It Is Written

The Cost of Discipleship: the Deitrich Bonhoeffer Story

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

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Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001277


00:07 It has stood the test of time.
00:11 God's book, the Bible,
00:16 still relevant in today's complex world.
00:21 It Is Written, sharing hope around the globe.
00:37 [Music]
00:47 JB: I'm John Bradshaw.
00:48 This is It Is Written.
00:49 Thanks for joining me.
00:51 He was born in a little town in what is now southwest
00:54 Poland.
00:55 It was Germany then.
00:57 The year was 1906.
01:00 He as the sixth of eight children that would be born
01:03 into the family.
01:04 His father, Carl, was a prominent neurologist.
01:08 His mother, Paula, was the daughter
01:10 of a German countess.
01:12 Her grandfather was one of Kaiser Wilhelm's court
01:15 preachers.
01:17 For the first seven or so years of his life, he was raised
01:20 in a home right here on this very street.
01:24 You can imagine it being a tranquil time.
01:27 Breslau was a lovely town, an average town, and as his
01:31 mother home-schooled him during his early years,
01:34 nobody could have imagined that he would go on to become
01:37 one of the 20th centuries true Christian giants.
01:45 [Music] But things change.
01:53 Breslau isn't Breslau anymore.
01:55 It's known today as Wroclaw.
01:57 And it isn't in Germany.
01:59 Today it's in Poland.
02:01 Germany's borders were altered following World War II.
02:04 And in Wroclaw today there's a monument erected
02:09 in honor of a man who would pay the ultimate
02:12 price for his faith in God.
02:15 And even though he might not be a household name in his
02:18 own home town anymore, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
02:21 was a man who became a champion for the Word of God.
02:25 And he came to understand by experience the cost
02:30 of discipleship.
02:31 [Music]
02:41 One of Dietrich's brothers would die fighting
02:43 in World War I.
02:44 One of his sisters would go on to marry a lawyer who,
02:48 like Dietrich, would join in a plot against Hitler
02:52 and the Nazi regime.
02:54 His family expected that Dietrich would follow
02:56 his father into medicine, but he surprised and, in fact,
03:00 disappointed his father when he announced that he intended
03:03 instead to become a pastor and a theologian.
03:07 His oldest brother told Dietrich not to waste his
03:10 time in such a boring, petty, feeble, bourgeois
03:15 institution as the church.
03:17 Dietrich's answer hinted at the type of individual
03:19 he would become.
03:20 He said, '"If what you say about the church is true,
03:24 then I shall reform it."
03:29 In the meantime, his family had moved to Berlin.
03:33 After studying at the University of Berlin, and after graduating
03:36 with distinction, Dietrich spent time in the United States,
03:40 returning to Germany in 1931 to lecture in systematic
03:44 theology at the same university.
03:47 He was ordained when he was 25 years old.
03:51 Berlin was then and is now German's capital, the center
03:56 of its culture, its genius and its power.
03:59 Today, Berlin is modern, edgy, hip, trendy,
04:03 fashionable.
04:04 When the Bonhoeffers lived here in the early 20th
04:06 century, Berlin was largely an elegant sort of a place.
04:10 But between then and now, Berlin has been the scene
04:15 of a titanic battle between good and evil.
04:18 And Dietrich Bonhoeffer found himself right
04:21 in the middle of that battle.
04:26 It is impossible to escape reminders of Berlin's
04:29 colorful history.
04:30 The Brandenburg gate was built in the 18th century
04:33 by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace.
04:38 Remnants of the Berlin wall still stand.
04:41 It wasn't long ago that Germans of both sides of what was then
04:46 a divided Germany celebrated here that the Berlin
04:50 wall was coming down.
04:51 Checkpoint Charlie is the most famous Berlin wall
04:55 crossing point.
04:58 It's now one of Berlin's major tourist attractions.
05:01 Even though nothing of the original Checkpoint
05:03 Charlie stands today, 5,000 people escaped to West
05:07 Berlin from East Berlin while the wall was up.
05:10 More than 100 died trying.
05:13 But the figure that looms largest in Berlin's history
05:19 is undoubtedly Adolf Hitler.
05:22 Two days after the Nazis ascended to power
05:24 in Germany, on January 30, 1933, Hitler was appointed
05:29 Germany's chancellor, or fuhrer.
05:31 And Dietrich Bonhoeffer realized right away
05:34 something of the danger Germany was facing.
