Let's Abandon "Sham Christianity": Bonhoeffer and Chambers

From the Bonhoeffer biography by Metaxas, quoting Bonhoeffer

Note:  If you have not read this book you should.  Discussing it with a pastor friend of mine today he called the book prophetic for our times.  I agree.

"But if God determines where he is to be found, then it will be in a place which is not immediately pleasing to my nature and which is not at all congenial to me.  This place is the Cross of Christ.  And whoever would find him must go to the foot of the Cross, as the Sermon on the Mount commands.  This is not according to our nature at all, it is entirely contrary to it.  But this is the message of the Bible, not only in the New but also in the Old Testament . . ."

Comment:  Living out the cross of Jesus is unavoidable if we would wish to count ourselves as true Christians, real followers of the Lord.  Yet it seems to be this cross that much of western Christendom is seeking to avoid.  Try to live the sermon on the mount, try to relinquish all your rights, try to live like Jesus lived.  What might you find?  Folks will try to talk you out of it.  You will find that many are not up for this sort of Christianity, preferring rather the false kind that is wed to western materialism, that insists on being comfortable, one that has me standing up for my own rights--all with that independent spirit that says, "I am a Christian, yet I own myself.  I will do what I want and call it following Jesus."  It's high time we abandoned this bunk and got serious about following Jesus as He laid it out.  Or else let's stop calling ourselves His disciples.  It's time to count the cost and decide once for all if we will own ourselves or be owned and ruled by Him--which of course means doing His will at all costs--and it will be costly in terms of suffering and rejection.

Bonhoeffer and Chambers would have perhaps gotten along well in their no-nonsense approach to real discipleship.  Consider what Chambers says regarding following Jesus.

1.  "We put sensitive loyalty to relatives in place of loyalty to Jesus Christ and Jesus has to take the last place. In a conflict of loyalty, obey Jesus Christ at all costs."

2.  "Our Lord never puts personal holiness to the fore when He calls a disciple; He puts absolute annihilation of my right to myself and identification with Himself."

3.  "If you are hard and vindictive, insistent on your own way, certain that the other person is more likely to be in the wrong than you are, it is an indication that there are whole tracts of your nature that have never been transformed by His gaze."

4.  "I must reduce myself until I am a mere conscious man, I must fundamentally renounce possessions of all kinds, not to save my soul--but in order to follow Jesus."

5.  "There is no question of your rights.  The stamp of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus."

Remaining Confident Under Threat of Ruination- Lewis and Psalm 27

Lewis writes the below from "On living an an Atomic Age" Present Concerns:

"If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible things--praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts--not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.  They may break our bodies (any microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds."

Comments:  There are many trials that we might call "life stoppers."  They can lead to depression and immobility.  I speak of things like an un unexpected illness, the loss of a job, the end of a relationship, rejection and misunderstanding by others, the killing of a dream, death of a loved one, things like that.  Lewis makes a good point here, taken from Psalm 27 (quoted below):  regardless of what happens to us we must prove through Christ to be overcomers and press on with life.  Regardless of the cost, we must follow Him and do His bidding, walking among men and women as He Himself walked.  Of course, in doing this you will pay a price--a price many are no longer willing to pay in our age.

Remember, the Holy Spirit is a comforter.  If you need no comfort you may not need Him.  Likewise the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness and self-control) is going to be most evidenced at times when the very opposite of such fruit is more likely to reveal itself in the natural.  The supernatural life is not needed by those who have it all together.  Nay, the Holy Spirit is for those facing trial and ruin in the hardships of life, whatever these may be.

Psalm 27:

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh--my adversaries and foes--they shall stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me,
yet I will be confident.

One thing I asked of the Lord; that will I seek after; to live in the house all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

For He will hide me in the His shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of His tent:
He will set me high on a rock.

Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer  me!
"Come," my hearts says, "seek His face!"
Your face, Lord, do I seek.  Do not hide Your face from me.

Do not turn Your servant away in anger, You who have been my help.
Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation!
If my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up.

Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path.

Give Everything Over to Death: C.S. Lewis on Romans 12:1

In Mere Christianity Lewis writes:  "Give up yourself, and you will find your real self.  Lose your life and you will save it.  Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life.  Keep back nothing.  Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours.  Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the death.  Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay.  But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in."

