It Is Written

The Cost of Discipleship

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

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Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001467A


01:30 [Music] JB: I'm John Bradshaw.
01:52 This is It Is Written. Thanks for joining me.
01:55 He was born in a little town in what is now southwest
01:58 Poland. It was Germany then.
02:01 The year was 1906. He as the sixth of eight
02:05 children that would be born into the family.
02:08 His father, Carl, was a prominent neurologist.
02:12 His mother, Paula, was the daughter
02:14 of a German countess. Her grandfather was one
02:17 of Kaiser Wilhelm's court preachers.
02:21 For the first seven or so years of his life, he was raised
02:24 in a home right here on this very street.
02:28 You can imagine it being a tranquil time.
02:31 Breslau was a lovely town, an average town, and as his
02:35 mother home-schooled him during his early years,
02:38 nobody could have imagined that he would go on to become
02:41 one of the 20th century's true Christian giants.
02:49 [Music] But things change.
02:57 Breslau isn't Breslau anymore. It's known today as Wroclaw.
03:01 And it isn't in Germany. Today it's in Poland.
03:05 Germany's borders were altered following World War II.
03:09 And in Wroclaw today there's a monument erected
03:14 in honor of a man who would pay the ultimate
03:16 price for his faith in God. And even though he might not
03:20 be a household name in his own home town anymore,
03:23 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a man who became
03:26 a champion for the Word of God. And he came to understand
03:31 by experience the cost of discipleship.
03:35 [Music]
03:45 One of Dietrich's brothers would die fighting
03:47 in World War I. One of his sisters would go
03:50 on to marry a lawyer who, like Dietrich, would join
03:54 in a plot against Hitler and the Nazi regime.
03:58 His family expected that Dietrich would follow
04:00 his father into medicine, but he surprised and, in fact,
04:04 disappointed his father when he announced that he intended
04:07 instead to become a pastor and a theologian.
04:11 His oldest brother told Dietrich not to waste his
04:14 time in such a boring, petty, feeble, bourgeois
04:19 institution as the church. Dietrich's answer hinted
04:22 at the type of individual he would become.
04:24 He said, '"If what you say about the church is true,
04:29 then I shall reform it." In the meantime, his family
04:34 had moved to Berlin. After studying at the University
04:39 of Berlin, and after graduating with distinction, Dietrich spent
04:42 time in the United States, returning to Germany in 1931
04:46 to lecture in systematic theology at the same university.
04:51 He was ordained when he was 25 years old.
04:55 Berlin was then and is now German's capital, the center
05:00 of its culture, its genius and its power.
05:03 Today, Berlin is modern, edgy, hip, trendy,
05:07 fashionable. When the Bonhoeffers lived
05:09 here in the early 20th century, Berlin was largely
05:13 an elegant sort of a place. But between then and now,
05:18 Berlin has been the scene of a titanic battle between
05:21 good and evil. And Dietrich Bonhoeffer
05:23 found himself right in the middle of that battle.
05:30 It is impossible to escape reminders of Berlin's
05:33 colorful history. The Brandenburg gate
05:36 was built in the 18th century by King Frederick William II
05:39 of Prussia as a sign of peace. Remnants of the Berlin wall
05:45 still stand. It wasn't long ago that Germans
05:48 of both sides of what was then a divided Germany
05:52 celebrated here that the Berlin wall was coming down.
05:55 Checkpoint Charlie is the most famous Berlin wall
05:59 crossing point. It's now one of Berlin's
06:03 major tourist attractions. Even though nothing
06:06 of the original Checkpoint Charlie stands today,
06:09 5,000 people escaped to West Berlin from East Berlin
06:12 while the wall was up. More than 100 died trying.
06:17 But the figure that looms largest in Berlin's history
06:23 is undoubtedly Adolf Hitler. Two days after the Nazis
06:27 ascended to power in Germany, on January 30,
06:30 1933, Hitler was appointed Germany's chancellor,
06:34 or fuhrer. And Dietrich Bonhoeffer
06:37 realized right away something of the danger
06:41 Germany was facing. Just two days after Hitler
06:44 was appointed chancellor, Bonhoeffer attacked him
06:48 in a radio address, warning against the cultive
06:51 personality that Hitler was fostering.
06:53 Going after Hitler like that was certainly a bold move,
06:57 but it was simply the shape of things to come for
07:00 Bonhoeffer. In April of that same year,
07:04 Bonhoeffer spoke out against the Nazi attitude toward
07:07 Jews, saying that Christians should not simply bandage
07:12 the victims under the wheel of Nazi injustice,
07:15 but should instead jam the spoke into the wheel itself.
