The Cost of Discipleship - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Cost of Discipleship (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1936)

It seems like most of the discussion around this book centers on Bonhoeffer's subsequent life and death as a martyr in Nazi Germany. Even the copy I have includes an extensive introduction with an overview of his life and some poems he wrote while in the concentration camps. Granted, that is a very powerful source of discussion: here we have a theological treatise whose author lived it out dramatically, hanged as a traitor to his country for acting on his convictions, forfeiting his life rather than selling his soul.

However, I think it's worthwhile to look at the book on its own, especially since it was not written as a treatise on martyrhood, but as a spiritual wake-up call to every Christian believer. The German title of the book is Nachfolge, or Follow After, and it is a lengthy, detailed sermon on what it means to follow after Jesus, according to the Gospels and the letters of Paul.

Bonhoeffer starts with a discussion of cheap grace. Though a staunch Lutheran, ready to defend the doctrine of salvation through faith alone, he realizes the idea of God's grace has been diluted in his day, and the concept of giving one's life in response and thankfulness to God has been traded for using the doctrine of faith to justify living for the self and the world. He correctly understands that the free gift of God's forgiveness can only be received by those who renounce their old life and give over control to God.

To expound on what “giving over control to God” looks like, he devotes a large portion of the book to the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Bonhoeffer's discussion is right on target, focusing on the completely revolutionary call of Jesus for how his disciples should live in the world. Rather than seeking power or status, he calls his followers to be meek, humble, poor in spirit, peacemakers; to do good without seeking approval or praise from others; to examine the heart's motivations rather than the outward appearance of morality; to do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

The Cost of Discipleship has relevant things to say to any Christian, and it does a good job of explaining and elaborating the fundamentals of Christianity and Christian living. It is pretty lengthy, and, though translated, the sentences can go on awhile, as I'm sure they do in the original German. The spiritual truths and challenges are worth the reading work, though.

Arbitrary rating: 4 out of 5 cheap graces