Arose a Reasoning Among Them . . .

Bonhoeffer & his students

In every community of faith and learning there come times of conflict.  Conflicts arise because these communities are composed of humans who are finite and fallen.  At every university where I've taught over the past sixteen years there have been conflicts – conflicts between students and faculty members; between faculty and fellow faculty; and between faculty and university administration.  

A university is in many respects like all other human communities that experience conflict from within among its members.  Universities founded upon a common faith are no less prone to experience conflicts since like every church fellowship since such a university is made-up of humans.  So it should come as no surprise that a Christian university, especially one that is in its early years of growth and development, would experience conflict between some of its faculty and its administrative leaders.

Brother Bonhoeffer knew the reality of conflict from within a fellowship.  During his days leading the Confessing Church’s seminary at Finkenwalde, he experienced it.  When he wrote about this experiment in Christian community in his little book Life Together, he began the fourth chapter with this warning:

“'There arose a reasoning among them, which of them would be the greatest’ (Luke 9:46). We know who it is that sows this thought in the Christian community.  But perhaps we do not bear in mind enough that no Christian community ever comes together without this thought immediately emerging as a seed of discord.  Thus at the very beginning of Christian fellowship there is engendered an invisible, often unconscious, life-and-death contest.  ‘There arose a reasoning among them’; this is enough to destroy a fellowship” (90).

Bonhoeffer’s insight exposes the root cause for many, if not most, of these conflicts in our communities.  It is the human desire for greatness or ascendancy over others.  He continues, “It is vitally necessary that every Christian community from the very outset face this dangerous enemy squarely, and eradicate it.  There is not time to lose here, for from the first moment when a man meets another person he is looking for a strategic position he can assume and hold over against that person.”

Bethge & Bonhoeffer - student & teacher

“There are strong persons and weak ones.  If a man is not strong, he immediately claims the right of the weak as his own and uses it against the strong.  There are gifted and ungifted persons, simple people and difficult people, devout and less devout, the sociable and the solitary.  Does not the ungifted person have to take up a position just as well as the gifted person, the difficult one as well as the simple? . . . Where is there a person who does not with instinctive sureness find the spot where he can stand and defend himself, but which he will never give up to another, for which he will fight with all the drive of his instinct of self-assertion?”

“All this can occur in the most polite or even pious environment.  But the important thing is that a Christian community should know that somewhere in it there will certainly be ‘a reasoning among them, which of them would 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 “ (91).

If this then is indeed the case, how may members of a community who are presently experiencing such conflict eradicate it?  Bonhoeffer offers a potential path in the remainder of his chapter.  There he addresses seven “ministries” that we owe to one another in community.   Each bears upon me and my colleagues here at Handong if we would be peacemakers and ones who are committed to the growth of our community of learning into wholeness and mutual blessing that flows to all.

Those within our Handong community who would advance and seek to protect  the students’ “right to learn” owe the ministries Bonhoeffer commends to professors, students and fellow administrators.   Those, on the other hand, who uphold and see to maintain the professors’ “right to teach” likewise owe these ministries to all others within the community of learning.

Rather than dispute over issues of control and authority, the ministries that Bonhoeffer teaches us to engage express avenues of service that lead toward mutual edification and the ultimate achievement of the goal of our community – the forming of whole persons who act responsibly in the service of others according to God’s calling upon their lives.

The first of these ministries, as Bonhoeffer describes them, is “the ministry of holding one’s tongue.”  “Often we combat our evil thoughts most effectively if we absolutely refuse to allow them to be expressed in words” (91).    We are admonished in Scripture to be “slow to speak” (James 1:19), so we would do well to hold our tongue and think thoroughly we express comments, especially when they are criticisms of others.

Bonhoeffer advises that “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 ascendancy 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” (92-93).

