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THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
by Dietrich Boenhoffer
Chapter 1 : Grace
Chapter 1
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of Christianity.
It means forgiveness of sins is taken as a general truth for those who say a form of words.
It means the love of God taught as the prime Christian conception of Divinity.
It is the teaching of forgiveness without the need for repentance,
or any change to lifestyle on becoming a Christian.
Costly Grace calls us to follow Jesus and adhere to his teaching.
It is costly because it condemns sinful ways.
Monasticism was a living protest against the Church's secularization.
Through its presence the Church applied (and applies?)
the commands of Jesus to a group of specialists
so avoiding their more general application.
The price has been the collapse of the organised Church,
which gave away the sacraments wholesale
to purchase worldly power and position.
The call of Jesus is a stern command:
Do this! Give up that! Leave the ship and come to me.
If we are not prepared to enter into that situation,
our faith will be unreal. We deceive ourselves.
The rich young man, in the Bibe story, was finally convinced
when Jesus gave him a direct commandment to follow him.
He must sell all he has and give to the poor,
and then come and follow.
Discipleship is the end,
poverty the means.
Following Jesus means not caring about the pain of your own cross.
Only when you have become completely oblivious of self
are you ready to bear the cross for his sake.
The cross is not a tragedy, but a necessary part of the specifically Christian life.
It is not a suffering that is inseparable from this mortal life,
but the suffering that is an essential part of the Christian life.
The first such suffering the Christian must experience
is the call to abandon the attachments of this world.
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of Christianity.
It means forgiveness of sins is taken as a general truth for those who say a form of words.
It means the love of God taught as the prime Christian conception of Divinity.
It is the teaching of forgiveness without the need for repentance,
or any change to lifestyle on becoming a Christian.
Costly Grace calls us to follow Jesus and adhere to his teaching.
It is costly because it condemns sinful ways.
Monasticism was a living protest against the Church's secularization.
Through its presence the Church applied (and applies?)
the commands of Jesus to a group of specialists
so avoiding their more general application.
The price has been the collapse of the organised Church,
which gave away the sacraments wholesale
to purchase worldly power and position.
The call of Jesus is a stern command:
Do this! Give up that! Leave the ship and come to me.
If we are not prepared to enter into that situation,
our faith will be unreal. We deceive ourselves.
The rich young man, in the Bibe story, was finally convinced
when Jesus gave him a direct commandment to follow him.
He must sell all he has and give to the poor,
and then come and follow.
Discipleship is the end,
poverty the means.
Following Jesus means not caring about the pain of your own cross.
Only when you have become completely oblivious of self
are you ready to bear the cross for his sake.
The cross is not a tragedy, but a necessary part of the specifically Christian life.
It is not a suffering that is inseparable from this mortal life,
but the suffering that is an essential part of the Christian life.
The first such suffering the Christian must experience
is the call to abandon the attachments of this world.
Chapter 2 : Disciples
Chapter 2 : Disciples
The disciples had left everything to follow Jesus.
They were now the poorest of the poor, the most afflicted, and the hungriest of the hungry.
They had given up everything for the sake of following Jesus.
The disciples are comforted by the fact that they are strangers in the world.
They do not try to avoid suffering, but rather, they willingly bear it
for the sake of follwing Jesus.
They renounce their rights and their own righteousness.
The followers of Jesus were called to peace.
They found their peace when they renounced all violence and tumult.
They maintained fellowship where others would break it off, and they renounced all self-assertion.
They suffered in the face of hatred and wrong, but they defeated evil with good.
The disciples are called the salt of the earth,
and it is because of them that the earth can continue to exist.
They are the highest good, the supreme value that the earth possesses.
Without them, the earth would not exist.
The call of Jesus Christ is not only for the disciples to be the salt of the earth,
but also the light of the world. Their activity is visible, as well as imperceptible.
The good works of the disciples are meant to be seen in this light.
The Lord Jesus has created the light in them by calling them
to be the light of the world under the shadow of his cross.
The Sermon on the Mount is a summary of the Old Testament law and prophets.
It is a new law because it is Christ who binds his followers to it.
Christians, however, are not better than the Jews,
but they are expected to have a greater righteousness.
The righteousness of the disciples exceeds that of the Pharisees
because it is grounded in their following Jesus, who alone fulfills the law.
It is not a duty owed, but a perfect and personal communion with God.
The service of God and man can not be divorced.
The church is not a national community but a community of believers.
When evil encounters no opposition except patient endurance, its sting is drawn,
The Christian must treat his enemy as his brother and respond to hostility with love.
Discipleship is only real if nothing comes between us and Christ.
We must avoid worldly possessions.
The call of Jesus creates a deep division between nominal an dreal Christians.
The only response to the word of Christ is to do it.
If we start to ask questions or offer interpretations,
we are not doing his word.
The disciples had left everything to follow Jesus.
They were now the poorest of the poor, the most afflicted, and the hungriest of the hungry.
They had given up everything for the sake of following Jesus.
The disciples are comforted by the fact that they are strangers in the world.
They do not try to avoid suffering, but rather, they willingly bear it
for the sake of follwing Jesus.
They renounce their rights and their own righteousness.
The followers of Jesus were called to peace.
They found their peace when they renounced all violence and tumult.
They maintained fellowship where others would break it off, and they renounced all self-assertion.
They suffered in the face of hatred and wrong, but they defeated evil with good.
The disciples are called the salt of the earth,
and it is because of them that the earth can continue to exist.
They are the highest good, the supreme value that the earth possesses.
Without them, the earth would not exist.
The call of Jesus Christ is not only for the disciples to be the salt of the earth,
but also the light of the world. Their activity is visible, as well as imperceptible.
The good works of the disciples are meant to be seen in this light.
The Lord Jesus has created the light in them by calling them
to be the light of the world under the shadow of his cross.
The Sermon on the Mount is a summary of the Old Testament law and prophets.
It is a new law because it is Christ who binds his followers to it.
Christians, however, are not better than the Jews,
but they are expected to have a greater righteousness.
The righteousness of the disciples exceeds that of the Pharisees
because it is grounded in their following Jesus, who alone fulfills the law.
It is not a duty owed, but a perfect and personal communion with God.
The service of God and man can not be divorced.
The church is not a national community but a community of believers.
When evil encounters no opposition except patient endurance, its sting is drawn,
The Christian must treat his enemy as his brother and respond to hostility with love.
Discipleship is only real if nothing comes between us and Christ.
We must avoid worldly possessions.
The call of Jesus creates a deep division between nominal an dreal Christians.
The only response to the word of Christ is to do it.
If we start to ask questions or offer interpretations,
we are not doing his word.
Chapter 3 : Insights
Chapter 3 : Insights
The work of the harvest requires labourers.
Jesus can not do it alone.
The apostles are the messengers of Christ,
proclaiming the advent of the Kingdom.
They are to be free of al personal dignity and possessions.
From this point he, or the Summary, appears merely to quote biblical texts
largely as if from a very traditional pulpit.
The work of the harvest requires labourers.
Jesus can not do it alone.
The apostles are the messengers of Christ,
proclaiming the advent of the Kingdom.
They are to be free of al personal dignity and possessions.
From this point he, or the Summary, appears merely to quote biblical texts
largely as if from a very traditional pulpit.