Homage to a Broken Man: A Biography I Could Not Put Down

Homage to a Broken Man: A Biography I Could Not Put Down July 28, 2015

BC_HomagetoaBrokenManFinal_1Homage to a Broken Man: The Life of J. Heinrich Arnold fascinated me, frustrated me, and inspired me. It is a difficult book to describe–and yet it is also a book that I could not put down.

In an interview with Patheos, author Peter Mommsen describes this story about his grandfather,  J. Heinrich (Heiner) Arnold, this way: “Rebirth, forgiveness, and reconciliation – but no tidy endings.”

Arnold grew up in a community in post-World War I Germany founded by his parents, who tried to literally live the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. They founded a Christian settlement (that bore some marks of relationship and similarity to the Hutterites) that sought to live these teachings. Eventually, Heiner became the leader of the community, which escaped Nazi Germany and escaped to Paraguay where they founded a new community settlement. The community would be sorely tested in the years to come, and so would Heiner. Disease, death, power struggles, poverty: anytime you get sinful human beings together, you will not have utopia.

Heiner was committed to nonviolence and forgiveness, and this related in many ways to his relationship with the community. Even when he experienced banishment and spiritual abuse, he did not resist or fight back. He tried to put the needs of the community before his own sufferings. Later in life, however, he came to see this nonresistance to evil as the worst mistake of his life. He let evil forces take over the community for a time because he was not willing to confront them forcefully. Unfortunately, this can all too often become a trait of well-meaning Christian communities: grace becomes an enabler to evil. What is called love is sometimes actually taking the easy route instead of the robust route of protecting the vulnerable and facing tough truths.

I was glad that in the end Heiner realized that he had made a grievous mistake. But my heart ached for the unnecessary suffering that had occurred–both with him and with the community. Even so, when Heiner and the community were finally willing to own up to the spiritual abuse they had enabled another leader to engage in, they demonstrated an instructive commitment to repentance. Perhaps the long years of suffering–however unwarranted–had helped form endurance and character that enabled them to walk through a dark and difficult time of making things right.

I admire Heiner because he took Jesus’s words so very seriously. He was willing to live a lowly life–even an impoverished one beyond what many of us would accept for ourselves–in order to serve the wider needs of the community. His rejected entirely the idolatry of political power, even as he tried to live as a respectful citizen. He was gentle and allowed suffering to form a beautiful character in him instead of letting it establish bitterness. He had a special heart for those who society discarded and for those who were struggling. His suffering provided connection points for him with them. His forte was the care of souls and he had a true pastor’s heart:

To Heiner, the care of souls was not a matter of dispensing advice or passing on wisdom. It was simply the obvious response to the biblical command, “Love one another.'”Having gone through one hard time after anther in his own life, he identified with anyone who was lonely or discouraged, and he knew what had helped him through: a personal relationship with Jesus. That was always the heart of his counsel, whether he pointed to it by means of a loving arm around the shoulder, a frank admonition, or–when the occasion called for it–a public confrontation (321, uncorrected proof).

I would argue that Heiner made some big mistakes as a leader, but it would be hard to find a leader with more humility and heart for his people. Sometimes when we dare greatly, we make big mistakes. But failing to dare is a mistake too. Heiner dared greatly and loved greatly. In that, we are taught.

This post is part of Patheos’s Book Club.

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