The second ministry is meekness. “He who would learn to serve must first learn to think little of himself” (94).  This is not self-loathing, but rather a proper view of self.  “Only he who lives by the forgiveness of his sin in Jesus Christ will rightly think little of himself” (95).  Such a perspective, Bonhoeffer acknowledges, leads to a challenging conclusion: “To forego self-conceit and to associate with the lowly means . . . to consider oneself the greatest of sinners. . . If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all. . .  He who would serve his brother in the fellowship must sink all the way down to these depths of humility” (96).  

Holding one’s tongue and meekness lead naturally to the third ministry we owe one another in community – that of listening. “Just as love to God begins with listening to His Word, so the beginning of love for the brethren [i.e. for others] is learning to listen to them” (97). To be an effective listener, though, is a skill we must be devoted to developing. Our tendency is merely to “wait to talk” when in conversation with others. What we need to be doing is authentic listening. Bonhoeffer warns that “he who can no longer listen to his brother will soon be no longer listening to God either; he will be doing nothing but prattle in the presence of God” (98). 

By listening we are enabled to understand the needs of others and so reach out to them with the ministry of helpfulness. “This means, initially, simple assistance in trifling, external matters . . . Nobody is too good for the meanest (i.e. lowest) service. One who worries about the loss of time that such petty, outward acts of helpfulness entail is usually taking the importance of his own career too solemnly” (99).  

The next service we owe is the ministry of bearing. “’Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ’ (Gal. 6:2). . . Bearing means forbearing and sustaining. . . The Christian . . . must bear the burden of a brother. He must suffer and endure the brother. It is only when he is a burden that another person is really a brother and not merely an object to be manipulated” (100). As we extend this service, Bonhoeffer calls us to bear both the freedom of the other person as well as his sin through regularly practicing forgiveness. 

The thoughtful engagement of these first five ministries – holding one’s tongue, meekness, listening, helpfulness and bearing – provides the only sure foundation for the next – the ministry of proclaiming the Word. This ministry is not the “preaching of the Word” but rather “that unique situation in which one person bears witness in human words to another person, bespeaking the whole consolation of God, the admonition, the kindness, and the severity of God” (103-104). “We speak to one another on the basis of the help we both need. We admonish one another to go the way that Christ bids us to go. We warn one another against the disobedience that is our common destruction” (106).  

Bonhoeffer concludes with the ultimate service we owe -- the ministry of authority. This ministry, however, can only be exercised by those who have first fulfilled the all that come before it because “Jesus made authority in the fellowship dependent upon brotherly service” (108). “Every cult of personality that emphasizes the distinguished qualities, virtues, and talents of another person, even though these be of an altogether spiritual nature, is worldly and has no place in the Christian community . . . The Church does not need brilliant personalities but faithful servants of Jesus and the brethren” (108-109).  

Indeed, no community of faith, no community of learning, needs brilliant personalities. What we need are faithful followers of Christ who seek daily, by His grace, to serve one another according to the call of God. What is needed to eradicate the attitudes and actions that destroy our community of learning are men and women possessed with the mind of Christ that seeks not their own interests and rights but those of others. Such an approach to sustaining our community of learning and faith will not pit the right to learn against the right to teach. Rather, it will serve others by taking seriously the responsibility to teach and the responsibility to learn as we seek together to obey the call of Christ and serve the needs of others in the here and now.

School is Never Out -- Instruction is All Around!

This little guy showed-up outside my apartment window yesterday morning as I was talking on the phone with Sandy.  He's a "Yellow-rumped Flycatcher."  Pretty cool! (I didn't take this picture, but I'm hoping to capture a few photo's in the near future). He has quite a song to sing, too!  His appearance reminded me that I need to get a bird feeder.  As I've looked for one at shops and on-line, though, I've begun to realize that folks don't seem to feed birds around here.

I guess they think that the birds do pretty well for themselves and there is just not much "extra" seed lying about to give over to the birds.  And yet, these little beautiful creatures continue to thrive even though "they sow not, nor gather into barns."  Seeing this beauty reminded me also of the fact that all that we encounter in each day is teaching us.  Jesus exhorts us in his Sermon on the Mount to "consider the birds of the air and the flowers of the field."