07:20 It wouldn't be long and Bonhoeffer's anti-Nazi
07:25 zeal would take that principle to the highest level possible.
07:30 [ominous music] In that first year of Nazi rule,
07:34 Dietrich began organizing opposition to the Nazi
07:38 regime among the Protestant churches of Germany.
07:40 But even among those standing up against what the Nazis
07:44 were doing, there were many who lacked Dietrich's
07:47 courage in speaking out against the Nazis'
07:50 mistreatment of the Jews. When Dietrich and others
07:54 began organizing the movement that became known
07:56 as the Confessing Church in opposition to the Germany
08:00 Christian movement, a document was offered called
08:03 the '"Bethel Confession." It urged Christians to stand up
08:07 for biblical principles in spite of what was going
08:10 on in Germany. But the authors
08:13 of the '"Bethel Confession" refused to include
08:17 in that document positive statements about God's dealings
08:20 with the Jews. In the end, Dietrich decided
08:23 the document was so watered down, he refused to sign it.
08:27 Dietrich Bonhoeffer was on a collision course with history.
08:35 Under Hitler, his country was going in a definite
08:38 direction. Under God, his conscious
08:42 was going in another. He'd have decisions
08:45 to make--decisions that would ultimately cost him his life
08:50 in a Nazi concentration camp. I'll have more in just a moment.
08:54 [Music] I hope you'll get the book
09:09 I'm offering you this week. It's called, "Revelation Today."
09:12 It unfolds the end times scenario presented in
09:16 the book of Revelation. This little book
09:18 is going to help you understand what the book of Revelation
09:21 is really all about. It untangles the end time
09:24 prophetic scenario to let you see how the battle
09:27 between good and evil ultimately plays out.
09:30 Just call or write, and I'll send you
09:32 "Revelation Today" There's no cost, no obligation.
09:35 It's absolutely free. All you need to do is call
09:39 1-800-253-3000 and ask for "Revelation Today"
09:44 You can call 24 hours a day If the line's busy, please
09:47 just keep on trying. You can also request your free
09:50 copy of "Revelation Today" by writing to It Is Written
09:54 P.O. Box 6, Chattanooga TN, 37401.
09:59 We'll mail you a copy to your address in
10:01 North America. To get it right away,
10:04 you can download a free electronic version
10:06 of the book, "Revelation Today" from our website itiswritten.com
10:11 Our toll-free number is 1-800-253-3000
10:15 and our web address is ItIsWritten.com.
10:22 [Piano music]
10:30 JB: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
10:32 Thanks for joining me today. Today, the cost of discipleship.
10:37 The story of a true champion of grace, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
10:42 While in Berlin, the Bonhoeffer family lived
10:45 here, #43 Marienburger Allee. And while the Bonhoeffers
10:49 were living here, along with Martin Niemoller, Dietrich
10:53 formed an organization known as the Confessing Church.
10:57 It was never very large, but it represented the strongest
11:00 opposition against the Nazi government on the part
11:03 of German Christians. Swiss theologian Karl Barth
11:07 drafted a declaration in which he stated that Jesus
11:10 Christ, and not Adolf Hitler, was the true head
11:14 of the church. Now, you might think
11:16 it shouldn't take a declaration to make that plain,
11:19 but because of the idolatrous cult of personality
11:22 that Hitler had built around himself, in which he appealed
11:25 to a deep devotion to duty and power
11:29 and nationalism, there weren't many German Christians who
11:33 were prepared to stand in opposition to Adolf Hitler.
11:36 At about this time, Bonhoeffer accepted an offer
11:40 to become the pastor of two German-speaking churches
11:44 in London. He'd become discouraged
11:46 with the collaboration of so many German Christians
11:49 with Hitler, and felt it was time, in his words, to go
11:53 for a while into the desert. But his friend Karl Barth,
11:57 himself driven into Switzerland for opposing Hitler's policies,
12:01 rebuked Bonhoeffer for running away from his post
12:04 while, in Barth's words, '"the house of your church
12:08 is on fire." In 1935, Bonhoeffer returned to Germany.
12:15 In spite of fierce opposition from the Nazi
12:17 authorities, the seminary Bonhoeffer headed continued
12:20 for two years. But eventually it was shut
12:23 down by the Gestapo, and many pastors and former
12:27 teachers were arrested.
