Everyone Belongs to God: Discovering the Hidden Christ<\/em> by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, compiled and edited by Charles E. Moore, with a foreword by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe book in question is a series of letters from 100-years-ago by Blumhardt to his missionary son-in-law, but they could have been written today. Pastor, revivalist, evangelist, social reformer and more, Blumhardt cuts to the heart and calls us to radical devotion to Christ in the world. As Barth would write in the afterword to Blumhardt\u2019s book Action in Waiting<\/em>, \u201cBlumhardt does something very few of us can do: represent God\u2019s cause in the world yet not wage war on the world, love the world and yet be completely faithful to God.\u201d<\/p>\nI shared with my conversation partner some of the impressions I had from reading Blumhardt\u2019s book, including how \u201creligious\u201d leaders like myself all too often put the cart before the horse: the church or denomination or missionary agency or some other religious institution promotes its doctrines and rites and brand in pursuit of success and numbers, and as a result misses Christ. He remains hidden in the world.<\/p>\n
Faced with the threat of\u00a0disillusionment, we must be on guard that we don\u2019t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Christ is not lost. He\u00a0reveals himself in various fellowships, often very surprising ones, and among people we often discount, just like the religious establishment in Jesus\u2019 day. We must remain attentive to Jesus\u2019 presence among the tax collectors and sinners and among the God-fearing Gentiles, who come to him in true repentance to gain nothing more than him and live in and through him; they are the ones who realize that apart from Jesus we are nothing and can do nothing (John 15:1-8). This is where we find the church hidden and revealed in all of its splendor. Who is Jesus and what is his church? As Bonhoeffer would write much later from a prison cell where he was imprisoned for opposing Hitler and in effect the \u201cGerman Christians\u201d in his solidarity with the Jewish people in their plight, Jesus is the man for others, and his church is the community for others (Letters and Papers from Prison<\/em>).<\/p>\nBlumhardt was not a systematic theologian, as evidenced in these letters, but he influenced the great Barth. His radical Christocentrism, emphasis on the victorious love of Christ and how we should no longer look at anyone from a mere human point of view but in view of Christ, critique of the Corpus Christianum<\/em> (synthesis of church and state), and celebration of Christ hidden and revealed in the secular world are all found in Barth. Blumhardt also calls us to move from pen and paper to flesh and blood to live among the people, especially the orphan, widow, and alien in their distress. His words remind us that we should not simply use words, but preach Christ primarily with our lives; otherwise, our words mean nothing.<\/p>\nMy friend at the dinner party may end up reading Blumhardt\u2019s little book. Maybe you will, too. You won\u2019t find there a tight theological system that safeguards all orthodox concerns, as important as they are.* But you will find an orthopraxy (right practice) and orthopathy (right passion) that moves us beyond petty allegiances, vain successes and false dichotomies to see Christ reconciling all things in himself, including people of different denominations and sects, diverse social classes and customs, people inside and outside the church, and word and deed. Jesus is victor. The gospel of his loving kingdom triumphs over all divisions.\u00a0As Colossians 3:11 quoted at the outset of the book claims, \u201cHere, there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.\u201d (Colossians 3:11)<\/p>\n
My conversation partner the other night lives Blumhardt\u2019s book, which is how Blumhardt would want it. The father of one of my most genuine students, he lives a quiet life of influence among the people around him. Not only has he influenced his son, but also he has influenced his son\u2019s friends. One of them told me how he was the dad he never knew. There are other such stories. He and his son Richard are genuine people who long for unity that breaks down petty and self-serving divisions through the gospel of Christ\u2019s kingdom, come what may. Nothing artificial and fabricated, rather something that is very real and special. What you see is what you get. But what you get is a lot, just like this little book by Blumhardt.<\/p>\n
_______________
\n*The introduction includes a statement about the importance of a \u201cpatient, generous reading\u201d that should\u00a0resolve\u00a0presumed\u00a0contradictions given Blumhardt\u2019s lack of theological precision. Take for example\u00a0Blumhardt\u2019s critical reflections on baptism and the effort to turn\u00a0people into Christians.\u00a0Such statements do not take away from Blumhardt\u2019s conviction that the practice of baptism is important, and\u00a0that conversion is needed (See xxii).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is not often that people sit down at dinner parties to share their concerns over the state of the church. After some small talk, the conversation quickly went there the other night. He was an older, thoughtful, kind-hearted man, who had been around the Christian block. There was no edge to his remarks, just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1284,"featured_media":3800,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>It is not often that people sit down at dinner parties to share their concerns over the state of the church. After some small talk, the conversation quickly went there the other night. He was an older, thoughtful, kind-hearted man, who had been around the Christian block. There was no edge to his remarks, just a dull pain and longing in his heart. Now retired, he had been in the corporate world as an administrator. Among other things, he grieved how in his experience churches compete with one another rather than work together. No doubt, he had seen enough competition in the corporate world, and had hoped it would be different in the church world.<\/p>\n