German pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrote an influential book in 1937 commonly known as “The Cost of Discipleship.” The book is best known for its discussion of cheap grace versus costly grace:
“Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord’s Supper without confession of sin … cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ.”
On the other hand, grace is costly,
“because it calls to discipleship; it is grace, because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly, because it costs people their lives; it is grace, because it thereby makes them live. It is costly, because it condemns sin; it is grace, because it justifies the sinner. Above all, grace is costly because it was costly to God, because it costs God the life of God’s Son.”
Bonhoeffer called cheap grace the deadly enemy of the church. I’m inclined to agree.
While the election of Hitler was widely welcomed by the German population, including significant parts of the church, Bonhoeffer was a firm opponent. Two days after Hitler’s election as Chancellor in January, 1933, Bonhoeffer delivered a radio address criticizing the concept of “The Fuhrer.” His radio broadcast was cut off mid-air.
Bonhoeffer became a leader in what was known as the Confessing Church which spoke out against Hitler, the Nazi regime, oppression, and fought for adherence to Jesus and his teachings. He founded an underground seminary of the Confessing Church in Finkenwalde in 1935. The spiritual practices of the seminary are documented in “Life Together.” Bonhoeffer was eventually arrested for his participation in the assassination plot against Hitler. A well-documented pacifist, Bonhoeffer’s participation in this plot is cloudy at best.
On April 8th, 1945, Bonhoeffer was tried and hanged just two weeks before American forces freed his concentration camp.
The camp doctor who witnessed the execution of Bonhoeffer wrote,
“I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer … kneeling on the floor praying fervently to God. I was most deeply moved by the way this lovable man prayed, so devout and so certain that God heard his prayer. At the place of execution, he again said a short prayer and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave and composed. His death ensued after a few seconds. In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor, I have hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive to the will of God.”
There are other reports that detail Bonhoeffer’s death as much more drawn out and gruesome.
Despite what you may have been told, there is a cost to discipleship.
If you’d like to learn more, here is a Lecture titled “Truth, Faith, and Politics in a Post-Truth World: Exploring Bonhoeffer Today” delivered by Rowan Williams.
Jeff Gravens 