The reality of on-going instruction for the one who is aware was also brought home to me recently through a brief passage in Thich Nhat Hanh's little book, Being Peace. He writes:  "We can learn from everything that is around, that is in us.  Even if we are not at a meditation center [or on a retreat or even in a classroom] we can still practice at home because all around us the teaching is present.  Everything is preaching . . . each pebble, each leaf, each flower is preaching . . . (36).

King David said it this way: "The heavens keep telling the wonders of God and the skies declare what he has done.  Each day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. They don't speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice.  Yet, their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world." (Psalm 19:1-4a, CEV).  So, give a listen and keep learning.  School is never out.  Instruction is all around you right now where you are.

Law & Justice

The former does not always serve the latter.  So says Horace Rumpole . . . and others.

There are few earthly things more splendid . . .

Some months ago during my final semester teaching at Fontbonne, Dr. Dennis Golden, the University's President shared these words from the English Poet Laureate, John Masefield spoken by him at the University of Sheffield in 1946.

"There are few earthly things more splendid than a University. In these days of broken frontiers and collapsing values when the dams are down and the floods are making misery, when every future looks somewhat grim and every ancient foothold has become something of a quagmire. Wherever a University stands it stands and shines: wherever it exists, the free minds of men, urged on to full and fair inquiry, may still bring wisdom into human affairs.”

“There are few earthly things more beautiful than a University. It is a place where those who hate ignorance may strive to know, where those who perceive truth may strive to make others see; where seekers and learners alike, banded together in the search for knowledge, will honor thought in all its finer ways, will welcome thinkers in distress or in exile, will uphold ever the dignity of thought and learning, and will exact standards in these things.

“There are few things more enduring than a University. Religions may split into sect or heresy; dynasties may perish or be supplanted, but for century after century the University will continue, and the stream of life will pass through it, and the thinker and the seeker will be bound together in the undying cause of bringing thought into the world.

“To be a member of one these great Societies must ever be a glad distinction." ~ John Masefield

A Teacher's Report Card

I'm reading J.B. Phillips' translation of the New Testament this year, and I recently came upon his rendering of Mark 6:30. "The apostles returned to Jesus and reported to him every detail of what they had done and taught."  Here is a crucial lesson for everyone who seeks to be a teacher of others.  The teacher must regularly come back to his master -- the one from whom the teacher has received the gift and calling to teach -- and report every detail of what he has done (practiced) and taught.

A teacher is not an authority in and of himself.  Rather, he or she, as a teacher, must always see himself as subject to the scrutiny of others.  This is the way that the teacher yields and submits his life and teaching to the constant evaluation of his master.  For the teacher who “professes” this will mean a recognition that “though in my profession I believe that I am correct and indeed am willing to make the relevant commitments based on that belief—and in the case of religious beliefs, the risk of faith—yet I am willing to have others explore the truth-claim for themselves” (Reichenbach 20).

I need to take heed to the apostles' example and regularly report to my Master Teacher all that I have done and taught.  May I always be ready and willing to hear the evaluations and critiques of my colleagues and my students as they explore the substance of my life and teaching for themselves.  No less than the Apostle Paul was subject to the scrutiny of others as those in Berea he taught searched the Scriptures daily to see if what he had said was actually so.

Reichenbach, Bruce R. “On Being a Professor: The Case of Socrates.”

Should God Get Tenure?: Essays on Religion & Higher Education. Ed. David W. Gill. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997. 8-26.

A Presence that Disturbs One with Joy . . .

In his provocative work on discipleship, Anthony Gittins describes five signs that he suggests "seem to mark those who really believe in the Spirit of God. "Such people . .

•  Actually go looking for trouble, for troubled people, as Jesus did;
• Pray to become aware, to be disturbed, lest they fail to hear and respond to the cries of the needy and the structures of sin;
• Are united though diverse, so that the world may believe (Jn 17:21);
• Are convinced that they can help change the world -- or that they will be found guilty if they fail to do so;
• Live exciting and worthwhile lives" (27).