05:39 Just two days after Hitler was appointed chancellor,
05:42 Bonhoeffer attacked him in a radio address, warning
05:46 against the cultive personality that Hitler
05:48 was fostering.
05:49 Going after Hitler like that was certainly a bold move,
05:53 but it was simply the shape of things to come for
05:56 Bonhoeffer.
05:57 In April of that same year, Bonhoeffer spoke out against
06:02 the Nazi attitude toward Jews, saying that Christians
06:06 should not simply bandage the victims under the wheel
06:10 of Nazi injustice, but should instead jam
06:13 the spoke into the wheel itself.
06:16 It wouldn't be long and Bonhoeffer's anti-Nazi
06:21 zeal would take that principle to the highest level possible.
06:26 [ominous music] In that first year of Nazi rule,
06:30 Dietrich began organizing opposition to the Nazi
06:34 regime among the Protestant churches of Germany.
06:36 But even among those standing up against what the Nazis
06:40 were doing, there were many who lacked Dietrich's
06:43 courage in speaking out against the Nazis'
06:46 mistreatment of the Jews.
06:48 When Dietrich and others began organizing the movement
06:51 that became known as the Confessing Church
06:54 in opposition to the Germany Christian movement, a document
06:58 was offered called the '"Bethel Confession."
07:00 It urged Christians to stand up for biblical principles in spite
07:05 of what was going on in Germany.
07:07 But the authors of the '"Bethel Confession"
07:11 refused to include in that document positive
07:15 statements about God's dealings with the Jews.
07:17 In the end, Dietrich decided the document was so watered
07:21 down, he refused to sign it.
07:23 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was on a collision course with history.
07:31 Under Hitler, his country was going in a definite
07:34 direction.
07:35 Under God, his conscious was going in another.
07:40 He'd have decisions to make--decisions that would
07:43 ultimately cost him his life in a Nazi concentration camp.
07:48 I'll have more in just a moment.
07:50 [Music] >: In Matthew 4:4 the Word
07:55 of God says, '"It is written, man shall not live by bread
07:58 alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth
08:01 of God." '"Every Word" is a one-minute Bible-based
08:05 daily devotional presented by Pastor John Bradshaw
08:08 and designed especially for busy people like you.
08:11 Look for '"Every Word" on selected networks, or watch
08:14 it online every day on our website, itiswritten.com.
08:18 Receive a daily spiritual boost.
08:20 Watch '"Every Word."
08:22 You'll be glad you did.
08:23 Here's a sample.
08:27 [Music]
08:33 JB: I get asked every now and then about this.
08:36 We're saved by grace through faith.
08:38 Right.
08:39 But then Revelation 22:12 says, '"And behold I come
08:42 quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man
08:45 according as his works shall be." Sounds to some people
08:49 as though this is saying we're not saved by God's
08:51 grace, but by our works.
08:52 Well, let's look at this carefully.
08:54 John writes that we are judged by our works,
08:56 not saved by our works.
08:58 The point is that our works, how we live our lives,
09:01 demonstrate or give evidence regarding the reality of our
09:06 profession.
09:07 Anyone at all can claim to be a follower of Jesus,
09:09 but it isn't what you say that really matters--it's how you
09:12 live.
09:13 That's where the evidence really is.
09:15 In the judgment, it isn't just a profession God
09:17 is looking for.
09:18 He's looking for the real thing.
09:21 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written.
09:23 Let's live today by every Word.
09:29 JB: Planning for your financial future is a
09:30 ital aspect of Christian
09:32 stewardship.
09:33 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free
09:35 planned giving and estate services.
09:38 For information on how we can help you, please call
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09:44 Call today, or visit our special website,
09:47 www.hislegacy.com.
09:58 [Piano music]
10:06 JB: This is It Is Written.
10:07 I'm John Bradshaw.
10:08 Thanks for joining me today.
10:10 Today, the cost of discipleship.
10:12 The story of a true champion of grace, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
10:17 While in Berlin, the Bonhoeffer family lived
10:20 here, #43 Marienburger Allee.
10:23 And while the Bonhoeffers were living here, along
10:26 with Martin Niemoller, Dietrich formed an organization known
10:30 as the Confessing Church.
10:32 It was never very large, but it represented the strongest
10:36 opposition against the Nazi government on the part
10:39 of German Christians.
10:40 Swiss theologian Karl Barth drafted a declaration
10:44 in which he stated that Jesus Christ, and not Adolf
10:48 Hitler, was the true head of the church.
