Christianity without the Living Christ

I've recently picked up a devotional book that has quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in it. Bonhoeffer was a pastor in the 1930s and 1940s before he was executed by the Nazis in 1945. He was one of the founders of the Confessing Church, an underground Christian movement in Germany during the Nazis regime. The Confessing Church sought to stay true to the biblical Christianity, rather than buy into the Christianity espoused by the Nazis rule. Bonhoeffer was a brilliant intellectual but also a passionate activist. It was his passion for Christ and his living out what he believed the church was called to be that ultimately led to his execution by the Nazis in 1945.

One of the quotes from Bonhoeffer's writings that's included in this devotional book I'm reading is: "Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. It remains an abstract idea, a myth."

While I think the quote is catchy, I found myself wondering what exactly is Christianity with the Living Christ. I guess it's would be easier for me to understand what Christianity without the living Christ looks like if I first understood what was meant by Christianity with the Living Christ. I agree that true discipleship leads to a change in our lives, it's not merely an intellectual endeavor but rather it's about trust in God, despite the fact that we can never fully comprehend God, and living your life based on that trust. Certainly there is an aspect of studying and discerning what God would have us do. But without the concrete living out of our faith, it does remain an intellectual pursuit or as Bonhoeffer says "an abstract idea, a myth."

But that in and of itself does not answer the question, what is Christianity with the Living Christ? I can thinking of a few possible answers to this. Namely, that as the church we are called to be the body of Christ in the world. Not just to be a group of believers but a group that by the power of God is transformed into the presence of Christ in the world. Perhaps when Bonhoeffer talks about Christianity without the Living Christ, he means that the church as a whole has failed to be that Living body of Christ present in the world. That the church has become more conformed to the culture than the image of God, that it no longer speaks prophetically or holds society to account when it suppresses "the least of these."

There are other possible answers I could come up with but I'm more interested to hear what you think. What does living a Christian life "with the living Christ" mean to you? Maybe the question is better asked as, How do you experience the Living Christ in your life? Or do you? Do you feel a void, like Christianity, the church or your own spiritual journey is more a process of going through the motions than it is any real experience of God in your life? How have you experience "Christianity with the Living Christ"? How have you experienced "Christianity without the Living Christ"?