Best Books I Read in 2008

Out of the 13 books I read, here are my top 5:

5. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
4. Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
3. The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
2. The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
1. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

Community

With a couple of different issues going on recently, I have been forced to deal with some hurt. And because of the way I am wired, I guess, I often turn inward to deal with these things. I might even be able to preach truth to myself and ask God to help me deal with it, but it usually stops there, without really involving anyone else, at least for a little while. The interesting thing is, I want and almost expect guys in my discipleship group as well as my other friends to invite me in immediately so they won't be alone. Well, last night, as a friend and I were discussing some things, I became very convicted of my own inability to invite others in to share in my struggles.

I share these thoughts after being stirred by this blog entry written by my roommate and good friend Roy. I wholeheartedly agree with him as he talks about our generation and the lack of wisdom and counsel that we are receiving from others. I am so often that "dumb ass, fighting the flight to self absorption and personal study." And I pray with God's help and my friends' help that I can move on and truly be doing life together in community.

A couple of weeks ago I did a study on how the book of Proverbs deals with this issue (I think perhaps God was trying to get my attention with all these things). And there are at least 25 verses that deal with this issue directly. A verse that really stuck out to me, Proverbs 18:1, has this to say:

"Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgement."

And finally I can't resist a final quote from an amazing book on this subject, Life Together:

“The Christ in his own heart is weaker than the Christ in the word of his brother; his own heart is uncertain, his brother’s is sure.”

Seeing My Own Sin

Lately, this has been hard to do. I go through seasons of being overwhelmed by it to not noticing it much at all. And without the ability to really know my sin, I know that I can't really see how great Christ is.

In talking with a good friend last night, I was reminded that we often view others as more sinful than ourselves. We justify ourselves, knowing we aren't like "that." However, the Truth is our hearts are desperately sick.

I read the following quote today about how this all effects community.

"If my sinfulness appears to me to be in any way smaller or less detestable in comparison with the sins of others, I am still not recognizing my sinfulness at all. My sin is of necessity the worst, the most grievous, the most reprehensible. Brotherly love will find any number of extenuations for the sins of others; only for my sin is there no apology whatsoever. Therefore my sin is the worst. He who would serve his brother in the fellowship must sink all the way down to these depths of humility. How can I possibly serve another person in unfeigned humility if I seriously regard his sinfulness as worse than my own? Would I not be putting myself above him; could I have any hope for him? Such service would be hypocritical." - Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The importance of both Solitude and Fellowship

I've blogged twice now on solitude, here and here. I'm very intrigued by the subject I guess. However, I know about myself that it's easier to retreat into solitude than to engage others in fellowship. I was struck by this sentence when reading Life Together yesterday. It comes from the chapter, "The Day Alone."

One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair."

Wow...very convicting.