mybibleschool
Written by Tyler S. Fulcher
Category: Theology
Bold = Summary Finished
Click to jump to the section.
Chapter 10: Woman
Chapter 11: Truthfulness
Chapter 12: Revenge
Chapter 13: The Enemy-the "Extraordinary"
Chapter 14: The Hidden Righteousness
Chapter 15: The Hiddenness of Prayer
Chapter 16: The Hiddenness of the Devout Life
Chapter 17: The Simplicity of the Carefree Life
Chapter 18: The Disciple and Unbelievers
Chapter 19: The Great Divide
Chapter 20: The Conclusion
Chapter 21: The Harvest
Chapter 22: The Apostles
Chapter 23: The Work
Chapter 24: The Suffering of the Messengers
Chapter 25: The Decision
Chapter 26: The Fruit
Chapter 27: Preliminary Questions
Chapter 28: Baptism
Chapter 29: The Body of Christ
Chapter 30: The Visible Community
Chapter 31: The Saints
Chapter 32: The Image of Christ
Bonhoeffer begins The Cost of Discipleship with the following words:
"Revival of Church life always brings in its train a richer understanding of the Scriptures. Behind all the slogans and catchwords of the ecclesiastical controversy, necessary though they are, there arises a more determined quest for him who is the sole object of it all, for Jesus Christ himself" (p. 35).
Following these opening words, Bonhoeffer contends that pastors add unnecessary burdens to following Christ by focusing on man-made teachings that are limited in scope and irrelevant to the challenges facing those seeking Christ. The danger, in Bonhoeffer's opinion, is that "our preaching contain(s) too much of our own opinions and convictions, and too little of Jesus Christ" (p. 36).
For Bonhoeffer, the commands of the Church can "bring new tyranny and oppression" if they insist on adherence to a certain set of beliefs and actions to gain access to Christ (p. 37). Instead, Bonhoeffer contends that the only burden necessary to follow Christ is Christ's "yoke" which is said to be easy and light (Matt 11:28).
How should the pastor call people to discipleship? Bonhoeffer contends that we must learn to imitate Christ's love and mercy as displayed on the cross. Even while being ridiculed, Jesus extended love and mercy. His love and mercy were not merely for the disciples. It was also for his executioners and the murderers who were crucified beside him.
Bonhoeffer describes the challenge of the cross with these words: "In the modern world, it seems so difficult to walk with absolute certainty in the narrow way of ecclesiastical decision and yet remain in the broad open spaces of the universal love of Christ, of the patience, mercy and 'philanthropy' of God (Titus 3.4) for the weak and the ungodly" (38).
The opening chapter of The Cost of Discipleship may contain some of Bonhoeffer's most famous teachings. In it, he explains the dangers of "cheap grace" and exhorts believers to embrace "costly grace." He argues that Christians may correctly articulate the concept of grace while simultaneously divorcing it from discipleship and perverting the doctrine to the harm of believers trying to follow Christ. Bonhoeffer begins by defining "cheap" and "costly" grace. Next, he offers a history of grace from biblical times to his contemporaries.
According to Bonhoeffer, "cheap grace" is that which is divorced from Christian discipleship. With cheap grace, "the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin" (43). This sort of grace allows the world to continue as it is. No one needs to heed the call to follow Christ because grace covers the sin regardless. Bonhoeffer rightly recoils at this notion of grace.
By contrast, costly grace is that which calls the sinner to repent and follow Christ. It demands total surrender to the Creator–the one who died to offer that grace. As Bonhoeffer writes, "Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light'" (45).
Bonhoeffer saw Peter's interaction with Jesus as the paradigm by which all Christians are called to live. Following Jesus is costly. As Bonhoeffer notes, Jesus twice called Peter to follow him: once at the beginning of their relationship and a second time at the end. Between these two occasions of Jesus's calling, Peter declared Jesus to be the Christ. At every step, Jesus's calling proved costly to Peter. First, Peter had to abandon everything he owned to follow Christ. Second, he had to risk looking foolish by declaring Jesus to be the Messiah. Third, he had to submit to a future that included martyrdom. Peter embraced the grace of God even as he repeatedly failed Him. Along the way, Peter experienced God's grace.
