Movement Magazine: Issue 160

FAITH IN ACTION
THE COST OF
DISCIPLESHIP
SCM member Patrick Ramsey reflects on the writings of Dietrich
Bonhoeffer and what they say to us about being a disciple of Jesus.
“And I’ll never know how much it cost, to see
my sin upon that cross.” For a long time I’ve
struggled to connect with these lines, taken
from a Hillsong worship song. At first glance,
the meaning of these words is clear – we
are singing of Jesus’ willingness to sacrifice
Himself for us. Somehow though, this never
really served to deepen my faith. Perhaps
this is because it’s hard to really imagine or
understand what Jesus experienced. Even
if one could understand though, would it
matter for our faith precisely how much pain
was experienced?
Looking deeper though, another meaning
appears, one which is arguably more
important. What is the cost to us, now,
of Jesus’ death? What does it cost us to
accept God’s grace, given to us through
Jesus’ sacrifice? The theologian Bonhoeffer
discusses this in his book The Cost of
Discipleship, comparing Biblical “costly”
grace to the “cheap” grace he claims many
churches preach, which allows a Christian
to live a worldly life because their sins are
forgiven regardless. According to Bonhoeffer,
we cannot say that grace is unconditional,
and excuse worldly living through this.
Rather, obedience to God is a precondition
of accepting the grace God offers, because
we are not capable of accepting God’s grace
without moulding our spirit. Bonhoeffer
describes faith and obedience as interlinked,
in a chicken-and-egg style – you cannot have
one without the other.
So then, what does it mean to obey God? The
first thing Bonhoeffer stresses is that it’s hard;
it is, after all, “costly” grace. Discipleship to
Jesus is central and means surrendering our
own ideas about how our life should be and
following the call of God where it leads us. We
see in Luke 9:57-62 that we cannot expect
Jesus to wait for us or put conditions on how
we are willing to follow. We are even told in
Luke 14 that we cannot be a true disciple
without hating our family and ourselves;
where our connection to anything would
stand in the way of discipleship, it must be
cast aside without hesitation. Furthermore,
Bonhoeffer preaches that there is no room
for reflection or doubt when we hear God’s
call, regarding this delay as disobedience, in
that we are placing our own personal morality
above God’s command by questioning it.
In this book, Christ is identified with the
Church; the Church is Christ. Therefore, we
can do nothing other than be Christ with all
the strength given to us by God, accepting –
and perhaps even glorying in – our share of
the pain of the crucifixion, which we are told
we will face when doing God’s work. This is
the cost of our discipleship; yet much more
than being a cost, it is true grace, for we gain
direct access to God’s love through Christ
when we serve God, and through God serve
others.
THE LONG READ
EVANGELISM
What springs to mind when you think of evangelism?
For some the topic is an uncomfortable one, filled with
images of soap-box preaching and judgement, while
for others sharing the love of God is a central part of
their identity as Christians. In this article, Revd Dr
Miranda Threlfall-Holmes makes the case for a new
approach to evangelism.
22
Image credit: Zvonimir Atletic / Shutterstock.com
MOVEMENT Issue 160