A home is a kingdom of it's own in the midst of the world, a stronghold amid life's storms and stresses, a refuge, even a sanctuary.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from a Christian community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ; in the poor brother Christ is knocking at the door.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Excluding those deemed weak or insignificant from a community may also mean excluding Christ, as he identifies with the marginalized.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer's quote emphasizes the importance of inclusivity within a Christian community, suggesting that in rejecting the weak or seemingly insignificant individuals, one may inadvertently be rejecting Christ himself. He argues that Christ is present among the marginalized and the poor, and any act of exclusion is a denial of the essence of Christianity, which calls for compassion and help for those in need.
Themes
ExclusionCommunityChristMarginalizedCompassionInclusivity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a sermon to discuss the importance of helping the less fortunate.
More from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
All quotes →In normal life we hardly realize how much more we receive than we give, and life cannot be rich without such gratitude. It is so easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements compared with what we owe to the help of others.
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Sometimes we just need a firm kick in the pants. An unsmiling expectation that if we mean all these wonderful things we talk about and sing about, then let’s see something to prove it.
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It is God's earth out of which man is taken. From it he has his body. His body belongs to his essential being. Man's body is not his prison, his shell his exterior, but man himself. Man does not "have" a body; he does not "have" a soul; rather he "is" body and soul. Man in the beginning is really his body. He is one. He is his body, as Christ is completely his body, as the Church is the body of Christ
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
...And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
Anyone who thinks that his time is too valuable to spend keeping quiet will eventually have no time for God and his brother, but only for himself and for his own follies.
Dietrich BonhoefferRead
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