After establishing Peter's life as the prime illustration of costly grace, Bonhoeffer recounts the Church's historical relationship with grace in three stages: Monasticism, the Reformation, and the Church of Bonhoeffer's day.
After several centuries, Christianity became the dominant religion of the world. What appears on the surface to be a positive development is proved, in Bonhoeffer's estimation, to be a net negative. Christianity became secularized and people became Christian in name and not deed. Not all succumbed to this secularization process, however. Some chose to pursue costly grace by abandoning everything to follow him. Those who chose this path were called monks and they often lived in monasteries. According to Bonhoeffer, "Monasticism became a living protest against the secularization of Christianity and the cheapening of grace."
Bonhoeffer contends, however, that monasticism did not so much preserve costly grace as became a tool used by the Church to divide believers into two groups: those who could be expected to follow Christ's commands and those who could not. He writes, "By thus limiting the application of the commandments of Jesus to a restricted group of specialists, the Church evolved the fatal conception of the double standard–a maximum and a minimum standard of Christian obedience" (47).
In Martin Luther, Bonhoeffer saw the providence of God. Luther was uniquely positioned to shake the Church and awaken it from its slumber under the influence of cheap grace. As a monk, Luther knew well what it meant to abandon all to follow Christ. He knew costly grace. He knew that he was hopelessly lost in sin, but he also discovered God's grace met him in his sin.
In the monastery, Luther became convinced that "the following of Christ is not the achievement of merit of a select few, but the divine command to all Christians without distinction" (47). Thus, when Luther left the monastery he rejected the idea of a maximum and minimum version of Christian obedience. No, for Luther, the call to follow Christ was a call every believer must obey and they must do so in every area of life.
According to Bonhoeffer, Luther's message was quickly distorted even though it was correctly articulated. Those who followed in Luther's footsteps could correctly describe justification by faith and not by works, but they mistakenly divorced the doctrine from discipleship. They forgot that "when he spoke of grace, Luther always implied as a corollary that it cost him his own life, the life which was now for the first time subjected to the absolute obedience of Christ" (49). The divorce of grace and discipleship led to the cheapening of grace. Bonhoeffer writes, "The justification of the sinner in the world degenerated into the justification of sin and the world" (50).
Bonhoeffer argued that the Church of his day had continued in the same error that has plagued most of Christian history. They presupposed God's grace meant that one did not have to try to follow Christ's commands. Since God's grace covers sin, sin is no problem. For Bonhoeffer, this way of thinking leads to the Church's degradation and the harm of those who may try to follow Christ. He writes, "The word of cheap grace has been the ruin of more Christians than any commandment of works" (55). The effect of cheap grace is a Church indistinguishable from the world and a Christian indistinguishable from every non-Christian.
What lies at the core of the battle between cheap and costly grace? Why do so many people want God's grace without the call to obedience?
Bonhoeffer explains it by way of illustration.
He points to a famous Faust quote: "I now see that we can nothing know."
Faust spent his life pursuing knowledge before he arrived at this conclusion. Others presuppose this conclusion and thus never pursue knowledge in the first place. According to Bonhoeffer, the difference between Faust and the others is critical and is best understood as an equation.
Faust:
Pursuit of knowledge + Life of learning = We can know nothing
Others:
We can know nothing = No pursuit of knowledge
If one begins with the revelation, one does not understand its meaning. A person who has not tried to learn anything cannot appreciate the complexity of life.
In the same way, Bonhoeffer argues that how one sets up the "equation of grace" matters deeply.
Costly Grace
Desire to obey Christ's commands + Life of failure = Costly grace
Cheap grace
Cheap grace = No attempt to follow Christ
If one puts grace first, she never attempts to follow Christ. Consequently, she never discovers the depths of Christ's grace to her.
On the contrary, the person who tries to follow Christ discovers throughout his life that he is woefully sinful. That person still receives the grace of Christ. In the process, he finds the depths of God's grace to him. It costs him his whole life, but he explores the depths of God's love.
