The Cost of Discipleship 19

 Let’s go back to where this series of devotionals began. That would be with the person who wrote the book: The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a German theologian who opposed the fascists and eventually died in Flossenbürg concentration camp at the hand of the Nazis. The ultimate cost of discipleship for him was death.

 Did Bonhoeffer know this? Here again is his famous quote: “ When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die” (page 99). Now, The Cost of Discipleship was originally published in 1937, so we will revise it thusly: “When Christ calls a person, he bids him or her to come and die.” 

 This is not the perspective of a great number of Christians-in-name-only who follow a movement called “Christian Nationalism” in America. Their view is this: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and live a victorious life, to enjoy and to defend, with violence if necessary, the benefits of being a Christian living in a Christian nation.”

So, where did Bonhoeffer get this countercultural idea that being a Christian likely will involve suffering and dying? He got it from Jesus.

 “Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life? (Matthew 16: 24-26). 

Did Jesus say it just once; that is, is this just a minor theme in the Gospels? You decide as you look at Matthew 10: 38-39, Mark 8: 34, Mark 12: 31, Luke 9: 23, and John 15: 13. Taking up his cross and giving his life for others was the mission that God sent Jesus on. This mission has been handed on to us disciples. Notice that the word that is translated as ‘witness’ in Luke 24: 48 is the Greek word martyr. 

So, the mission statement of Christians in America should not be: “Fight Like Hell and Get Revenge.” 

The mission statement of Christians anywhere should be: “Witness to what Jesus Has Done for You, Serve Others instead of Serving Yourself and, if necessary, Die if that is What it Takes to Follow Christ.” 

Not very catchy or attractive, I know. Perhaps ask yourself “What Would Jesus Do” (WWJD). Then as a disciple of Christ, your slogan would be: “Witness, Serve, and Sacrifice.”