The Cost of Discipleship 8

 How did the German Evangelical Church get so off track? They fell prey to the Devil’s trap as illustrated in Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness; that is, the temptation to grab power in the guise of carrying out one’s mission (go back and read Matthew 4: 1-11). Is it only the 1930s German Evangelical Church that has been tempted to associate with power?  

 Some church historians point to the events in the reign of Emperor Constantine (312 to 337 AD) as a positive turning point for Christians. Constantine, a general’s son, grew up in the household of Emperor Diocletian where he was educated in Latin and Greek but also witnessed the Great Persecution of Christians in 303 AD.

When his father was elevated to be Emperor Constantius I of the Western Roman Empire, he called his son back from the Eastern half. When his father died, Constantine had to fight for the succession against the son of the previous emperor. As the story goes, before the famous Battle of Milvian Bridge (312 AD), Constantine had a vision of the symbol of Christianity, the Chi-Rho (a P overlaid with an X, thus ☧). The X or Chi is the ‘ch’ sound’ in Greek and the P is actually the letter R in Greek, thus this symbol represents the first two letters of Christ’s name. He had this painted on all soldiers’ shields before the battle. Constantine defeated Maxentius and proceeded across the Tiber to Rome to be crowned. (There is an alternative version that includes the command: “In this sign conquer,” and the sign is the cross). 

 What followed seemed like a victory for Christianity. In the Edict of Milan Christianity was made an approved religion (religio licita, 313 AD). Constantine supported churches and clergy throughout the united Roman Empire. During the Council at Nicaea, Constantine negotiated with the bishops to produce the Nicene Creed (325 AD). One church, one God, one nation. What could go wrong?

Other church historians take a more critical approach. The nation and the people were declared Christian through the actions of the emperor, not through a decision of their own. It was a Roman tradition that the religion of the emperor was taken up by the citizens, particularly by the army. Thus, the church was flooded with superficial members who had not made a confession of sins, had not accepted Jesus as their Savior, did not understand the relationship between God’s grace and the forgiveness of their sins, and especially did not understand the commitment to a new changed life in Christ. That’s what went wrong.

Bonhoeffer argues that the Catholic Church, which until 1054 AD included all the Orthodox churches (Syrian, Greek, Coptic, etc.), settled for the monastic movement (hermits, monks, and religious orders such as the Carmelites, Benedictines, Franciscans, and Dominicans) as a way for an elite class of Christians to try to live out the demands of discipleship. The less committed could go on with their own lives. Seen from this perspective, the church made a mistake.

For the majority, then, “costly grace was turned into cheap grace without discipleship” (Bonhoeffer, p. 53). Despite some attempts at reform in the Roman Catholic Church, it was not until the Protestant Reformation (1517 to 1600) that grace and discipleship were again bundled for the majority of church members. Bonhoeffer says, “that was the secret of the gospel of the Reformation–the justification of the sinner” (Page 52). Now instead of being dismissed to go and live their own life after they took confirmation, confirmands in the Protestant churches moved right into a regimen of discipleship where they were taught how to be like Christ and do the bidding of the Spirit in their lives.

Yet, in the Evangelical Church (the Lutheran church in Germany), for example, Bonhoeffer notes that this new insight and religious growth did not last more than a generation. Once again, discipleship became the province of the few thus releasing the many. Further reformations became necessary.

In fact, isn’t it true for every generation that they must find out that the church is a good place to learn, but the church cannot guarantee salvation through confession nor transformation through discipleship if it is not heart-felt and lived out. 

We certainly live in a time when Christianity is conflated with nationalism, where church membership or association with other Christians is thought to confer standing as a Christian. And, to be Christians is to be the people with power. It is not true. 

The passing of Jimmy Carter offers us a parable about the virtues of a really changed Christian life. The two words we are hearing most are that he was a man of ‘peace’ and ‘humility’. Are these not some of the fruits of the Holy Spirit as listed in Galatians 5: 22-23? We could add the rest of the list and we would still be talking about Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter who stand out as different from other prominent people. They did not succumb to the temptation to grab power for themselves, instead they lived out the life of Christ.