"There are hearts that hate thinking. But without a certain rich and deep fusion of thoughts there is no fruitful inner life." (Eberhard Arnold)
I don’t often weep, but when I do it is because something very deep inside me has been touched and released. My search for that which is the meaning of life has always been ineffable. Buried within me is something I often want to express but cannot. So when I read Eberhard Arnold’s magnum opus, Innerland, the tears flowed. Arnold had written the book I had already written in my heart but was incapable of articulating. Here was someone I felt stunningly close to. Arnold’s vision, his spirit, the very words that poured from his pen liberated that which I held to be the spirit and heart of the Gospel and gave meaning to life. Arnold unlocked the chambers of my heart and all I could do was weep with joy – praying for the surrender he so powerfully gave witness to.
Innerland, like the Bible, is a spiritual book and the result of a spiritual journey. It is a guide for life and a call to action. In one sense, it is an inner autobiography, the articulation of what Arnold found in the Bible. In another, it is a manifesto of what our very existence means and entails. Arnold writes with the truth in mind but does so in a humble acknowledgement of how little he knows. His subjective search is matched by an objectivity in the Bible that compels the reader to complete surrender. “We shall be able to carry out the worldwide tasks God has given us only when the Word is alive and kept alive in us.”
There is far more in Innerland than I or anyone could hope to capture. What stands out? In essence, Arnold envisions a worldwide community of individuals bonded together by the Holy Spirit, not by flesh and blood. Our destiny and our very nature is to live in a community of love, in unity with each other on the basis of the Spirit. We cannot be happy otherwise. Community can come into being only when the Holy Spirit possesses and heals each individual. “If Christ lives in us, he will unfold his power in us.”
In true community the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and yet each individual personality is saved and reconstituted to be like Christ. When this occurs, we cease being mere observers (to be a mere observer is sin) and become followers of the One who serves God’s will and rule. God is pure action.
What prevents authentic community? Many things, but the primary culprit is fear. Fear distorts judgment and weakens the nerve. Ultimately, those who fear mistakenly put their trust in human personalities.
"Anyone who wants to hand over the responsibility for what he or she does to another – anyone who wants to obey a human leader – has betrayed freedom, become enslaved… It is for this reason Jesus said: “You should not call anyone leader. Only One is your Master, but you are brothers.” The foundation of freedom on which the conscience can regain health is brotherliness, sisterliness, and equality before God …" (Innerland, page 151)
The “freedom” Arnold speaks of is not personal autonomy but the power to realize our ultimate destiny: the kingdom of heaven on earth. In a voluntary community based on faith the individual is truly recognized – eternity singles each person out as personally responsible for the other, regardless of flesh and blood. Brothers and sisters in one faith help each other to be more like Christ, fearing only God. As such, we rejoice in God, pray, laugh, and yes, cry together. We become one through the inner Word of the Spirit, feeling each other’s pain, and finding our joy in the joy we see in others. Perhaps most importantly, we pray for each other to the point where everything we do we do for Jesus, who alone reconciles all things together.
I believe that Innerland is as important today as it was at the time of Arnold’s death in 1935, when thousands in Germany gave their allegiance to a madman. Even when today’s Wall Street Religion has failed countless people, too many are still thoughtlessly chasing after the dollar. Why? Like in Arnold’s time, it is because of fear. And what is fear? It is the lack of perfect love for Jesus. Fear and faith are mutually exclusive! “We must cleave to God, and despise mammon,” writes Arnold. This is the either/or of the soul, and the key to realizing our destiny. God needs us; he needs fighters. But do you love Jesus? Are you ready to sacrifice your life for his cause? Without a decisive stand, or by avoiding the holy “Thou Shalt,” God’s kingdom remains far off; it becomes a passive article of wishful thinking, a sweet, soft preoccupation with safety and comfort, and the heart becomes home to fear and isolation.
There exists in the inner land of each person’s heart a war. Innerland not only provides us a magnificent guide to God’s will but also a battle plan that can help us wage war against fear and all that alienates us. Reading it can lead us not only to understand God’s heart, but our own. More importantly, it can compel us to act boldly for God and his kingdom.
