The Cost of Discipleship

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Summary: "He Who Learns Must Suffer . . .
Review: "And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God." These words of Aeschylus echoed through me time and time again as I read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's "Cost of Discipleship". This was not an easy book to read. I do not think it was intended to be so.

Bonhoeffer was a person of limitless courage and faith. Born 1906 in Breslau, Germany to a prosperous family Bonhoeffer studied theology and completed his doctoral thesis when he was 21. He rose to some measure of fame in the 1930s by virtue of his writings and radio sermons.

The rise of Adolph Hitler ran parallel to Bonhoeffer's own rise and it was opposition to the evils of Nazi-ism that compelled Bonhoeffer to put his words into actions, actions that cost him his life. As is set out in the introductory memoir in this edition, Bonhoeffer understood immediately that Hitler and his national socialist ideology represented a grave threat to Germans, to Christianity, and to western civilization. In a radio adress he gave in February, 1933 Bonhoeffer denounced Hitler and denounced his fellow Germans for accepting a corrupt and inhumane leader and system as its idol. Although Bonhoeffer spent a great deal of time living in England, safe from harm, he understood that he could not in good conscience "participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people." Bonhoeffer returned to Germany in 1939 to take up the struggle against Nazi-ism. He had to have known that his return would lead to his death but he knew he could not do otherwise. He was called and he obeyed that call without question.

Bonhoeffer was arrested in 1943 after being caught assisting the escape of a number of Jews from Germany. On April 8, 1945, with Allied troops only days from liberating his prison, Bonhoeffer was executed on the orders of Hitler by the S.S. Black Guards. One cannot read the Cost of Discipleship without an acute understanding that his writings on sacrifice, on obedience, and on the cost of grace were mirrored by his actions.

Cost of Discipleships consists of a series of set pieces on grace, justification, and obedience to God. This was a tough book to read for two reasons. First, I grew up in a tradition in which words like grace and justification were concepts best left for other denominations. I had to think about the meaning and context of those words in order to understand what he was saying. Second, Bonhoeffer does not speak to his reader in the manner of a kindly, easy-going grandfather. Rather, he speaks in the manner of the strict drill instructor in boot camp whose manner is designed to hit you in the face with your own (and his) inadequacies until you break. As you read further the purpose behind Bonhoeffer's harsh manner evidences itself. Like the drill instructor his purpose is not to be harsh for the sake of harshness but to save your neck once you leave boot camp and make your way to the front lines. The drill instructor is harsh to help ensure your survival. Bonhoeffer is harsh to help one seek salvation through faith.

The book begins with a section entitled The Call to Discipleship. Each step of the way Bonhoeffer sets up a test, a test that this reader invariably fails each step of the way. He discusses `cheap grace', the kind where "my only duty as a Christian is to eave the world for an hour or so on a Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that my sins are all forgiven." Bonhoeffer asserts that if one `believes' one must obey and if one does not obey they cannot believe. He argues that prayer should be hidden, not public. Too often public prayer in churches is nothing more than `empty noise'. Further, he suggests that our own good deeds, like our prayer, should be hidden. If we perform righteous acts to receive a pat on the back from our friends or family it is valueless to God. It was hard not to recognize myself every step of the way. It clearly must have been Bonhoeffer's intent to have us feel this discomfort and if so he did a remarkably good job of it.

Bonhoeffer suggests that too many people feel they must know the path they are about to follow before beginning their spiritual journey. In fact, Bonhoeffer claims the opposite is the case. He argues that we will find out once we begin: "plunge into the deep waters beyond your own comprehension, and I will help you to comprehend even as I do."

The heart of Cost of Discipleship is found in Bonhoeffer's extensive examination of the Sermon on the Mount. It is at once both illuminating and powerful. Again, Bonhoeffer's own life provides justification for the argument that the call to discipleship is not easy and will likely bring pain and suffering but that it can be done if one so chooses. The fact that I have no doubt that I lack the wherewithal to act in a similar fashion is both depressing and challenging. How does one respond to such a challenge? Such wisdom as I acquire from this book will, no doubt, come drop by drop and with no small amount of pain.

This is a compelling book for anyone interested in matters of faith and the role of faith in contemporary society.


Rating:
Summary: In light of Jesus, nothing else matters!
Review: Bonhoeffer explains clearly what I knew to be true better than I could ever comprehend myself. I felt that someone was explaining to me why I believed what I did for the first time. Ceaselessly, Bonhoeffer speaks of absolute adherance to Jesus and the grace it is that we can experience that. This book is amazing.

Rating:
Summary: Read it! Please, read it!
Review: Bonhoeffer should be canonized by every denomination of Christianity! Everyone one who wishes to know what Christianity really is must read this book! In his life Bonhoeffer set example of what a true Christian is and this book explains what a true Christian should be.

