Dietrich Bonhoeffer: No Cheap Grace

I often struggle with how to balance opposing injustice and evil while maintaining my Christian commitment to mercy, peace, and forgiveness. I am sure in a world that is so divided, many of us share this struggle. As Christians, can we reject today’s evil and still obtain a Christlike demeanor in a world of violence? Dietrich Bonhoeffer tried to thread the needle of saving Jews from extermination and standing against the Nazi Regime, Hitler in particular.

In 1933 after Hitler rose to power, Bonhoeffer became the leading spokesperson for the Confessing Church, which became the center of Protestant resistance in Nazi occupied Europe. Bonhoeffer organized and led the underground seminary, which if caught, could have led to his death. He was willing to risk his life and prepare others to save innocent Jewish lives. His book, Life Together, chronicles the life of that seminary.

In his most famous text, The Cost of Discipleship, he criticizes “cheap grace.” He felt many church leaders used grace as an excuse for moral laxity. In simple terms, “cheap grace” is preaching forgiveness without the requirement of repentance, offering baptism without church discipline, giving communion without a profession of faith. In other words, cheap grace requires no discipleship, nor does it require one to carry the cross or follow Jesus Christ. Cheap grace expects the benefits of salvation without any individual cost involved. For Dietrich Bonhoeffer, showing up wasn’t enough.

Even though Bonhoeffer was taught to conform to authority, he came to realize that a stand against the authority of injustice required the devout Christian to act. When it came to standing up against Hitler, Bonhoeffer faced an existential crisis. If he did not take action against Hitler, then thousands of more Jews would be killed. If he participated in Hitler’s assassination, then he would be guilty of the murder.

Since he believed murder was a sin, he could pay the price of eternal damnation. Therefore, he could stop Hitler and save thousands of lives, but it would cost him his salvation. He could also do nothing, which would result in thousands of more innocent deaths. In his mind and heart, he chose the lesser of two evils and was willing to sacrifice not only his life but his salvation for the sake of others. In essence, he was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice so that others might live. In the end, he was responding to God’s call to pick up his cross, carry it, and follow Christ.

I teach high school students, and they completely comprehend the concept of an existential crisis. Many of them are facing their own existential crisis right now. As a result, they can identify with Bonhoeffer’s ethical dilemma. When we study the gospel passage about the cost of discipleship, I teach my students that it’s more than just carrying our cross. Picking up and carrying our cross is only half of the call to discipleship. To fully live into the call of a Christian, we must carry our cross and follow Jesus.

We can’t take our cross in our own direction. There is only one direction. Bonhoeffer knew this and was willing to sacrifice the salvation of his soul for the benefit of the gospel. My students grasp the complexity of this reality. They realize the only way the world will become healed of its evil is “not to be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12: 2), so that life will have both purpose and meaning. Also, they accept the nuance and the distinction in which carrying the cross offers us the purpose of life and following Jesus provides the meaning.

In the end, Bonhoeffer comprehended the complexity in discipleship and realized there were no easy answers. He paid the cost of discipleship when he picked up his cross and followed Jesus. He certainly knew that “cheap grace” was an outward sign of inward cowardice and true grace only comes from God.