12:33 [Music]
12:38 Not far from the Bonhoeffer home in Berlin is the Olympic
12:41 Stadium, built for the Olympic games of 1936.
12:45 It was here that African-American athlete
12:49 Jesse Owens won four gold medals while Adolf Hitler
12:53 looked on. Hitler infamously refused
12:56 to shake the hands of black athletes, and he snubbed
13:00 Jesse Owens and others. Hitler was on his way to what
13:04 he hoped would be European dominance.
13:08 While the Olympics were taking place here, few could have
13:11 imagined that within 10 years, Germany's megalomaniacal
13:16 leader would stand astride the continent of Europe.
13:19 He would threaten the peace of the world, commit some
13:23 of the most horrific crimes ever witnessed in the history
13:26 of mankind, then at last end his own life
13:31 in an underground bunker just miles from here.
13:34 It was while the Olympics were taking place
13:38 that Bonhoeffer wrote what's perhaps his most widely
13:41 recognized book, '"The Cost of Discipleship," in which
13:45 he expounded upon the Sermon on the Mount.
13:48 Understanding something about the background against
13:51 which the book was written helps us to understand how
13:54 the book was framed. Bonhoeffer believed
13:57 in costly discipleship. And when you realize what
14:01 following Jesus cost Bonhoeffer, you can see why.
14:06 A classic today, he wrote at length about the problem
14:09 of what he called cheap grace.
14:14 He argued that much of German Christianity
14:16 had permitted itself to be secularized due
14:19 to an understanding of God's grace that emphasized
14:23 forgiveness at the expense of repentance and obedience.
14:26 Here's what he said: '"Cheap grace is the preaching
14:31 of forgiveness without requiring repentance.
14:34 Baptism without church discipline.
14:37 Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without
14:43 discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without
14:48 Jesus Christ." Bonhoeffer believed that it was this
14:51 minimizing, or maybe even belittling, of Christian
14:54 discipleship and sanctification that brought about the docile
14:58 acceptance on the part of so many German Christians
15:01 of the Nazi ideology. In Bonhoeffer's view, Martin
15:04 Luther had made an important correction to the monastic
15:08 movement of the Middle Ages when he had emphasized faith
15:11 and God's forgiveness as the only remedy
15:14 for sin, rather than works that do nothing to change
15:18 the heart. But Bonhoeffer believed
15:21 that it was God's pardoning grace that had been emphasized
15:25 almost to the exclusion of sacrifice, self-discipline
15:30 and service to others in the centuries
15:32 that followed Luther. Here's Bonhoeffer again:
15:35 '"The price we are having to pay today in the shape
15:39 of the collapse of the organized church is only the inevitable
15:43 consequence of our policy of making grace available
15:47 to all at too low a cost. We gave away the Word
15:51 and sacraments wholesale. We baptized, confirmed
15:55 and absolved a whole nation without condition.
16:00 Our humanitarian sentiment made us give that which was holy
16:04 to the scornful and unbelieving. But the call to follow Jesus
16:09 in the narrow way was hardly ever heard." Could it be that
16:15 a cheap grace gospel has removed the transformative power
16:19 of the Gospel from much of Christian preaching
16:21 and teaching today? Might it be that many people
16:25 have surrendered their Christian beliefs to popular
16:28 culture, societal trends and personal priorities?
16:33 Is there still a call today to costly discipleship?
16:36 Do we still see courage when majority opinion
16:40 no longer demands it? Bonhoeffer spoke strongly
16:44 against cheap grace, and so did the Bible writers.
16:48 In the Bible there is no such thing as cheap grace.
16:51 Now, salvation is free, no question about that.
16:55 We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
16:58 Salvation cost God everything. It costs us nothing.
17:03 Paul wrote in Romans 6:23, '"The gift of God is eternal
17:08 life through Jesus Christ our Lord." But the cost
17:11 of discipleship? Now, that's another matter.
17:15 Bonhoeffer once wrote, '"When Christ calls a man, He bids
17:19 him come and die." Which is consistent with what you
17:22 read in the Bible. Paul wrote that when
17:24 a person comes to Christ, the old person dies and a new
17:29 person is created. You see, the Gospel involves
17:33 transformation. The Gospel contemplates our
17:36 completely recovery from the power of sin.
17:40 Rightly understood, grace is power.