Comments:  What is all this business we talk about defending our rights and being in charge of our lives?  Are we not trying to lead a double life?  On the one hand we want Jesus; we want to be Christian . . . we want Him to rule us.  And yet, on the other hand we would go to the death to preserve our independence and the rights we have to pursue liberty and happiness.  We strive to fulfill our dreams.  We rule our lives and give lip service to being ruled by Another.  Yet all along the secret to the resurrection of our very lives in the here and now is crucifixion.  Without voluntary death right now none of us shall ever enjoy His resurrection life as it was meant to me--right now.  In the Christian realm death as spoken here always leads to abundant life.  Be warned:  The devil is trying to keep you from it.

Eternal life is about today-- your present existence on September 20, 2011.  It is a quality of life that you will have if you will lay down your life.  My passions, my dreams, my own will and plans must be relinquished to Him.  This is what it means to seek first God's kingdom.  It is to go all in.  It is to adapt the sermon on the mount as a real ethic.  It is to reject every false brand of Christianity which says we can live for Jesus and somehow be in charge of our lives.  You want to see God?  You want to experience His resurrection?  Then you and everything in you must die.  His will, His ways, His power will only come to the front of your life when you voluntary sacrifice all to God--including those things that we have been fooled into thinking we had a right to have.

Following God's Clear Path Come What May- Bonhoeffer

Quoted from a letter in Bonhoeffeer by Eric Metaxas, Dietrich writes in a letter:

"My calling is quite clear to me. What God will make of it I do not know . . . I must follow the path."

Commentary:  Although Dietrich was writing this in reference to his pastoral calling is the same not true for all of us so called Christians in every area of life?  We have no idea where obedience to the revealed will of God may take us.  The Lord has called us to believe certain truths, to act in a certain way, and to stand to the death for what is right-- even when the tide of the world and even friends may go against us.  The trick is to make sure our convictions and stances that follow come from a clear understanding of the word of God--as well as a refusal to compromise.  We cannot stand on our feelings nor can we advise people based on our feelings about their situation.  We must stand on the revealed will of God and encourage others to do the same.   You will be called narrow for doing this and you will more than likely be in the minority--perhaps even among contemporary Christians.  Yet, you need not apologize for the way things are as revealed by God.  He can defend Himself.  What you must do is to count the cost and ask yourself if you are willing to pay the high price that will likely be exacted from you if you stand with Jesus.  Remember, to stand with Jesus is to inevitably stand against others, perhaps even those closest to you.  It is high time we dismiss the worldly culture and resist the temptation to confirm to that culture that is even infiltrating into our churches.  Like Luther let us say "Here I stand, I can do no other."  Make sure of what He has called you to do and follow the path, not straying to the right or to the left.

Have We Been Fooled into Following a Different Jesus?

Chapter 4 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book The Cost of Discipleship is fairly spectacular.  I have included an excerpt below which is broken up by two sections of comment.

"To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ.  When it comes, it is not an accident, but a necessity.  It is not the sort of suffering which is inseparable from this mortal life, but the suffering which is an essential part of the specifically Christian life.  It is not suffering per se but suffering-and-rejection, and not rejection for any cause or conviction of our own, but rejection for the sake of Christ.  If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence, then we cannot help regarding the cross as an ordinary everyday calamity, as one of the trials and tribulations of life.  We have then forgotten that the cross means rejection and shame as well as suffering.  The Psalmist was lamenting that he was despised and rejected of men, and that is an essential quality of the suffering of the cross.  But this notion has ceased to be intelligible to a Christianity which can no longer see any difference between an ordinary human life and a life committed to Christ.  The cross means sharing the suffering of Christ to the last and to the fullest."

Comment Section 1:  We are reminded here of what we are really signing up for when we tell Jesus that we will follow Him-- suffering-and-rejection for the sake of Christ.  Those who have followed Jesus for "emotional uplift" or other reasons have probably already stopped following Him.  Many feel cheated and disillusioned when they find that a comfortable "American" or "Western" style Christianity is not found among the sacred pages.  If they have not left Him they are left with a non-intelligible Christianity which worships a God of their own making.  Real Christianity is wedded to suffering-and-rejection.  It is this kind of life which Jesus has promised to all his would be followers as we see from even a shallow reading of the new testament. Are our lives just ordinary human lives, no different than those around us?  Is the only difference that I have drug Jesus out in front of my name and labeled myself a Christian?

Bonhoeffer continues: 

"The cross is laid on every Christian.  The first Christ-suffering which every man must experience is the call to abandon the attachments of this world.  It is that dying of the old man which is the result of his encounter with Christ.  As we embark upon discipleship we surrender ourselves to Christ in union with his death - we give over our lives to death.  Thus it begins; the cross is not the terrible end to an otherwise god-fearing and happy life, but it meets us at the beginning of our communion with Christ.  When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. . . If we refuse to take up our cross and submit to suffering and rejection at the hands of men, we forfeit our fellowship with Christ and have ceased to follow him.  But if we lose our lives in his service and carry our cross, we shall find our lives again in the fellowship of the cross with Christ.  Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer."

