Daring to be Peculiar: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey, once empty niches are now filled with ten statues; ten Christian martyrs of the 20th century. Fourth from the right stands the image of a man who worked to free others from tyranny and oppression, who challenged his church to wake up to the horrors that were happening all around it, and who begged his fellow Christians to trade in their "cheap grace" for a "costly" one. Today, more than 60 years after his death, his words continue to encourage, challenge and inspire many people around the world.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in Breslau, Germany in 1906, the son of prominent psychiatrist Karl Bonhoeffer and his wife Paula. He and his twin sister Sabine were the sixth and seventh children of eight, all of whom were home schooled by their mother. Dietrich decided to become a pastor at an early age, and by the time he was 21, he had earned his doctorate in theology from the University of Berlin. Since he was too young to be ordained at the time, he spent his post graduate year studying at Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he became involved with churches in Harlem and developed a passion for African-American spirituals.

When he returned to Germany in 1931, Dietrich discovered that his homeland had drastically changed in his absence. The Nazi party was now in control, not only of the secular portion of the nation, but also it's main church. As a strong opponent of Nazism, Dietrich worked at first to reform the German church, and then to establish the Confessing Church which opposed the anti-Semitic policies of Adolph Hitler. It was during this period in the mid-thirties the Dietrich's renown as a theologian grew. He wrote many books an also served as a pastor for two German-speaking churches in London.

As time went on, Dietrich's call for wider church resistance to Hitler's treatment of Jews led to him being closely watched by the Gestapo. He was first banned from preaching, then teaching; and finally from any kind of public speaking. Many of his friends urged him to leave Germany and to return either to the US or Britain. He went to New York for a few weeks, but the urge for him to return to the Fatherland and help his people grew and grew until he could stand it no longer. He knew where God wanted him, even if the danger was great.

In 1939, Dietrich joined a secret group of high-ranking military officers who sought to assassinate Hitler. In 1943, he was arrested after money that was used to help Jews escape to Switzerland was traced to him. Then, after the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1944, his connections to the conspiracy were discovered and he was charged with treason. After being moved to a series of prisons and concentration camps, Dietrich, along with his brother Klaus and two of his brothers-in-law, was hanged at dawn on April 9, 1945, only three weeks before he would have been liberated. One of his final letters was to Bishop Bell, whom he had worked with in London. He wrote, "This is the end, but for me the beginning of life."

In Matthew 16:24, Jesus tells his disciples that "'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'" Dietrich Bonhoeffer firmly believed that in order to be a true disciple of Christ, you must be willing to give yourself up. This means that you must sacrifice your desires, your dreams, your will and sometimes even your very life in order to follow Christ.

As peculiar people, we must realize that our lives are not our own, that every breath we breathe is given to us by God to be used for His purpose and glory. For Bonhoeffer, this meant following God's will for his life even when it lead him to death. It meant not running away and denouncing Nazism from the safety of America, but confronting it face to face. It meant not being afraid or ashamed to challenge his fellow Christians to wake up to what was going on around them.

Though most of us will never be called upon to give up our physical lives for God, we must remember that God demands our day-to-day lives as well. To be a true disciple means to surrender the very essence of our beings to Him, and to daily surrender our lives to God's will.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20

Recommended Reading/Listening:

Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonhoeffer (main resource for this post)

The Cost of Discipleship: This is one of Bonhoeffer's most famous works, and I highly recommended it. Even if you don't read the entire book, at least read the first two chapters. The message of "cheap grace" vs. "costly grace" is something that every Christian should hear.

Letter's and Papers from Prison: A collection of poignant letters, sermons and sketches that shed light on Bonhoeffer's involvement in the attempted assassination, and his resiliency in prison and even to death.

Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom: Focus on the Family's Radio Theatre program brings the story of this remarkable man to life.