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Summary: Brilliant Exposition of the Facts of a Life of Discipleship
Review: Bonhoeffer was a brilliant German Lutheran theologian who was martyred by the Nazis. This work is an intense exposition of his understanding of Christian discipleship. After an initial section dealing with grace and discipleship (in which he presents his classic dualism of "cheap grace" and "costly grace"), he jets into highly descriptive interpretations of the beatitudes and other key Matthean passages on discipleship. The last portion is a discussion of the church and its functions in the world.
Good: This is thoroughly uncompromised Christianity at it's finest. Watered-down Christianity does little good to anyone. Bonhoeffer writes, "If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence, then we cannot help regarding the cross as an ordinary everyday calamity, as one of the trials and tribulations of life. We have then forgotten that the cross means rejection and shame as well as suffering." The whole book is like that: true discipleship is presented in full force. Bad: Bonhoeffer is so intense in his preaching that it's hard to soak in everything he says. This book will be best understood when readings are spread over a period of time. This guy is an old-style Lutheran who uses no illustrations or sermon-helps. A quick read of it will do you little good.
Opinion: Perhaps the most famous quote from this work is this one: "When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die." This book is much more interesting given the backdrop of Bonhoeffer's life: he deliberately passed up several opportunities to flee Nazi persecution for his own safety, choosing instead to stay in his country and attempt to stop Hitler's oppression. This clearly was a man who practiced what he preached.

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Summary: Hear the Savior call...
Review: Bonhoeffer's book is correct. Costly grace calls us -- we must follow. I pray that every Christian would take the message of this book to heart. It is the Lord's message. We must follow His call at any cost. It is a hard teaching; but with Christ, all things are possible. I recommend this book without reservation to any and all who would dedicate themselves to reading it.

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Summary: Worth the effort of reading as a part of "costly grace"
Review: Bonhoeffer, born into an affluent and comlacenty areligious Berlin family--his father was a prominent psychiatrist and his mother from one of Berlin's better families--became religious and then a theologian at a young age, having obtained his doctorate in the field at the tender age of 21. Notable for his uncompromising approach to religion and ethics, this text emanates from that modus operandi, and is important for his discussion of cheap grace vs. costly grace, if for no other reason.

Reading German religious philosophy in translation is especially soporific, and in this manner the text does not fail to disappoint. Reading Bonhoeffer will never be easy. Even those greatly interested will, at times, feel that gauzy-headedness one experiences in close encounters with the unintentionally obfuscating.

Having said that, the book represents a strong philosophical effort by a man whose likeness is one of those adorning Westminster Abbey, having earned the spot by his martyrdom at the hand of the Nazis at the end of WWII.

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Summary: High Standards
Review: Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his classic treatise on the first step in truly following Christ gives anyone who reads this work very little wiggle room to deny what he is saying. Bonhoeffer opens his work with the call of Levi, who was called and followed without hesitation. The author points out to us this call is not a mental decision, it is rather just a decision under the authority of Jesus Christ.

This call from Christ, and the subsequent following of Levi, comes with no praise for obedience. The author shows us that there is only obedience, without the expectation of praise for simply doing what we are all created to do; follow Christ. Levi follows simply for the sake of the call, not for what he might get out of following Christ. Bonhoeffer would have us believe this is the ultimate model for us to use in choosing to follow Christ. Through this call, there is significance, but only in Christ, who is the only significance, he alone is important. (Bonhoeffer, 59)

It is here that he turns to looking at what is not true discipleship, which included having an abstract Christology, religious knowledge and theological knowledge. If it is an abstract idea, it is not real discipleship. He hammers home this point in saying, "Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship." (59) This kind of religion talks about God, but not his living and transformational son Jesus Christ.

The next part of his essay turns to comparing three disciples and how they reacted to Christ's call. The first, who we already have touched on did not hesitate and followed Christ immediately. The author says that the disciple did not call himself to this chosen destiny, rather Christ alone can call. Our decision lies in whether we follow or not. The second disciple asks Jesus if he can bury his father before he follows him. (60) Although this was the law at the time, Jesus, who is superior to the law let the man fulfill the ordinance in order that he could then follow Christ. Bonhoeffer shows us now that Christ made himself at that point an opponent of the law, above the law, and the only law that matters. (61)

The third disciple has his own ideas about what it will look like to follow Christ. This, the author says, is inconsistent because it renders Christ's call into human terms, which it is not. This puts Christ into a box, and, if it worked that way, would let us determine what our path in life would be. Bonhoeffer acknowledges that this is possible, but would not be the true call Christ has for our life. As soon as this disciple expresses his willingness to follow, he does not really want to follow at all. (61)

The author then goes into what exactly this call looks like. First and foremost is that the call will change the person's life dramatically. They must leave their old situation. This call must be heard and than acted upon. He says, "The road to faith passes through obedience to the call of Jesus." (63) He continues on commanding us that Jesus' call is the only thing that makes faith possible. Only the call is important, and this call leads us to faith. He also shows us that faith and obedience are separate but there is a unity between these two in the call to follow Christ.

This is where he reiterates that the first step hearing the call and following is the most important piece. Jesus wants us to show him we will follow, not talk about it. It is in this obedience that we show our faith. Bonhoeffer than attempts to show us that if we are trying to keep some part of our life under our own control, we are being disobedient.