For Bonhoeffer, the choice is clear. We must choose costly grace because that is the only grace offered by Christ.
In Chapter Two of The Cost of Dscipleship, Bonhoeffer insists that there is no path to discipleship or to faith, by which he means that one cannot incrementally progress toward faith. Instead, there is only immediate, spontaneous obedience to Jesus's call. He illustrates the symbiotic relationship between faith and obedience with five different passages of Scripture. He also offers practical advice for pastors dealing with their congregants.
Bonhoeffer begins with Jesus's call of Matthew recorded in Mark 2:14. For Bonhoeffer, Mark did not discuss Matthew's inner thought process because that misses the point. Jesus's call to Matthew required immediate and complete obedience. Matthew offered that obedience and thus provde to be Jesus's disciple.
After discussing Matthew's calling, Bonhoeffer turns his attention to Luke 9:57-62 where the three would-be disciples illustrate the problem with any response to Jesus other than obedience. The first person tries to volunteers to follow Jesus without being called. Since he does not understand what is required of him, the first person fails in his attempt. The second person uses obedience to the law (i.e., about the dead) as an excuse to keep from following Jesus. The third person offers to follow Jesus if Jesus will oblige his one condition: to say goodbye to his friends. Bonhoeffer argues, "Discipleship can tolerate no conditions which might come between Jesus and our obedience" (61).
Next, Bonhoeffer considers Peter's obedience when walking on the water. Peter's obedience is singularly focused. He desires to follow Jesus, but as Bonhoeffer notes, Peter knows he cannot follow Jesus without being called and without Jesus's strength. So, Peter asks Jesus to call him out on the water. Thus, when Peter steps onto the water this is simultaneously an act of God's grace in Peter's life and an act of obedience from Peter's perspective. The result is faith.
Fourth, Bonhoeffer examines the rich young man's encounter with Jesus. The rich young man sought out Jesus's help with an intriguing moral case. What must someone who obeys the law do to inherit eternal life. Bonhoeffer argues that Jesus ignores the man's supposed moral conundrum. Instead, he simply calls the man to follow him. What is the first step? Sell all of his possessions. By selling his possessions, the man would demonstrate his belief and thereby become a disciple.
Whereas the rich young ruler asked Jesus a genuine question, the lawyer in Luke 10:25-29 asks Jesus who his neighbor is in an effort to tempt Jesus. Bonhoeffer notes that Jesus treats this man differently. Jesus does not extend an offer for the lawyer to follow him. Instead, he sends him back to the commandments.
Bonhoeffer sees a pattern in these five passages. Faith in Jesus demands obedience. This observation often faces an objection, however.
If faith demands obedience, does that mean that faith is based on works (i.e., obedience)?
Bonhoeffer insists there is no contradiction. He suggests that faith precedes obedience logically but not chronologically, writing:
"If, however, we make a chronological distinction between faith and obedience, and make obedience subsequent to faith, we are divorcing the one from the other–and then we get the practical question, when must obedience begin? Obedience remains separated from faith. From the point of view of justification it is necessary thus to separate them, but we must never lose sight of their essential unity. For faith is only real when there is obedience, never without it, and faith only becomes faith in the act of obedience" (64).
What is the practical implication of Bonhoeffer's teaching in this chapter?
Since faith and obedience are inseparable, if you are struggling with your faith, Bonhoeffer argues that you are disobeying Christ in some area of your life.
He imagines a scenario in which a person approaches their pastor because they are struggling to believe God. Bonhoeffer warns that pastors too often extend cheap grace in moments like this.
It's important to note Bonhoeffer's religious tradition here. He is Lutheran and has a strong view of predestination. In his construction of the scenario, the pastor shares his doctirnal position simply suggests the person's inability to believe God must be due to the fact that God, in His sovereignty, has not predestined the man for salvation (69).
Bonhoeffer is convinced this approach is wrongheaded. Instead, he insists that we hold together faith/belief and obedience. Only those who believe in Christ obey Christ. Simultaneously, only those who obey Christ believe in Christ. Consequently, when we struggle to believe in Christ we must be encouraged to begin with obedience.