Comment Section Two:  Those who are most intimate with Jesus are those who have walked along the road of suffering-and-rejection with and for the Messiah.  Again, read about all your heroes in the Scriptures.  What do you find?  Hmmmm.  A pattern, a template for communion with God.  And in each case is suffering-and-rejection.  Will we shed our comfortable discipleship of cheap grace, self-will, and comfort (this popular yet false gospel is an empty illusion) and embrace a Christ-centered discipleship which is a walking straight into the death of ourselves?  Remember, resurrection (or resurrection power) is only for those who have died.  By the same token the comfort promised by the Holy Spirit is not needed by those who are already comfortable.  Well, what am I to do now?   Perhaps I need to reconsider whether or not I am willing to follow Jesus at all.  If Bonhoeffer is right then it could be that you or I have been following a different Jesus than the one we meet in the gospels and books that follow them in our Bibles.  

Dozens of Views About Everything . . . Go Play in the Rain

This double entry comes from perhaps my favorite fiction book of all time:  That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis.

Excerpt 1

Mark says:  "I suppose there are two views about everything."
Hingest replies:  "Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer.  Then there's never more than one."

Comment:  People are full of opinions and advice and your head may be rattling and your brain scrambled if you do not come to convictions that you can stand on--on your own.   Of course, just because you have an opinion/conviction does not mean you are right.  However, God's truth is absolute truth and if we can get an accurate hold of His truth we have to stand on it even it means others disagree or we die for it.  The thing we must not do is compromise known truth.  Sometimes I get advice from well meaning Christians about behaving in ways that seem totally contrary to a Christian ethic (Sermon on Mount for instance).  I reject their advice and decide I am gonna stand on what I believe God has said come hell or high water.  I encourage you to do the same.  The trick is not to be arrogant and to be humble enough to correct your version of the truth when you come to the realization that God's truth means something else entirely.

Excerpt 2

"That's why Camilla and I got married," said Denniston as they drove off.  "We both like Weather.  Not this or that kind of weather, just Weather.
"How ever did you learn to do that, Mr. Denniston?" said Jane.  "I don't think I should ever learn to like rain and snow."
"It's the other way round," said Denniston. "Everyone begins as a child by liking Weather.  You learn the art of disliking it as you grow up.  Haven't you ever noticed it on a snowy day? The grown-ups are all going about with long faces, but look at the children--and the dogs.  They know what snow's made for."
"I'm sure I hated wet days as a child," said Jane.
"That's because the grown-ups kept you in," said Camilla.  "Any child loves rain if it's allowed to go out and paddle about in it."

Comment:  It has been raining cats and dogs here in Virginia for the last day.  I remember playing in the rain to soaking as a kid and at times I long to get out there and do it just the same.  Become a child again; go play in the rain and lift your hands to the sky in jubilation like Andy Dufresne in the Shawshank Redemption?  And if you are a parent encourage your kids to play in the rain.  Or if you want to apply a metaphor to the whole bit-- when life is raining hard on you get out and give thanks and praise to the Lord for watering your life for the good things He has ahead of you.

Cheap Grace and Fake Discipleship

In his book The Cost of Discipleship Dietrich Bonhoeffer suggests that perhaps we have secularized the Christian religion as never before.  Here is what he says about Cheap Grace, what I am calling here Fake Discipleship:

"The Christian life comes to mean nothing more than living in the world and as the world, in being no different from the world, in fact, in being prohibited from being different from the world for the sake of grace.  The upshot of it all is my only duty as a Christian is to leave the world for an hour or so on a Sunday morning and go to church to be assured that all my sins are all forgiven.  I need no longer try to follow Christ, for cheap grace, the bitterest foe of discipleship, which true discipleship must loathe and detest, has freed me from that . . . The only man (or woman) who has the right to say that he is justified by grace alone is the man (or woman) who has left all to follow Christ . . . It is becoming clearer every day that the most urgent problem besetting our Church is this: How can we live the Christian life in the modern world?"

Comment:  What kind of grace have you found in Christ?  If you have the cheap kind or you willing to trade it in for the costly kind?  Bonhoeffer defines it this way:

Cheap Grace:  the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession.  Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly Grace:  the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will gladly go and sell all that he has.  It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.