Let the music play -

“The more genuine and the deeper our community becomes, the more will everything else between us recede, the more clearly and purely will Jesus Christ and his work become the one and only thing that is vital between us. We have one another only through Christ, but through Christ we do have one another, wholly, and for all eternity.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer – “Life Together”

Profoundly simple words drip from Bonhoeffer’s pen that seem to bleed outward from the page to the reality in which he found himself. His views will forever assist the soul of the Church I find myself a part of: and for this reason I come into communion with him. Not for his written eloquence, but for his love of and for Jesus Christ. His union with Jesus connects my union with the same and together we experience community. We become the "Body" of Christ, in Christ, and through Christ.

This same experience of union through Jesus Christ alone is evident within all communities of Christ. No matter the form in which the participants partake: Prayer, Fasting, Study, Fellowship, or Singing. However, it seems that in the act of singing we are at the most vulnerable for union within Christ, at least in the form of purely spiritual emotions. Song just seems to invoke the mystery of Christ more than rational debate or community fellowship. I dare say prayer and fasting would have the same effect if entered into with devout intention. But, for the modern day corporate group as a whole it seems praise and worship have no substitution.

To use a couple stanzas from the 1983 Pop song “Let the Music Play” by Shannon.

We started dancing
And love put us into a groove
As soon as we started to move
The music played
While our bodies
Displayed through the dance

Then love picked us out for romance
I thought it was clear
The plan was we would share
This feeling just between ourselves
But when the music changed
The plan was re-arranged
He went to dance with someone else

Simply replace “dance” with “song” or a rendering thereof and we have quite an insightful ditty. Love – Jesus – Spirit - puts us into a mood that allows connection between individuals. The danger here is if the music changes – the plan then re-arranges and the two or multiples become unconnected. There is only one form of song - that is the unity of Christ.

I pray we don’t change this song, but we keep the music. Jesus Christ is enough. Enough to put us into a groove. Enough for us to commune together through Jesus Christ.

"Take eat, this is My Body"
Matt. 26:26

The community is vital for our nourishment.