10:51 Now, you might think it shouldn't take a declaration
10:53 to make that plain, but because of the idolatrous
10:56 cult of personality that Hitler had built around
10:59 himself, in which he appealed to a deep devotion
11:02 to duty and power and nationalism, there weren't
11:06 many German Christians who were prepared to stand
11:10 in opposition to Adolf Hitler.
11:12 At about this time, Bonhoeffer accepted an offer
11:16 to become the pastor of two German-speaking churches
11:20 in London.
11:21 He'd become discouraged with the collaboration
11:23 of so many German Christians with Hitler, and felt it
11:26 was time, in his words, to go for a while into the desert.
11:31 But his friend Karl Barth, himself driven into Switzerland
11:34 for opposing Hitler's policies, rebuked Bonhoeffer
11:38 for running away from his post while, in Barth's words,
11:42 '"the house of your church is on fire." In 1935,
11:48 Bonhoeffer returned to Germany.@ In spite of fierce
11:51 opposition from the Nazi authorities, the seminary
11:54 Bonhoeffer headed continued for two years.
11:57 But eventually it was shut down by the Gestapo,
12:00 and many pastors and former teachers were arrested.
12:08 [Music]
12:13 Not far from the Bonhoeffer home in Berlin is the Olympic
12:17 Stadium, built for the Olympic games of 1936.@
12:21 It was here that African-American athlete
12:24 Jesse Owens won four gold medals while Adolf Hitler
12:28 looked on.
12:29 Hitler infamously refused to shake the hands of black
12:33 athletes, and he snubbed Jesse Owens and others.
12:38 Hitler was on his way to what he hoped would be European
12:41 dominance.
12:43 While the Olympics were taking place here, few could have
12:47 imagined that within 10 years, Germany's megalomaniacal
12:51 leader would stand astride the continent of Europe.
12:55 He would threaten the peace of the world, commit some
12:58 of the most horrific crimes ever witnessed in the history
13:02 of mankind, then at last end his own life
13:06 in an underground bunker just miles from here.
13:10 It was while the Olympics were taking place
13:14 that Bonhoeffer wrote what's perhaps his most widely
13:17 recognized book, '"The Cost of Discipleship," in which
13:20 he expounded upon the Sermon on the Mount.
13:24 Understanding something about the background against
13:26 which the book was written helps us to understand how
13:30 the book was framed.
13:32 Bonhoeffer believed in costly discipleship.
13:35 And when you realize what following Jesus cost
13:39 Bonhoeffer, you can see why.
13:42 A classic today, he wrote at length about the problem
13:45 of what he called cheap grace.
13:50 He argued that much of German Christianity
13:52 had permitted itself to be secularized due
13:55 to an understanding of God's grace that emphasized
13:58 forgiveness at the expense of repentance and obedience.
14:02 Here's what he said: '"Cheap grace is the preaching
14:06 of forgiveness without requiring repentance.
14:10 Baptism without church discipline.
14:12 Communion without confession.
14:15 Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without
14:20 the cross, grace without Jesus Christ." Bonhoeffer
14:26 believed that it was this minimizing, or maybe even
14:28 belittling, of Christian discipleship and sanctification
14:32 that brought about the docile acceptance on the part
14:35 of so many German Christians of the Nazi ideology.
14:38 In Bonhoeffer's view, Martin Luther had made an important
14:41 correction to the monastic movement of the Middle Ages
14:45 when he had emphasized faith and God's forgiveness
14:48 as the only remedy for sin, rather than works
14:52 that do nothing to change the heart.
14:54 But Bonhoeffer believed@ that it was God's pardoning
14:58 grace that had been emphasized almost to the exclusion
15:02 of sacrifice, self-discipline and service to others
15:07 in the centuries that followed Luther.
15:09 Here's Bonhoeffer again:@ '"The price we are having
15:13 to pay today in the shape of the collapse of the organized
15:16 church is only the inevitable consequence of our policy
15:20 of making grace available to all at too low a cost.
15:25 We gave away the Word and sacraments wholesale.
15:28 We baptized, confirmed and absolved a whole nation
15:33 without condition.
15:35 Our humanitarian sentiment made us give that which was holy
15:39 to the scornful and unbelieving.
15:41 But the call to follow Jesus in the narrow way was hardly
15:47 ever heard." Could it be that a cheap grace gospel has removed
15:53 the transformative power of the Gospel from much
15:56 of Christian preaching and teaching today?
15:59 Might it be that many people have surrendered their
16:01 Christian beliefs to popular culture, societal trends
16:06 and personal priorities?
