E-Crier: May 2023

 SPIRITUAL FOCUS: BOOK REVIEW

April 9^th marked the 78^th Anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian & Lutheran pastor. If you are not familiar with his life or his writings, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Eric Metaxas book titled, Seven Men: And The Secret of Their Greatness and The Cost of Discipleship, published by Collier Books paperback edition, 1963.

My first attempt at reading The Cost of Discipleship was fifty years ago. I recently purchased a copy, and I am a third of the way into it. I also secured a copy of Letters From Prison, easier reading and insightful. It seems to me that the titles of his books, which includes The Martyred Christian, would lend one to think that Dietrich was knew he was destined for martyrdom.

Dietrich was imprisoned as an active part of the resistance to Hitler’s rise to power. He felt he had a spiritual duty to actively oppose evil. He was imprisoned and hung a mere two weeks before American soldiers liberated his camp.

With the prevailing world state of flux and the currents of our political system, it seems appropriate to highlight Bonhoeffer’s life and writings. The apostles, save one, were each called on to die for Yeshua and the truth of the resurrection. Will we have so high a calling?

I will write more later, but from the final chapter we read, “Now we can understand why the New Testament speaks of becoming ‘like Christ.’ We have been transformed into the image of Christ and are therefore destined to be like Him. He is the only ‘pattern’ we must follow. And because He really lives life in us, we too can ‘walk even as he walked’ (1 John 2:6, and ‘do as he has done’ (John 13:15), ‘love as H has loved’ (Ephesians 5:2, John 13:34, 15:12), ‘forgive as He forgave’ (Colossians 3:13), ‘have this mind, which was also in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 2:5), and therefore we are able to follow the example he has left us (1 Peter 2:21), lay down our lives for the brethren as He did (1 John 3:16). It is only because He became like us that we can become like Him. It is only because we are identified with Him that we can become like Him. By being transformed into His image, we are enabled to model our lives on His. Now at last, deeds are performed, and life is lived in single-minded discipleship in the image of Christ, and His words find unquestioning obedience. We pay no attention to our own lives or the new image which we bear, for then we should at once have forfeited it, since it is only to serve as a mirror for the image of Christ on whom our gaze is fixed. The disciple looks solely at his Master. But when a man follows Jesus Christ and bears the Image of the incarnate, crucified and risen Lord, when he has become the image of God, we may at last say that he has been called to be the ‘imitator of God.’ The follower of Jesus is the imitator of God. “Be Ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children” (Ephesians 5:1).

We must experience transformation. If we do not, nothing has changed, and we have not become His image. We cannot have His mind, if we are not saturated by the Word. If we are defeated or enslaved by our old man, we have not become the new man. May we not be satisfied with staying status quo. This is a work by the Holy Spirit. May we be cooperative with the Holy Spirit and not resistant to His transformative work.