J.R. Briggs
Attempting to behold the miracle long enough without falling asleep
-
The discipleship Jesus will certainly reject
I’ve been re-reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship. It is as jolting now as it was the first time I read it in college. Sit down and take a deep breath before you read these thoughts from Chapter 2: The Call to Discipleship.
“Christianity without the living Christ is inevitably Christianity without discipleship, and Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. It remains an abstract idea, a myth which has a place for the Fatherhood of God, but omits Christ as the living Son. And a Christianity of that kind is nothing more or less than the end of discipleship.
In such a religion there is trust in God, but no following of Christ. Because the Son of God became Man, because he is the Mediator, for that reason alone the only true relation we can have with him is to follow him. Discipleship is bound to Christ as the Mediator, and where it is properly understood, it necessarily implies faith in the Son of God as the Mediator. Only the Mediator, the God-Man, can call men to follow him.
Discipleship without Jesus Christ is a way of our own choosing. It may be the ideal way, It may even lead to martyrdom, but it is devoid of all promise. Jesus will certainly reject it.”
Lance said...
1Great quote, as so much of Bonhoeffer is. Bonhoeffer was a true disciple of the Lord Jesus and he inspires us today, as so many before and after Bonhoeffer, to be true to the living God in Christ and to live an authentic life with this One, true God in Christ Jesus and by the presence/power of His Holy Spirit.
09/22/12 12:09 PM | Comment Link
Morning Links (September 27, 2012) | Justin Hiebert said...
2[...] was all about discipleship, but here is a type of discipleship that Jesus rejects from J.R. [...]
09/27/12 3:10 PM | Comment Link