Cheap Grace

I was recently drawn to the biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy to help me answer questions our country faces today with the political divisions and how the Christian faith is seen as responsible for those differences.   In this autobiography, I learned about Bonhoeffer's book "The Cost of Discipleship" where he describes cheap grace, grace without price, grace without cost.   For years, I have personally chosen to do my best to separate faith and politics.  In hindsight, it seems that, this is a form of cheap grace, because I haven't paid the cost of speaking the full truth as represented in the Bible.   My version of Christianity has been to do my best to love people irregardless of their believes and to avoid discussing contentious topics, striving to accept everyone irregardless of their beliefs.  However my version of Christianity has been incomplete without sharing the truth of the Bible, where we are called to be salt and light.

In the early years of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, he modeled a life in which he was able to respectfully share and debate his beliefs with others of opposing positions.   Surely this is the ideal situation however, he clearly wasn't afforded those freedoms later in his life as the cancer of the Hitler regime enveloped Europe.  His conviction to live a truthful life was transformed from one of resistance through influence and commentary to one of direct opposition to what plagued his country.

As for myself, I'm looking for a way to integrate my faith in Christ with how I can authentically show up in the world when some of the controversial topics of our time require standing up for truth.

The German theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was confronted with this reality when he stood up against the government organizing by helping to organize the Confessing Church.  Through the Confessing Church he advocated for removal of the anti-semantic measures preventing Jewish Christians from attending the Evangelical Church of Germany.

What I didn't anticipate in completing this biography, was to learn how systematically the Christian churches who opposed Hitler where completely undermined; how the legal system was used to oppress the free speech of Christians eventually arresting pastors that didn't conform to their laws.

It's true that not all churches opposed Hitler.  The churches of Germany were divided on their response, just as the churches of our time are divided.  Some of our churches are conforming to the social pressures of our time in an effort to love those who have felt judged and other churches are opposing cultural change so strongly that they completely alienate their fellow believers.