Credo
18 May 2026

Spiritual community is an essential component of the Christian life. Few have articulated their thoughts on this subject as incisively as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and here we will consider some of his reflections in Life Together, his treatise on Christian community.

Bonhoeffer provides us with a helpful starting point when he writes: “It is essential for Christian community that two things become clear right from the beginning: First, Christian community is not an ideal, but a divine reality; second, Christian community is a spiritual and not a psychic reality.” Spiritual community is not something that we aspire towards; it is something that God has already established. It is formed not on the basis of our emotional desires (by “psychic” Bonhoeffer means the emotional—what comes from the natural urges and abilities of the human soul), but on the basis of what God has accomplished. As the apostle Paul declares, “God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. … Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:18, 27).

Christian community is not the result of relationships that we form directly with each other. Bonhoeffer notes that “[w]ithin spiritual community there is never, in any way whatsoever, an ‘immediate’ relationship of one to another … [and] we can encounter others only through the mediation of Christ.” Because each of us has been joined with Christ, by His mediation we are then brought into relationship with one another.

As a result of our union in Christ, fellow believers are our brothers and sisters, whether we happen to like them or not. Any “freedom of choice” on our part is denied. Just as we do not get to choose our biological siblings, we do not get to choose our spiritual siblings either. We do not form spiritual community on our own terms or on the basis of chosen relationships. Instead, Christ forms the community and brings us into it.

Hence, Bonhoeffer rejects any “principle of selection” in spiritual community: “Every principle of selection … is of the greatest danger to a Christian community. … The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from everyday Christian life in community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ; for in the poor sister or brother, Christ is knocking at the door.” Bonhoeffer’s thoughts on the issue of selection are especially pertinent because of the context in which he ministered. In Nazi Germany, Hitler had sought to exterminate the Jews, championing his own warped “principle of selection”, and Bonhoeffer was grieved to see the German National Church expressing support for the Führer’s policies.

Bonhoeffer’s experience in the German city of Bethel of a church service that was held in a care facility for the disabled left a deep impression on him. There he saw people from all walks of life coming together in worship: pastors, doctors, students, children, even tramps from the neighbourhood. The congregation was dominated, however, by the sick. Bonhoeffer saw this as a representation of what the Church ought to be: a haven for the ill and the weak. They were not to be excluded, but rather embraced.

Again, Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthian church comes to mind: “… the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honourable we bestow the greater honour, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honour to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:22-26).

Is our personal experience of spiritual community similar to that which Bonhoeffer described? Probably not. Is our personal practice of spiritual community similar to that which Bonhoeffer described? Speaking for myself, I have to say no. I am working on it, but I have a long way to go. And perhaps you do as well.

There is no doubt that a biblical understanding of spiritual community is extremely difficult to live out faithfully. It requires no less than dying to ourselves. As Bonhoeffer points out, “Emotional or self-centred love loves the other for the sake of itself; spiritual love loves the other for the sake of Christ.” Christian community is based not on emotional love, but spiritual love. Emotional love has its value, and Bonhoeffer found delight in sharing life with a few close friends. However, it is not the basis of spiritual community. Unfortunately, in many parts of the Church we behave as though it is. We seek community on our own terms, often based on whom we like and what we wish to receive from them. For both personal and political reasons, many of us practise a principle of selection that goes against what spiritual community fundamentally is.

I have often described Bonhoeffer’s reflections on community as a punch to the gut, and it is impossible for me to read Life Together without being profoundly challenged by his words. In my assessment, they are also a devastating critique of the state of the Church. However, I share them here not to pronounce judgement on our failings, but rather to remind us of what a gospel-shaped community should look like. Practising spiritual community in a manner that is true to Scripture can, at times at least, be nothing short of painful. Yet it must also be said that many of the blessings of the kingdom come through community. Amongst other things, it nourishes our souls and helps us to grow more and more like Jesus. We are the Body of Christ. May God help us to live out the requirements of this divine reality.

Christopher Chan serves as a priest with the Anglican Diocese of Singapore and is currently the Acting Vicar of St Andrew’s Cathedral. He is married to Adeline, and they have a daughter named Shannon.