Day 5: Dietrich Bonhoeffer - “The Cost of Discipleship”
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.””
Introduction
Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived out his own words. He spoke about the meaning of discipleship under Christ in his famous work The Cost of Discipleship. Having lived during World War II, he knew how much the church struggled to make sense of the horrors and how to serve those in desperate need. During this dark time, Bonhoeffer (including many other Christians) exemplified what it meant to be Jesus’ disciple, even at the cost of his life.
The Cost of Discipleship
Not only as a pastor but as a disciple of Christ, Bonhoeffer always put others before himself. That’s why his friends and colleagues had great difficulty convincing him to stay in the United States (he was there as a seminary professor) when the war seemed inevitable. He wanted to go back to Germany to minister to his fellow countrymen. Bonhoeffer stayed briefly, but he couldn’t bear to be away from those in need, especially his countrymen. So, he returned to Nazi Germany.
Bonhoeffer obviously knew the grave danger of returning home. From a human perspective, it was a foolish decision. But from a godly perspective, it was an act of obedience as Christ’s disciple— a God-honoring commitment. Back home, he secretly trained pastors, helped churches resist enforced Nazi ideology, and helped many Jews escape. Even when imprisoned, he offered pastoral care to fellow inmates. Eventually, Bonhoeffer was executed on April 9, 1945, just a month before Nazi Germany surrendered.
As a disciple of Christ, Bonhoeffer gave up safety and a respectable career to pastor the needy and lost. He lived out what he called “costly grace.” The grace that saved him compelled him to live for Jesus no matter the cost. As Jesus utterly gave Himself for others’ sake, Bonhoeffer wanted to give himself to God and minister to His people. He didn’t let discipleship be only a title he carried. Rather, he let it define his life and how he lived. Bonhoeffer’s life was marked by obedience that flowed out of grace.
Reflection
Considering our commitments to Christ, how are we devoted to Him? Where do we choose comfort over obedience? Being God’s disciples may begin with what we believe, but it is lived out when we have Christ at the center of all we do. We may not be called to a life like Bonhoeffer’s, but we are called to daily faithfulness. May we follow Bonhoeffer’s example by daily recommitting ourselves to God and considering how we can live for Him.