books:

	• The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer Touchstone, 1995 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 88 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

This is not an easy book to read. It is meat, not milk. Yes, you do have to be a saint, i.e. a believer, i.e. a disciple in order to be a Christian. Having faith means being faithful. Having faith means bearing fruit. Having faith means being a disciple. Calling Jesus, "Lord" means obeying Him. Jesus, not Bonhoeffer, not the RC Church nor Luther nor Calvin nor whoever else may "speak to you" is the One Who says, "Take up your cross and follow me." Pastor Bonhoeffer leads the reader through some fairly profound meditations on discipleship. One does not simply read this book as though it were a magazine story; he must read and re-read and re-read again passage after passage as he works his way through it.

If you are quite comfortable in knowing you are "saved by grace through faith," and freed from the tyranny of the works of the flesh and the Law, wonderful. But ask yourself whether Jesus suffered and died on the cross just so you could be comfortable in your "faith." If it occurs to you that there may be more to faith than creeds, confessions, and church attendance, that you were given the gift - and gifts - of the Spirit for some purpose other than as a voucher for your personal ticket to Heaven, you may find this book very helpful. In any event, should you read it, it will challenge you in many marvellous ways.

It is quite difficult, I think, to fully appreciate what the man wrote without understanding and contemplating what was going on (and eventually transpired) in his life, church, country, and world. Thus, I recommend that anyone who reads this learn as much about these other things as he reasonably can, for which purpose there are many options, including books, articles, and films on video and DVD.

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Costly grace must be sought after again and again!

~The Cost of Discipleship~ was profoundly influential on me as I pondered the nature of the call to discipleship. It was to be read and reread. No book save this book and, of course, the Bible has every elicited my tears. Bonhoeffer's dichotomy between "costly grace" and "cheap grace" is astounding as he poetically declares: "Costly grace is the gospel which might be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It costly, because it cost a man his life, and it is grace, because it gives us the only true life."

This book expounds upon the costliness and nature of true discipleship. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? It means you must follow him in obedience. One of the fruits of a persevering saving faith is obedience. Bonhoeffer does not attempt to buttress the believer in consolation with feel good theology, but reminds the believer that a servant is not above his master (Mt. 15:24); Christ suffered and so shall we, all those of faith will have to endure are allotted share of suffering and hardship. "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim 2:3).

Bonhoeffer makes manifest the costliness of grace and likewise the high price of true discipleship, which is why many shriek at such demands. Some naysayers pick apart Bonhoeffer's theology for various reasons. Accusations abound that he is a legalist abound and others defame him as having unconsciously sought out martyrdom. Bonhoeffer was not perfect, but he was a pious, sincere and devout follower of Jesus Christ. His character and willingness to put his life on the line for the truth is commendable.

I will only say that his life and work was exemplary, as was his principled opposition to the anti-Christian Nazi regime. His theology and life work has to be understood within the historical context of his resistance to Hitler ana Nazis. He recognized that the Christian disciple must confront the world, he can neither hide from it nor be conformed to it. The Christian cannot fall into the monastic trap and seek shelter in "his closet" under the pretense of piety and otherworldliness, because he must confront the reality that "his closet" is part of the world. Being "salt and light to the world," when the world was shrouded in darkness may very well bring martyrdom for the believer, but it was the cost of discipleship. For this reason, Bonhoeffer confronted Hitler and the despotic Nazi Regime. In his other work "Ethics," he declares that the state that steps on the Christian mission negates itself, though he struggled himself over the nature of resistance and civil disobedience. Bonhoeffer was executed as one of the Flossenberg Martyrs (after being loosely implicated in the Abwehr conspiracy to assassinate Hitler) just days before the Allies liberated his camp. It really helps to reflect upon the world Bonhoeffer was in while studying this book.

Ultimately, Bonhoeffer points the reader to Christ as our exemplar who we should strive earnestly to emulate Christ. Bonhoeffer was adamant that obedience necessarily follows a geniune preserving saving faith and is requisite for true discipleship. God gives us faith, but it is the sinner who must be believe. We have to walk forward and take that initial step of obedience to make effectual our faith, and make our calling sure. Sooner or later, a true faith will inevitably yield in obedience, otherwise it is not a geniune faith. Thus, geniune discipleship is not possible. God gives us the grace and he sustains us, as the author and finisher of our faith.

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The last fourth of the book was a little "thicker" to me, and I did not get as much out of it. The author's thoughts were not as lucid once he got out of the Sermon on the Mount passage, and they did not communicate as much to me personally. However, the first 3/4 of this book is so powerful that I would recommend it to anyone.

Be prepared to face your comfortable habits and ways of thought in a new light if you read this book. The Word is a sword, and Bonhoeffer uses it to penetrate us.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, page 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

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