Bonhoeffer returns to the examples Matthew, Peter, and the rich young man provided. He notes that Jesus demanded immediate obedience to his literal commands in every situation. Matthew must leave his life as a tax collector. Peter must risk his life and step out of the boat. The rich young man must sell his possessions and trust God for his provision.
In each situation, those called to follow Jesus faced obstacles that could have prevented them from obeying Christ. Bonhoeffer argues that we face the same obstacles today. He writes, "The forces which tried to interpose themselves between the word of Jesus and the response of obedience were as formidable then as they are today. Reason and conscience, responsibility and piety all stood in the way, and even the law and 'scriptural authority' itself were obstacles which pretended to defend them from going to the extremes of antinomianism and 'enthusiasms.'" (79)
The main topic Bonhoeffer tackles in "Single-Minded Obedience" is how we should obey Christ's commands. His prime example is drawn from the story of the rich young man. Bonhoeffer notes that we often approach this passage as if it were symbolic: as if Jesus's command was only about attachment to possessions.
Bonhoeffer refers to this tendency as a paradox. Christ desires to rid the young man of his attachments. While it is theoretically possible that the young man could have done this without actually selling his possessions, Jesus recognized that it was impossible in practice. Therefore, Jesus literally commanded the man to sell all he owned.
Bonhoeffer warns that we may use the knowledge of Jesus's true intention to disobey his command. Bonhoeffer writes, "We must therefore maintain that the paradoxical interpretation of the commandments of Jesus always includes the literal interpretation, for the very reason that our aim is not to set up a law, but to proclaim Christ" (84).
In Chapter Four, Bonhoeffer reflects on Mark 8:31-38.
After Jesus predicts his suffering and rejection, Peter confronts Jesus. We do not know what Peter said, but Jesus did not like it. Jesus called Peter Satan.
Next, Jesus gathers the disciples around him and utters these famous words:
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. 36 For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?” (Mark 8:34b-36; NRSV)
Just as Jesus endured suffering and rejection, so too must his followers.
How do we encounter suffering and rejection?
By taking up our cross and following Jesus.
Bonhoeffer encourages us to reframe how we think of the cross. The cross is not an ordinary difficulty we face in life. It is the God’s design. He writes, “The cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise godfearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ” (89).
Bonhoeffer identifies two types of suffering in the Christian life:
First, we are called to “abandon the attachments of this world” (89). We cannot serve two masters, as Jesus said. Therefore, we must commit our lives solely to the Lord.
Second, we bear the sins of our fellow human. Though we cannot atone for anyone’s sin, we help bear their burden by offering our forgiveness to them.
Before he concludes his teaching on suffering and rejection, Bonhoeffer raises a paradoxical truth: “Suffering means being cut off from God. Therefore those who live in communion with him cannot really suffer” (92).
This paradox is the ultimate reframing of suffering. Rather than enduring hardship with misery, Christians rejoice in their suffering because it draws us closer to Christ.
Bonhoeffer writes, “To go one’s way under the sign of the cross is not misery and desperation, but peace and refreshment for the soul, it is the highest joy” (93).
In Chapter Five, Bonhoeffer reflects on Christ’s call to individuals. He argues that the call of discipleship inevitably confronts each of us individually. We are called to leave everything behind and submit to Christ.
Far from being a legalistic demand on a person’s life, Bonhoeffer argues that the call of Christ turns out to be the only way to discover true life.
What is the nature of the separation from the world around us?
Total.
This call for separation sounds harsh, but Bonhoeffer argues it means only recognizing reality for what it is.
If the whole created order is held together in Christ, than Christ is the Mediator between all things. We cannot relate to anyone or anything except through him, even if we do not acknowledge or accept such reality.
Bonhoeffer argues, however, that we should not see this calling as a mere ideal to which we aspire. Instead, we must recognize the Christ’s call as an accomplished fact in our lives. We must submit.
We cannot actually relate to anyone around us if we do not go through Christ. Therefore, Christ calls us to break away from everyone and everything that surrounds us.