Reflection upon these marks of genuine Third Article belief (as confessional Christians declare in the Third Article of the Creed, "I believe in the the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life . . ."), should cause a substantial pause for any one seeking to live a life examined under the Word of God.

Gittins continues, "Traditionally, we have prayed to the Holy Spirit to come and "renew the face of the earth." How on earth can that happen without some disturbance of what is going on in our own lives?  The challenge for us is to allow our lives to be interrupted.  

"But that is easier said than done:  as surely as our instinct pulls our hand away from a hot stove, so do we react against whatever interferes with our plans or patterned lives.  So what do we do?  Either we seek to be led by the Spirit of we resist the Spirit.

"But we cannot claim to be Spirit-led if our lives are governed and controlled by personal plans and structures. Some of the most gifted of use are the most rigid, making a virtue of being in control and leaving very little room for divine disturbances" (28-29).

As I sit here beside my mother's hospital bed, watching and waiting with her during her final hours upon this earth, I'm pondering Gittins' words.  May I yield myself, my life, my mother, my family, and my calling to your Spirit's guidance and control, Lord Christ.  May I this day continue to study and authentically practice, by your enabling grace, the lesson of being ready to be interrupted.

The Emperor's Three Questions

Thich Nhat Hanh concludes his little book on mindfulness with a story told by Tolstoy about an emperor who had three questions he wished answered.  I believe this story conveys some profound truth that all who acknowledge God's revelation through common grace should heed.

"One day it occurred to a certain emperor that if he only knew the answers to three questions, he would never stray in any matter.  What is the best time to do each thing?  Who are the most important people to work with?  What is the most important thing to do at all times?

"The Emperor issued a decree throughout his kingdom announcing that whoever could answer the questions would receive a great reward.  Many who read the decree made their way to the palace at once, each person with a different answer.

"In reply to the first question, one person advised that the emperor make up a thorough time schedule, consecrating every hour, day, month, and year for certain tasks and then follow the schedule to the letter.  Only then could he hope to do every task at the right time.

"Another person replied that it was impossible to plan in advance and that the emperor should put all vain amusements aside and remain attentive to everything in order to know what to do at what time. Someone else insisted that, by himself, the emperor could never hope to have all the foresight and competence necessary to decide when to do each and every task and what he really needed was to set up a Council of the Wise and then to act according to their advice.

"Someone else said that certain matters required immediate decision and could not wait for consultation, but if he wanted to know in advance what was going to happen he should consult magicians and soothsayers.

"The responses to the second question also lacked accord.  One person said that the emperor needed to place all his trust in administrators, another urged reliance on priests and monks, while others recommended physicians.  Still others put their faith in warriors.

"The third question drew a similar variety of answers. Some said science was the most important pursuit.  Others insisted on religion.  Yet others claimed the most important thing was military skill.  The emperor was not pleased with any of the answers, and no reward was given.

"After several nights of reflection, the emperor resolved to visit a hermit who lived up on the mountain and was said to be an enlightened man.  The emperor wished to find the hermit to ask him the thee questions, though he knew the hermit never left the mountains and was known to receive only the poor, refusing to have anything to do with person of wealth or powers.  So the emperor disguised himself as a simple peasant and ordered his attendants to wait for him at the foot of the mountain while he climbed the slope alone to seek the hermit.

"Reaching the holy man's dwelling place, the emperor found the hermit digging a garden in front of his hut.  When the hermit saw the stranger, he nodded his head in greeting and continued to dig.  The labor was obviously hard on him. He was an old man, and each time he thrust his spade into the ground to turn the earth, he heaved heavily.

"The emperor approached him and said, 'I have come here to ask your help with three questions:  When is the best time to do each thing? Who are the most important people to work with? What is the most important thing to do at all times?'  The hermit listened attentively but only patted the emperor on the shoulder and continued digging.  The emperor said, 'You must be tired.  Here, let me give you a hand with that.'  The hermit thanked him, handed the emperor the spade, and then sat down on the ground to rest.

