Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau in 1906. The son of a famous German Psychiatrist, he studies in Berlin and New York City. He left the safety of America to return to Germany and continue his public repudiation of the Nazis, which led to his arrest in 1943. Linked to the group of conspirators whose attempted assassination of Hitler failed, he was hanged in April 1945.
To me, Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a wonderful example of discipleship and also the cost of discipleship. In his landmark book by the same name, “The Cost of Discipleship” draws on the Sermon on the Mount, the collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7).
The Cost of Discipleship is a compelling statement of the demands of sacrifice and ethical consistency from a man whose life and thought were exemplary expressions of a new type of leadership inspired by the Gospel, and filled with the spirit of Christian humanism and a creative sense.
Not only Bonhoeffer, but the Prophet Isaiah gives us the same example of discipleship, but this time by Jesus in his writings. The church today needs the simplicity of men and women who know what discipleship is, and how to let their light shine to others.
Look for more examples of being a disciple for Christ as I continue to learn with you in Sunday!
Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” — Luke 19:10 (NASV)