16:08 Is there still a call today to costly discipleship?
16:12 Do we still see courage when majority opinion
16:15 no longer demands it?
16:18 Bonhoeffer spoke strongly against cheap grace,
16:22 and so did the Bible writers.
16:24 In the Bible there is no such thing as cheap grace.
16:27 Now, salvation is free, no question about that.
16:30 We are saved by grace through faith in %esus Christ.
16:34 Salvation cost God everything.
16:36 It costs us nothing.
16:39 Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, '"The gift of God is eternal
16:43 life through Jesus Christ our Lord." But the cost@@
16:47 of discipleship?
16:48 Now, that's another matter.
16:50 Bonhoeffer once wrote, '"When Christ calls a man, He bids
16:54 him come and die." Which is consistent with what you
16:58 read in the Bible.
16:59 Paul wrote that when a person comes to Christ,
17:01 the old person dies and a new person is created.
17:06 You see, the Gospel involves transformation.
17:10 The Gospel contemplates our completely recovery
17:13 from the power of sin.
17:15 Rightly understood, grace is power.
17:19 It's God's power at work in the life of a sinner,@
17:22 bringing that sinner to the measure of the stature
17:25 of the fullness of Christ.
17:28 And that's good news.
17:30 [Music] So in a sense it's no surprise
17:35 that so many German Christians, when faced with Hitler's rise
17:40 to power, failed to recognize what that might mean
17:43 in terms of the exercise of their Christian faith.
17:47 Most Germans at that time professed some form
17:49 of Christianity.
17:51 And today there are those who say that if more people
17:53 had taken a stand like that taken by Bonhoeffer
17:56 and his courageous colleagues, the world may well have been
18:00 spared the slaughter of so many millions during those Nazi
18:04 years.
18:05 I'll have more in a moment.
18:07 [Music]@
18:15 JB: '"Eyes for India" is giving sight to the blind,
18:18 and you can be a part of this amazing work
18:20 that God is doing.
18:22 Fifteen million blind people live in India, more than any
18:25 other country in the world.
18:27 And many of the blind in India could see again
18:30 if only they could have simple cataract surgery.
18:33 It Is Written is making that happen.
18:36 Would you support '"Eyes for India"?
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18:46 Here's all you need to do.
18:47 Call 1-800-253-3000
18:51 to donate and support '"Eyes for India." Or you can write
18:55 to It Is Written, Box O, Thousand Oaks, CA 91359.
19:01 You'll also find '"Eyes for India" online
19:04 at itiswritten.com.@
19:09 [Music]@
19:18 >: [German] Fuhrer, heil Hitler, [German] [Crowd cheers]
19:24 >: [German] [Crowd cheers] >: [German] [Crowd cheers]
19:31 [German]@ JB: In the 1930s here
19:35 in Nuremburg, Germany, Adolf Hitler was conducting
19:39 the Nuremburg rallies--massive Nazi party propaganda events.
19:45 Vast crowds in the hundreds of thousands would gather
19:50 right here to honor Hitler as Germany's savior.
19:54 Support for Hitler was rising; in fact, it was reaching
19:58 fever point.
19:59 Hitler was demonstrating to the world that he
20:02 was a force that would not be stopped.
20:05 It was while Hitler was showing his strength
20:08 that Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who had returned to
20:10 the United States, decided it was time
20:14 to come back here to Germany.
20:16 Here's what he wrote: '"I have come to the conclusion
20:20 that I made a mistake in coming to America.
20:24 I must live through this difficult period in our
20:27 national history with the people of Germany.
20:31 I will have no right to participate
20:33 in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany
20:36 after the war if I do not share the trials
20:40 at this time with my people.
20:42 Christians in Germany will have to face the terrible
20:45 alternative of either willing the defeat of their
20:49 nation in order that Christian civilization may survive,
20:53 or willing the victory of their nation and thereby
20:56 destroying civilization.
21:00 I know which of these alternatives I must choose,
21:03 but I cannot make that choice from security."
21:07 He returned to Germany on the last scheduled steamer
21:11 to cross the Atlantic.
21:12 Soon after returning to Germany he joined
21:16 the Abwehr, a Germany military intelligence organization
21:20 deeply involved in plots against Hitler.
21:23 Before long, his discovery of the Nazi atrocities
21:27 against the Jews and others would drive him to decide
21:30 that any means of overthrowing Hitler's rule,
21:33 even violent means, were morally justifiable.
21:36 Bonhoeffer was finally arrested on April 5, 1943.