This document finishes with the author's treatise on the rich young man who came to Christ and asked what he needed to do to have eternal life. Christ knew this about the young man and told him to leave everything and follow him. The young man was presented with this and could not, and went away sad. Bonhoeffer shows us how Christ creates a situation where there can be "no retreat." (75) This man was confronted with the eternal Son of God, and walked away.

Bonhoeffer is completely convincing in his call to discipleship. There is hardly any way one can argue with what he has to say about the life of Christ and what Christ is calling us to do. He backs this up with sound doctrine, using the example of three disciples and how they did or did not follow Jesus' call. The author shows what each man had to do to follow Christ, the perfect example being Levi who just simply hear the call, and went. The interesting disciple is the third disciple who wanted to map out his own course for living, and in that he had lost his way. The author was strong here in showing that we must follow Christ and not set any stipulations along the way. It is all or nothing in Bonhoeffer's view, which he convinces this reader is completely accurate.

There is no lack of clarity in the statement; "The road to faith passes through obedience to the call of Jesus." (63) How can anyone ever learn what true faith is unless we are under the will of God for our lives. Bonhoeffer reinforces my view that unless Christ is transforming us through following his call, our faith is empty and really no faith at all.

I highly recommend this work, prepare to be challenged when you read it.

Rating:
Summary: Discipleship Redefined
Review: Dietrich Bonhoeffer penned a truly magnificent piece of literature when he sat down and wrote The Cost of Discipleship. In this book, Bonhoeffer looks at the teachings of Jesus and uses them as a basis to redefine discipleship as it pertains to Christians. Bonhoeffer's own personal life is an example of how Jesus calls us to live as disciples. The Cost of Discipleship is a must read for any Christian who desires to add to their knowledge of worthwhile theology. However, I will disagree with one of the readers who has a review listed on this book. I do not feel that The Cost of Discipleship should be canonized by any denomination of the Christian Church. In fact, I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer himself would agree with me on this point. Bonhoeffer went through great pains to base this text soley on scripture and I believe that one of the goals of this book is to point the reader to scriptural truths. For those who have not read the book, I would strongly encourage you to read it. It is a theological masterpiece and will serve to build your faith in Christ.

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Summary: A true life of sacrifice
Review: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a man of great principle, who lived what he believed. He felt obligated to return to Germany during the war, because he felt that if he lived outside of the persecution his church was suffering, he would have no right to belong to it after the war. Jesus said unless a man take up his cross and deny himself, he cannot be my disciple. This is a book for truly counting the cost of following Jesus.

Rating:
Summary: The price to be paid...
Review: Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one who knew of that which he spoke when dealing with the issue of cheap grace versus costly grace. Bonhoeffer's commitment to the principles of his vocation and being cost him his life - executed in the closing days of World War II, Bonhoeffer walked a dangerous path through exercising his vocation faithfully in the midst of the twin evils of warfare and Nazi domination of Germany.

Bonhoeffer's life, from the earliest days, probably seemed like it was set on an idyllic path - the son of a professional family with strong roots in a prosperous and civilised culture, Bonhoeffer would seem to have `had it made'. His early days in school showed him to be a minister and academic of great promise. However, his experiences at Union Seminary in New York City, an academic environment very different from the German academy, and at the Abyssian Baptist Church, an African-American congregation, vastly different from his Germanic Lutheran background, prepared a way for Bonhoeffer to expand beyond his upbringing and learning to become someone striving to find God in all people, and the will of God in all that he did.

The subject of this book is grace - too often, in Bonhoeffer's day and our own, people seem to look at grace as something free, instead of something freely offered. Bonhoeffer points out that the call of God and the gift of God's grace is not to be taken lightly - `the call to follow Jesus always leads to death'. This may seem an unusual call in our day; after all, the more prosperous of our churches would seem to espouse a conventionally respectable lifestyle (far from the `death' Bonhoeffer speaks about) as the reward for following God. However, Bonhoeffer uses the example of the disciples, each of whom faced martyrdom, as did many early Christian leaders, as a touchstone for the vocation.

Bonhoeffer also gives a great deal of attention in this text to the Sermon on the Mount, providing interpretations that still speak to congregations today, but also with warnings. Bonhoeffer admonishes those who would pick and choose the parts of scripture, or indeed the parts of the Sermon on the Mount, that fit what they want to hear, disregarding the rest. Bonhoeffer writes that we are not called to interpret, but to obey, giving ourselves up to God, as the disciples did, as martyrs did, and as Bonhoeffer himself would do in the fullness of his lifetime.

This edition of Bonhoeffer's great work is prefaced by his friend, Bishop G.K.A. Bell of Chichester, a friend and admirer of Bonhoeffer, who states that, `Dietrich himself was a martyr many times before he died'. There is also a memoir provided by G. Leibholz, which puts the text in historical context. However, the real substance of the book is in Bonhoeffer's own words. Cheap grace was the deadly enemy of the church then, and it remains a dangerous foe to this day.