The Cost of Discipleship Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. I recently saw the film Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor who led much of the opposition to Adolf Hitler’s Nazism. His name caught my attention because he is credited with pioneering the Neo-Orthodox movement along with Karl Barth and others of that era. I believe such a charge is a grave injustice because his writings during those years of turmoil do not support that doctrine. The vast majority of Protestant German churches were complicit politically in supporting the Nazi party at least at first. This man gave his life to openly opposing his compromising brethren who stood by silently while outrageous lies caused the deaths of thousands of their neighbors. He began to advocate a sort of restoration movement in what he called the “Confessing Church”. Bonhoeffer wrote a book entitled The Cost of Discipleship in which he carefully examined the Sermon on the Mount. He attacked what he called “cheap grace” that was used as a cover for laxity in morals and courage. He preached a “costly grace” that demanded faithfulness unto death. As all the buildings of faith crumbled or wilted under the assault of the majority denominations, he sought to teach the young preachers on a private estate called Finkenwald. He was arrested and imprisoned for much of World War II, then hung only a few days before the Allies defeated Hitler. We don’t have to agree with all that Bonhoeffer taught in order to profit from the lessons that he struggled to leave behind. We live in times of very weak commitment to Jesus Christ. Our churches are also given to moral laxity and for a cover they cry out that we are saved by grace and not by law. I wonder how many of us have the courage to stand against the majority thought in matters of the authority of Christ both in our homes and in our churches. Our children are leaving the churches in great numbers deceived by political and social engineers who ridicule the historical nature of the Bible and despise the moral standards of Jesus Christ. Are we a “Confessing Church” or do we hide our light under a bushel? The Nazi world was very similar a hundred years ago. The German people were the Bible scholars of the world, the best and brightest scientists in nearly every field… just like the United States. Who could have thought them able to stand by and let their families and churches be decimated by so evil an idea. It is our turn to wake up and take a stand. tp
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 21:35:08 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015