Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in The Cost of Discipleship:
Discipleship means adherence to Christ, and, because Christ is the object of that adherence, it must take the form of discipleship. An abstract Christology, a doctrinal system, a general religious knowledge on the subject of grace or on the forgiveness of sins, render discipleship superfluous, and in fact they positively exclude any idea of discipleship whatever, and are essentially inimical to the whole conception of following Christ. With an abstract idea it is possible to enter into a relation of formal knowledge, to become enthusiastic about it, and perhaps even to put it in practice; but it can never be followed in personal obedience. 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.
Bonhoeffer is writing in the section that this is a small excerpt from about this truism: “Only those obey can believe, and only those who believe can obey.” By this, he is asserting that discipleship – the honest, whole-hearted following of Jesus – can only come about through a simultaneous commitment to accepting the call of Jesus, and living that call out in one’s life everyday. Discipleship can only be found at the intersection of belief and action, of orthodoxy and orthopraxy.
I think this passage jumped out at me because it describes my own struggles with this kind of discipleship – I have the “head” stuff down really well, the abstract idea of belief, of right thought. Its the action where I struggle to put it into practice most often. Not from a lack of trying (and Bonhoeffer’s writings about Luther’s infamous Pecca fortier, sed fortius fide et gaude in Christo – “Sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ more boldly still” – provides some hope here), but the struggle is very real. But, then, that’s discipleship, right? We see Peter and the others struggle again and again; just this morning, my daily Scripture reading took me through Mark 9 and 10, where the disciples three times fail to understand or accept Jesus’ prediction of his coming suffering. Thank goodness for grace – that is the central theme of Bonhoeffer, I’d say.
Justin DaMetz 