Sometimes the breach will be public and visible, and other times it will be private.
Bonhoeffer points to the life of Abraham for an example of both.
Abraham had to make a visible separation from his family and country when God called him (Gen 12). Yet, only Abraham heard God’s instructions to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham’s immediate and complete obedience to both commands demonstrated his acknowledgement of Christ’s mediation.
The result?
God rewarded Abraham. Abraham returned from the mountain with Isaac intact. Bonhoeffer writes,
“Abraham had left all and followed Christ, and as he follows him he is allowed to go back and live in the world as he had done before. Outwardly the picture is unchanged, but the old is passed away, and behold all things are new. Everything has had to pass through Christ” (99)
What will be the nature of the separation God requires of us? Bonhoeffer suggests that it may be either public or private—only Christ knows. Regardless, we must respond with obedience.
What will be the result?
Bonhoeffer argues that our obedient answer to Christ’s call will lead to reward. We will be empowered to relate with the world and those around us as God intended: through Christ.
He concludes with an example from Mark 10:28-32. The disciples are promised that if they make the breach (i.e., leave their families), they will receive back one hundred-fold. Bonhoeffer argues this repayment comes in the form of the Church. Fellowship with those who have picked up their cross and followed Christ turns out to be the only true relationship one can have with another.
So, when we hear the call of Christ to acknowledge that he stands between all created things, we must embrace that call. We must acknowledge the centrality of Christ in all things. This acknowledgement empowers us to engage with reality as God created it.
As Bonhoeffer writes, “He (Christ) divides, but he also unites. Thus although the direct way to our neighbour is barred, we now find the new and only real way to him—the way which passes through the mediator.” (100)
In Chapter Six, Bonhoeffer turns his attention to the Sermon on the Mount. He begins with the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-12). In Bonhoeffer’s estimation, the Beatitudes distinguish the disciple from people who have yet to heed Christ’s call of discipleship.
He invites you to imagine the mountain side filled with the crowds listening to Jesus’s teaching and the disciples. In nearly every respect, the people and the disciples are the same. They are all Jews, they live in the region, and they are hearing Jesus teach. The difference, however, is stark. The disciples have heard Christ’s call and responded with immediate, single-minded obedience. Bonhoeffer writes, “Until quite recently these men had been completely identified with the multitude, they were just like the rest.” (106)
While the distinction between the people and the disciples is stark, Bonhoeffer argues that Jesus intends for the two groups to remain intertwined: “Disciples and people, they belong together. The disciples will bee his messengers and here and there they will find men to hear and believe their message” (106).
Yet, the Beatitudes are not easy to bear. They cost the disciples everything.
Following Jesus results in rejection.
Following Jesus results in blessing.
For Bonhoeffer, the rejection and the blessing are two sides of the same coin.
To be Christ’s disciple is to be poor in spirit. When we follow Christ we renounce every right in our lives. We have only what Christ gives, which turns out to be more than we could ever need.
This poverty contrasts with the rich and powerful who currently run the world. The rich and powerful seem to have inherited the world, but Christ declares the opposite to be true. They inherit nothing but their own punishment. The poor in spirit who follow Christ, inherit God’s kingdom.
In Chapter Seven, Bonhoeffer reflects on Matthew 5:13-16. He begins by considering Jesus’s salt metaphor. As is well known, salt was a critical ingredient in the ancient world and still is today. Salt is a natural preservative. Therefore, Bonhoeffer argues that the world is preserved by the disciples: “The disciples…are the highest good, the supreme value which the earth possesses, for without them it cannot live” (115).
By comissioning the disciples to be salt for the earth, Bonhoeffer argues that Jesus ensures his disciples will not be preoccuppied with heaven to the exclusion of earth. Thus, the true disciple is deeply interested in the preservation of those around themselves.
Bonhoeffer notes a negative implication of the salt metaphor. Of all things, only salt can become hopelessly useless. Everything else can be preserved by salt. However, if salt loses its saltiness, it can never regain it. Bonhoeffer writes, “That is the judgment which always hangs over the disciple community, whose mission is to save the world, but which, if it ceases to live up to that mission, is itself irretrievably lost” (117).
