the cost of discipleship

cheap grace: grace that is offered freely, but it is received without any change in the recipient and ultimately is false and does not save

costly grace: grace followed by obedience to God’s command n discipleship

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. …Suffering then, is the badge of true discipleship.” ~ Bonhoeffer

cheap grace:

“Cheap Grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjack’s wares.” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

• criticises the idea that Christian living is an easy/comfortable experience, full of rewards without any effort, struggle or price

• Bonhoeffer thought that the knowledge of being forgiven could mislead people into thinking they didn’t have to make any changes to their lives

costly grace:

• ‘the treasure hidden in a field’

• something worth sacrificing everything to get

• grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus and make changes to out lives n decisions

sacrifice, suffering n the cross:

• Bonh says the call to discipleship is clearly linked to the passion of the death of Jesus, his suffering n rejection » death without honour, admiration n sympathy of the world

• suffering n sacrifice are inherent to discipleship for anyone who follows Jesus > must pick up his cross and follow Jesus’ path of suffering

• the life of a Christian is a life of suffering for Christ

• burden of Christian life also inc temptation, forgiving others n the burden of others’ sins over vengeance

solidarity:

• the goal of Christian life is not to become ‘religious’ but to be there for others

• being there with others is an experience of transcendence

• this conviction led Bonh to return to Berlin from the safety of America