Meg

I finally acquired a copy of Cost Of Discipleship, Bonhoeffer's work on costly Grace. This was actually the concept that first attracted me to Bonhoeffer in the first place, and his ideas are as deep and penetrating as I had hoped. I have heard the church at large blindly criticized (haven't we all???)... Bonhoeffer's criticisms are delivered with a light, but extremely keen touch, thoroughly thought out. He explains the purpose and necessity of the monastic phase of the Catholic church, and how that eventually went wrong, but he also delves into the mistake of the Lutheran church and by extension the Protestant church at large and how they too have gone astray and why.

I find this sort of discussion very valuable and encouraging. My heart grieves at the rarity of deeply committed Christians, and most of all, I long to understand how things went wrong and why. I have always deeply needed to know not only the identity of God Almighty, but also how to live in such a way that His wisdom impacts my life successfully. If I can understand what it is that God is trying to tell us in His Word, I can break out of this dead husk of sin and discover the sustaining truth of the Holy Spirit. In his written works, Bonhoeffer goes a long way to unpack the difficult truths preserved in the Word...

By estimating God's Grace as costly and rare, all the while pointing us to Jesus Christ, Bonhoeffer strips Christianity of any and all concept of Spiritual complacency and ease, challenging us to be truly transformed by the Word Of God. I need that. I need to break with the deadly lies that justify wickedness and evil that seem so common these days (indeed both are increasingly normal). I need to understand how and why deep repentance is not only correct, but necessary, so that I can succeed in my efforts to be uncompromisingly Christlike. I need that, I need a better way to understand how to handle this life if I am going to be able to stand the unfolding of my life without becoming bitter. It is so easy to become absolutely bitter, especially in the face of all that has happened in the last year. When they hear how things have been in the last 6 weeks alone, people who have heard the details stare at us in dull incomprehension -- just before they turn away... (Robert and I have not discussed the details online for sober reasons).

Potent problems require equally potent answers, and Bonhoeffer offers potent answers indeed. He faced some of the most potent questions anyone could face as his own country, the homeland of Martin Luther was undermined by a genuinely satanic attack.

Bonhoeffer has been posthumously accused of contemplative spirituality by some people. He didn't teach the new age mysticism some people mistake his teaching for. First, one of the main reasons his retreat school was so isolated was because the Nazis were heavily against committed Christianity. They had to keep a low profile in order to avoid interrogation and arrest. What Bonhoeffer was teaching was to ponder and pray about a reading of Scripture until his student had considered the full meaning of the verses read each day, in order that the Scriptures be fully grasped, not just read and forgotten. Bonhoeffer firmly believed that Christianity is worth our strongest effort to live and to be. He lived exactly what he taught, absolutely committed to Jesus Christ in every circumstance of his life. His faith was absolutely clear to everyone who knew him, from fellow Christians to Nazi prison guards... I can only hope my own faith is that clear and that credible as I live out my own challenges and difficulties...