"After he had dug tow rows, the emperor stopped and turned to the hermit and repeated his three questions.  The hermit still did not answer, but instead stood up and pointed to the spade and said, 'Why don't you rest now?  I can take over again.'  But the emperor continued to dig.  One hour passed, then two.  Finally the sun began to set behind the mountain.  The emperor put down the spade and said to the hermit, 'I came here to ask if you could answer my three questions. But if you can't give me any answer, please let me know so that I can get on my way home.'

"The hermit lifted his head and asked the emperor, 'Do you hear someone running over there?'  The emperor turned his head.  They both saw a man with a long white beard emerge from the woods.  He ran wildly, pressing his hands against a bloody wound in his stomach.  The man ran toward the emperor before falling unconscious to the ground, where he lay groaning.

"Opening the man's clothing, the emperor and hermit saw that the man had received a deep gash.  The emperor cleaned the wound thoroughly and then used his own shirt to bandage it, but the blood completely soaked it within minutes. He rinsed the shirt out and bandaged the wound a second time and continued to do so until the flow of blood had stopped.

"At last the wounded man regained consciousness and asked for a drink of water.  The emperor ran down to the stream and brought back a jug of fresh water.  Meanwhile, the sun had disappeared and the night air had begun to turn cold.  The hermit gave the emperor a hand in carrying the man into the hut where they laid him down on the hermit's bed.

"The man closed his eyes and lay quietly.  The emperor was worn out fro a long day of climbing the mountain and digging the garden.  Leaning against the doorway, he fell asleep.  When he rose, the sun had already risen over the mountain.  For a moment he forgot where he was and what he had come here for.  He looked over to the bed and saw the wounded man also looking around him in confusion.  When he saw the emperor, he stared at him intently and then said in a faint whisper, 'Please forgive me.'

"'But what have you done that I should forgive you?' the emperor asked.  'You do not know me, your majesty, but I know you.  I was your sworn enemy, and I had vowed to take vengeance on you, for during the last war you killed my brother and seized my property.  When I learned that you were coming alone to the mountain to meet the hermit, I resolved to surprise you on your way back and kill you.

"'But after waiting a long time there was still no sign of you, and so I left my ambush in order to seek you out.  But instead of finding you, I came across your attendants, who recognized me, giving me this wound. Luckily, I escaped and ran her.  If I hadn't met you I would surely be dead by now.  I had intended to kill you, but instead you saved my life!  I am ashamed and grateful beyond words.  If I live, I vow to be your servant for the rest of my life, and I will bid my children and grandchildren to do the same.  Please grant me your forgiveness.'

"The emperor was overjoyed to see that he was so easily reconciled with a former enemy.  He not only forgave the man but promised to return all the man's property and to send his own physician and servants to wait on the man until he was completely healed.  After ordering his attendant to take the man home, the emperor returned to see the hermit.  Before returning to the palace the emperor wanted to repeat his three questions one last time.  He found the hermit sowing seeds in the earth they had dug the day before.

"The hermit stood up and looked at the emperor. 'But your questions have already been answered.'  'How's that?' the emperor asked, puzzled.  'Yesterday, if you had not taken pity on my age and given me a hand with digging these beds, you would have been attacked by that man on your way home.  Then you would have deeply regretted not staying with me.  Therefore the most important time was the time you were digging in the beds, the most important person was myself, and the most important pursuit was to help me.

"'Later, when the wounded man ran up here, the most important time was the time you spent dressing his wound, for if you had not cared for him he would have died and you would have lost the chance to be reconciled with him.  Likewise, he was the most important person, and the most important pursuit was taking care of his wound.

"'Remember that there is only one important time and that is now.  The present moment is the only time over which we have dominion.  The most important person is always the person you are with, who is right before you, for who know if you will have dealings with any other person in the future?  The most important pursuit is making the person standing at your side happy, for that alone is the pursuit of life."