Saturday, October 30, 2010

The same death every time...

I've been thinking about this quote from Bonhoeffer...
The cross is laid on every Christian. It begins with 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. Since this happens at the beginning of the Christian life, the cross can never be merely a tragic ending to an otherwise happy religious life. When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther's, who had to leave the monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time - death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call. That is why the rich young man was so loath to follow Jesus, for the cost of his following was the death of his will. In fact, every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts. But we do not want to die, and therefore Jesus Christ and his call are necessarily our death and our life.

...Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, p.44

7 comments:

JAH said...

Yeah...that's what I've been trying to say...

Jim L said...

Bonhoeffer, eh? Even as a Lutheran I've tried to read The Cost of Discipleship and gave up about a third of the way through. "Light reading" it is not. I think I may also have his Ethics lying unread around here somewhere, also.

Per the quote, that is my worry. I don't feel like I've "died" enough.

Anonymous said...

Every command of Jesus is a call to live in the newness of life for which He died.

dan said...

Wasn't it Willie Wonka who said, "Dying is such sweet sorrow"? Or was he talking about something else?

At any rate, I hear ya, Jim.

dan said...

Eh, I guess Willie said "parting" is such sweet sorrow. Whatever. :)

Dan Masshardt said...

Dan,

I highly recommend Eric Mataxas' recent biography of Bonhoeffer.

Dan

dan said...

Thanks Dan!