Bonhoeffer's Challenge Now Becomes Ours

I have been listening to a dramatized story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer produced by Focus on the Family. It is part of their Radio Theatre productions. (By the way, these are excellent. The seven part series on the Chronicles of Narnia are outstanding!) Some of you probably have read, or are at least familiar with, Bonhoeffer's classic work "The Cost of Discipleship." This really should be required reading for every believer.

But what struck me this morning as I was re-listening to this story was the fact of what happened in New York City when Bonhoeffer came as a student at Union Theological Seminary in 1930-31. There he became part of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem and grew in friendship with an international cadre of students and religious leaders. It was there that he was confronted with racial discrimination and was faced with the question of how one people believed they had the right to rule over another.

One day a friend asked him a question that would forever change Bonhoeffer's theology and his world. The question was: "Dietrich, if you are forced to choose between obedience to your government or obedience to the Scriptures and to Jesus Christ, whom will you choose?" At that moment in time events were already transpiring in Germany that caused many to fear as to Hitler's intents; but Dietrich waved them off casually as being just emotions of the moment. But still that seed was planted.

As you might remember, Dietrich became a leader in what was known as the Confessing Church, that part of the Lutheran body in Germany that did not subscribe to the teachings of the Nazis. Bonhoeffer became active in helping others to know what the Nazis really stood for. He was arrested and tried for treason, and in 1944 was hung for his crimes. Yes, he had to choose.

As I listened this morning that question, asked of Bonhoeffer that day in 1931, became very real to me. Our nation seems to be as theologically and ethically confused today as was Germany in the 1930s. The Church's voice has been more silent than it has been vocal toward the ills that are pervading our society today. Accommodation and toleration has become the operative words. Yet, on the horizon lies the imprint of a radical homosexual agenda. Will I speak out and speak biblical truth if the government rules that I could be arrested and imprisoned because of those words?

Friends, these are sobering times. Times for each one of us to re-evaluate our commitment to Christ. Will you and I have the boldness of a Peter and John who stated enthusiastically to the Sanhedrin, "We must obey God rather than men!" (Acts 5:29)? Or will we quietly walk away and yield to the will of those who rule over us?

You might be saying, "It won't happen here!" But that is precisely what Bonhoeffer thought in 1931; yet it happened. He had to make a choice; his choice cost him his life.

There is a line from an old hymn that speaks so powerfully: "Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid/Your heart, does the Spirit control?" Powerful questions for today's Christians. How will I answer? How will you answer?