17:43 It's God's power at work in the life of a sinner,
17:47 bringing that sinner to the measure of the stature
17:50 of the fullness of Christ. And that's good news.
17:54 [Music] So in a sense it's no surprise
17:59 that so many German Christians, when faced with Hitler's rise
18:05 to power, failed to recognize what that might mean
18:08 in terms of the exercise of their Christian faith.
18:11 Most Germans at that time professed some form
18:13 of Christianity. And today there are those
18:16 who say that if more people had taken a stand like
18:19 that taken by Bonhoeffer and his courageous colleagues,
18:23 the world may well have been spared the slaughter of so many
18:26 millions during those Nazi years.
18:29 I'll have more in a moment. [Music]
18:33 "Every Word" is a one minute bible based daily devotional
18:37 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw
18:39 and designed especiallly for busy people like you.
18:42 Look for "Every Word" on selected networks
18:45 or watch it online every day on our website ItIsWritten.com
18:51 [Music] I get asked every now and then
18:59 about this. We're saved by grace through faith, right.
19:03 But then Revelation 22:12 says And, behold, I come quickly;
19:07 and my reward is with me to give every man according
19:10 as his work shall be. Sounds to some people
19:13 as though this is saying, "we're not saved by God's grace
19:15 but by our works. Now let's look at this carefully
19:18 John writes that we are "judged by our works"
19:21 not saved by our works. The point is that our works,
19:24 how we live our lives demonstrate or give evidence
19:27 regarding the reality of our profession.
19:30 Anyone at all can claim to be a follower of Jesus.
19:33 But it isn't what you say that really matters, it's how you
19:36 live. That's where the evidence really is. In the judgement,
19:40 it isn't just a profession God is looking for, he's looking for
19:43 the real thing. I'm John Bradshaw for
19:46 It Is Written. Let's live today by Every Word.
19:51 [Music] Planning for your financial
19:54 future is a vital aspect of Christian stewardship.
19:58 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free
20:00 planned giving and estate services. For information on how
20:04 we can help you, please call 800-992-2219. Call today,
20:10 or visit our special website, www.HisLegacy.com
20:18 [Music] [German] Unser Fuehrer,
20:28 Adolf Hitler, sieg [German Crowd] Heil!
20:32 Sieg [German Crowd] Heil
20:34 Sieg [German Crowd] Heil
20:40 [German fades out] JB: In the 1930s here
20:44 in Nuremburg, Germany, Adolf Hitler was conducting
20:48 the Nuremburg rallies--massive Nazi party propaganda events.
20:55 Vast crowds in the hundreds of thousands would gather
20:59 right here to honor Hitler as Germany's savior.
21:04 Support for Hitler was rising; in fact, it was reaching
21:07 fever point. Hitler was demonstrating
21:10 to the world that he was a force that would
21:13 not be stopped. It was while Hitler
21:16 was showing his strength that Dietrich Bonhoeffer,
21:18 who had returned to the United States,
21:20 decided it was time to come back here to Germany.
21:26 Here's what he wrote: '"I have come to the conclusion
21:30 that I made a mistake in coming to America.
21:34 I must live through this difficult period in our
21:37 national history with the people of Germany.
21:40 I will have no right to participate
21:43 in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany
21:46 after the war if I do not share the trials
21:49 at this time with my people. Christians in Germany will
21:53 have to face the terrible alternative of either
21:57 willing the defeat of their nation in order that Christian
22:00 civilization may survive, or willing the victory
22:04 of their nation and thereby destroying civilization.
22:09 I know which of these alternatives I must choose,
22:12 but I cannot make that choice from security."
22:16 He returned to Germany on the last scheduled steamer
22:20 to cross the Atlantic. Soon after returning
22:22 to Germany he joined the Abwehr, a Germany military
22:28 intelligence organization deeply involved in plots
22:31 against Hitler. Before long, his discovery
22:35 of the Nazi atrocities against the Jews and others
22:38 would drive him to decide that any means of overthrowing
22:42 Hitler's rule, even violent means,
22:45 were morally justifiable. Bonhoeffer was finally
22:50 arrested on April 5, 1943. The actual reasons for his
22:54 arrest are a little unclear. But while he was in custody,
23:00 evidence surfaced of his involvement in several plots
23:04 aimed at assassinating the Fuhrer and overthrowing
23:07 Nazi rule. [Music]
23:16 Although Bonhoeffer had been in prison for over
23:18 a year by the time the plot was attempted, documents
23:22 proving his involvement soon surfaced in Berlin.
