Bonhoeffer explores this possibility from the standpoint of Christology. When we meet Christ, we are meeting the humiliated God-man. That is, Christ chose to enter this world in a manner that did not force people to see him as the God-man. Rather his divinity was concealed in weakness. Not only was he born in the form of a helpless infant, but throughout his life he lived an ordinary life. He walked, ate, slept, got angry, was happy, etc.
When Jesus was tempted to throw himself off the temple and demonstrate how an angel would protect him, it was a temptation to break through this incognito form and confront people with his power, but he never does this. When his disciples wanted to demonstrate a little divine discipline by bringing fire from heaven to punish a village that was inhospitable to them, Jesus refuses.
He enters the world of sin and death and is only recognized as the Christ by the believer who glimpses in him the glory of God. For Bonhoeffer, Christ in the church continues incognito and continues to be revealed in weakness. (The Form of Christ in the World; by John A. Phillips, pp80-82, collins, London, 1967)
From this perspective, we can confess the sinfulness of the church and work to reform it but we do not await that reform before we encounter Christ in his Body. When we invite people to meet Christ in the Body of Christ, we recognize that the outside world will only see a religious organization. Yet we affirm that Christ meets us here in the Body and we both invite others and come ourselves with that expectation.