In the second half of this chapter, Bonhoeffer expounds on Jesus’s light metaphor. He notes that Jesus does not say the disciples have the light or will become light. No, Jesus says they are the light. Bonhoeffer writes, “The light is not an instrument which has been put into their hands, such as their preaching. It is the disciples themselves” (117).
If being a disciple means being a light for Christ, then the Christian church must not seek to hide tha light from the world. Bonhoeffer argues any attempt to hide the light of Christ only reveals that that person is not a disciple.
How does the light shine?
Bonhoeffer notes that it shines through the disciples’ good works, which he argues refer to poverty, meekness, persecution, and rejection. He contends that good works cannot refer to moral virtue because that would lead to praise for the disciple. Instead, good works must refer to any act associated with bearing the cross of Christ. He concludes, “It is by seeing the cross and the community beneath it that men come to believe in God” (119).
In Chapter Eight, Bonhoeffer expounds upon Matthew 5:17-20. Jesus famously claims that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He also adds to this statement the claim that the disciples’ righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and pharisees.
Bonhoeffer acknowledges that it would have made sense for the disciples to mistakenly think Jesus was abolishing the law. Jesus made claims directly on their lives that seemed to stand distinct from the law. Jesus insisted they were powerful and possessed divine grace.
Yet, Jesus tells them that they must obey the law. As Bonhoeffer notes, this is the key. We cannot have Christ without the law. He writes, “It is, however, Jesus himself who points to the law those to whom he has granted his whole promise and his whole fellowship. Because it is their Lord who does this, they are bound to acknowledge the law” (121).
Jesus does not, however, only command them to obey the law. He insists that their righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and pharisees.
How?
Through communion with Christ.
The key to better righteousness is to have Christ’s righteousness.
This claim is the crux of the matter for Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer argues that the Jews and disciples were prone to make opposite mistakes that produced the same outcome.
He suggests that the Jews conflated God and the law. Thus, when God in Christ claimed to fulfill the law, they could not accept it. They prioritized obedience to the law over relationship with the Law-giver.
Bonhoeffer warns that Jesus disciples, including us, are prone to the opposite but equally devastating mistake. We are prone to divorce God from his law. We think the law has no claim on us because we have communion with Christ. Yet, Christ directs us to keep the law. Therefore, we cannot have Christ without the law.
If we will embrace Christ and his command concerning the law, our righteousness will exceed that of the scribes and pharisees because it Christ who stands between us and the law.
Christ is the only one who obeyed the law perfectly. When we are in communion with him, we partake in his life and his righteousness. Though we imperfectly keep the law, we are found to have better righteousness because we are in Christ. As Bonhoeffer writes, “The righteousness it (the law) demands is already there, the righteousness of Jesus which submits to the cross because that is what the law demands.” (125).
In Chapter Nine, Bonhoeffer reflects on Matthew 5:21-26. He makes two points.
First, Jesus assumes the role of law-giver. By assuming this role, Jesus can both perfectly uphold the law and turn the law on its head. Thus, if we wish to uphold the law, we must recognize Christ’s authority. Bonhoeffer writes, “Only those who apprehend the law as the word of Christ are in a position to fulfil (sic) it” (127).
Bonhoeffer spends significantly more time on his second point, though it presupposes the first.
Why must we love our “brother”?
We must love our brother because Christ commands it. Furthermore, we relinquish any right to determine who is our neighbor when we submit to Christ. He, and he alone, decides who is and who is not our neighbor.
Love of brother is coupled with the prohibition of killing because every one of God’s creation is given the right of life. This right to life also explains why Jesus prohibits his followers from hating someone. Bonhoeffer contends that hating someone is always an attack on that person’s very being.
We must love our brother because hatred creates a barrier between us, our fellow human, and God.
Why does hatred of someone else create a barrier between us and God?
Bonhoeffer argues the Incarnation of Christ provides the answer.
He writes, “The Father would not be separated from his Son, or will he now turn his face from those whose likeness the Son took upon him, and for whose sake he bore the shame” (129).