21:44 The actual reasons for his arrest are a little unclear.
21:49 But while he was in custody, evidence surfaced of his
21:52 involvement in several plots aimed at assassinating
21:56 the Fuhrer and overthrowing Nazi rule.
21:59 [Music]
22:06 Although Bonhoeffer had been in prison for over
22:09 a year by the time the plot was attempted, documents
22:12 proving his involvement soon surfaced in Berlin.
22:16 He was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp
22:20 and there here to the concentration camp
22:22 in Flossenburg, Germany, where before long, he would be put
22:27 to death.
22:28 While he was here, Bonhoeffer wrote his famous
22:32 '"Letters From Prison," in which he urged Christian
22:35 believers to be true to biblical principles
22:38 and faithful to God in spite of the difficulties they
22:41 were facing.
22:42 His courage remained strong and his faith unshaken,
22:47 as he waited for what he knew was inevitable.
22:51 [Music] On April 8, 1945, in a trial
23:01 held without witnesses, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
23:04 was found guilty of conspiracy against the Nazi regime,
23:08 and was sentenced to death by hanging.
23:11 The next morning at dawn, just two weeks before the United
23:14 States Army liberated Flossenburg, the faithful
23:19 pastor and theologian was executed.
23:23 One man who witnessed Bonhoeffer's execution
23:26 said this: '"I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, kneeling
23:31 on the floor, praying fervently to God.
23:35 At the place of execution he again said a short prayer
23:38 and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave
23:42 and composed.
23:45 His death ensued after a few seconds.
23:48 In the almost fifty years that I worked as a doctor,@
23:52 I've hardly ever seen a man die so entirely submissive
23:56 to the will of God."
23:59 So what about grace?
24:01 Is grace simply permission?
24:04 Is it permissiveness?
24:06 Is grace license?
24:08 Is it some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card?
24:10 Is grace, well, it doesn't really matter what I do
24:12 because, after all, Jesus has got it covered?
24:15 Or does grace involve power?
24:17 Does grace bring transformation?
24:20 The gospel of Jesus Christ calls for a commitment
24:23 to Jesus, a total commitment to Jesus.
24:26 Jesus says that we are not to be of this world.
24:29 He said in Matthew 22:37 that you should love the Lord
24:33 your God with all your heart, with all your soul,
24:37 and with all your mind.
24:38 And quite simply, that's just Jesus saying, if you'll
24:43 let Me, if you'll want Me to, if you'll surrender
24:48 to Me, I'll come into your life and impact you so radically,
24:54 so totally, that I'll make a completely new person out
24:59 of you.
25:00 Jesus says, I'll do that for you, and I'll do that
25:03 for you today, if you'll let Me, if you want Me to.
25:10 Do you want that today?
25:18 [Music]
25:38 [Change of music]
25:49 JB: '"Revelation Today" will help you understand
25:51 the great prophetic movement of Earth's final days.
25:54 And I want you to have this book.
25:57 I wrote '"Revelation Today" so that it would be easy
25:59 to understand and yet powerful, unfolding the major
26:04 prophecies concerning the final movements
26:06 of Earth's history.
26:08 To get your free copy of '"Revelation Today" from It
26:10 Is Written, call 1-800-253-3000 and ask
26:17 for '"Revelation Today."
26:19 That number to call is 1-800-253-3000.
26:23 If the line is busy when you call, please, keep calling.
26:27 Your call will be answered.
26:30 Or you can write to us at It Is Written, Box O,
26:33 Thousand Oaks, CA 91359, and we'll mail a copy
26:39 to your address in North America.
26:41 Also be sure to visit our website, itiswritten.com,
26:45 where you'll discover additional helpful resources
26:48 on a host of life-changing topics.
26:56 JB: Let me pray with you today.
26:57 Our Father in Heaven, thank you for the power of grace,
27:02 which allows us to be yours in reality, not just in
27:06 name, not just in profession, which transforms
27:10 us and makes us truly yours.
27:12 As we reflect upon the cost of discipleship, I pray that
27:16 we will experience the power, not of cheap grace,
27:18 but of your real, saving, transforming grace.
27:23 We ask your blessing now, and we pray in Jesus' name,
27:27 Amen.
27:38 [Music]
27:48 Thanks for joining me today.
27:49 I look forward to seeing you again next time.
27:52 Until then, remember, '"It is written, man shall not live
27:57 by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the
28:01 mouth of God."
28:03 [Music]


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Revised 2015-02-05