23:26 He was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp
23:29 and there here to the concentration camp
23:32 in Flossenburg, Germany, where before long, he would be put
23:36 to death. While he was here,
23:39 Bonhoeffer wrote his famous '"Letters From Prison,"
23:43 in which he urged Christian believers to be true
23:46 to biblical principles and faithful to God in spite
23:49 of the difficulties they were facing.
23:52 His courage remained strong and his faith unshaken,
23:56 as he waited for what he knew was inevitable.
24:00 [Music] On April 8, 1945, in a trial
24:10 held without witnesses, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
24:13 was found guilty of conspiracy against the Nazi regime,
24:17 and was sentenced to death by hanging.
24:21 The next morning at dawn, just two weeks before the United
24:24 States Army liberated Flossenburg, the faithful
24:29 pastor and theologian was executed.
24:33 One man who witnessed Bonhoeffer's execution
24:36 said this: '"I saw Pastor Bonhoeffer, kneeling
24:40 on the floor, praying fervently to God.
24:44 At the place of execution he again said a short prayer
24:47 and then climbed the few steps to the gallows, brave
24:51 and composed. His death ensued after a few
24:56 seconds. In the almost fifty years
24:59 that I worked as a doctor, I've hardly ever seen a man
25:03 die so entirely submissive to the will of God."
25:09 So what about grace? Is grace simply permission?
25:13 Is it permissiveness? Is grace license?
25:17 Is it some kind of get-out-of-jail-free card?
25:19 Is grace, well, it doesn't really matter what I do
25:21 because, after all, Jesus has got it covered?
25:25 Or does grace involve power? Does grace bring
25:28 transformation? The gospel of Jesus Christ
25:31 calls for a commitment to Jesus, a total commitment
25:34 to Jesus. Jesus says that we are not
25:37 to be of this world. He said in Matthew 22:37
25:41 that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart,
25:45 with all your soul, and with all your mind.
25:48 And quite simply, that's just Jesus saying, if you'll
25:53 let Me, if you'll want Me to, if you'll surrender
25:58 to Me, I'll come into your life and impact you so radically,
26:04 so totally, that I'll make a completely new person out
26:08 of you. Jesus says, I'll do that
26:11 for you, and I'll do that for you today, if you'll let Me,
26:17 if you want Me to. Do you want that today?
26:27 [Music]
26:47 [Change of music]
26:59 JB: I hope you'll get the book I'm offering you this week.
27:02 it's called' "Revelation Today." It unfolds the end times
27:07 scenario presented in the book of Revelation. This little book
27:10 is going to help you understand what the book of Revelation
27:13 is really all about. It untangles the end time
27:16 prophetic scenario to let you see how the battle between
27:19 good and evil ultimately plays out. Just call or write
27:23 and I'll send you '"Revelation Today."
27:25 There's no cost, no obligation, it's absolutely free.
27:29 All you need to do is call 1-800-253-3000
27:33 and ask for "Revelation Today." You can call 24 hours a day
27:37 if the line's busy, please just keep on trying.
27:41 You can also request your free copy of "Revelation Today"
27:44 by writing to It Is Written, P.O. Box 6, Chattanooga
27:48 TN, 37401. We'll mail you a copy to your address
27:53 in North America. To get it right away you can
27:56 download a free electronic version of the book,
27:58 "Revelation Today" from our website, itiswritten.com.
28:03 It Is Written is a faith based ministry, and your support makes
28:06 it possibe for us to share God's good news with the world.
28:10 Your tax deductible gift can be sent to the address
28:13 on your screen or through our website at
28:15 ItIsWritten.com. Thank you for your continued
28:18 prayerful support. Again, our toll-free number is
28:22 800-253-3000 and our web address is ItIsWritten.com.
28:31 JB: Let me pray with you today. Our Father in Heaven, thank
28:34 you for the power of grace, which allows us to be yours
28:38 in reality, not just in name, not just in
28:42 profession, which transforms us and makes us truly yours.
28:47 As we reflect upon the cost of discipleship, I pray that
28:50 we will experience the power, not of cheap grace,
28:52 but of your real, saving, transforming grace.
28:58 We ask your blessing now, and we pray in Jesus' name,
29:02 Amen.
29:12 [Music]
29:23 Thanks for joining me today. I look forward to seeing you
29:25 again next time. Until then, remember, '"It is
29:29 written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
29:34 word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
29:37 [Music]


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Revised 2017-03-25