The Courage & Conviction of Dietrich Bonhoeffer

A film is coming out this weekend (trailer below) on the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a man who is surprisingly one of the primary reasons I am a pastor.

Back in 2012, I was working full time in corporate America while taking seminary classes at night. At the time, I was not quite sure what God might do with the seminary degree. The thought of becoming a pastor was certainly a possibility, or perhaps returning to the mission field, or even staying in corporate America and serving one day as a well educated lay elder.

As I was nearing the end of my seminary degree, I picked up a copy of Eric Metaxis’ book Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. I had previously read two of Bonhoeffer’s books, The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together, but I had never read of his life. Little did I know, that biography would change my own life.

When it comes to theology, it is safe to say that there is a lot that Dietrich Bonhoeffer and I would disagree on. He was extremely theologically liberal, and I am quite strongly theologically conservative. In fact, since reading the biography of Bonhoeffer’s life many years ago, I have since become quite unsettled by his theology which appears to reject a number of the core doctrines of historical orthodox Christianity. In other words, Bonhoeffer is no champion of credal Christianity. Yet despite our significant theological differences, there is one thing Bonhoeffer and I would deeply share, and that is the belief that our Christian faith is intended to impact the world, and that achieving that end often requires courage, conviction, and a willingness to do and say what other’s won’t.

Bonhoeffer was a pastor and theologian in Germany during the rise of Adolph Hitler. It was a precarious time in Germany’s history, and many pastors did not have the courage to speak or to act. While there were certainly the Christian voices that spoke out against Nazism, the great majority attempted to find compatibility between their faith and Hitler’s National Socialism. This was of course a nearly impossible task considering Christianity’s birth out of Judaism, the very faith and people Hitler was trying to exterminate. Bonhoeffer writing on the passivity of most German Christians at this time said,

“It is also high time we broke with our theologically based restraint towards the state’s actions—which, after all, is only fear. “Speak out for those who cannot speak”—who in the church today realizes that this is the very least that the Bible requires of us?”

He understood deeply the need for the Church to intervene on issues of justice, to bring light into darkness, and to speak counter-culturally and politically even when it meant taking friendly fire from fellow Christians who sought for a more neutral approach.
One of Bonhoeffer’s distinctives was his unwillingness to turn a blind eye combined with his ability to read the signs of the times. While other Christians were looking for a way to blend in, Bonhoeffer was internally wrestling with what it meant to stand out by standing for Christ. And when it became clear that Hitler’s intentions were not only anti-Christian, but were maniacally genocidal, Bonhoeffer began to wrestle with how far a Christian was permitted to go in resisting evil.

At one point earlier in the War, when things began to get bad in Germany, Bonhoeffer took an assignment in America. While in America, having escaped the dangers in his own country, he realized his predicament. Looking over the ocean, he could imagine the pains and difficulties his own countrymen were going through. He struggled with the decision to return to Germany where his life would certainly be far more difficult during the war, or to stay in America and wait out the worst of the war. During this time, he wrote in his journal,
I have had the time to think and to pray about my situation and that of my nation and to have God’s will for me clarified. I have come to the conclusion that I have made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period of our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I shall have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.
We see in that journal entry Bonhoeffer’s vision of the Christian life. He saw his life as wrapped up in God’s work overcoming evil. No matter the cost to himself, he knew that if he were to have any voice at all, he could not take the easy path of avoidance during the worst of times. He could not play it safe during the war if he hoped to return after the war and help rebuild the country he loved. His Christian faith demanded he run into the fire! And so he did.

When Bonhoeffer returned to Germany, he found his country on the brink of ruin. True Christianity had been crushed, and all that was left was a state-sponsored caricature of Christianity. But an underground resistance was bubbling. Bonhoeffer was forced to wrestle with a very deep theological conundrum. To what degree was political resistance permitted as a follower of Christ? Could he join a group attempting to assassinate Hitler? Could he help smuggle Jews out of Germany? For Bonhoeffer, the answer was simple. It was his Christian duty to resist.

There is debate on how far Bonhoeffer’s political resistance went. Some claim (as I believe the upcoming film on Bonhoeffer’s life will display) that he was involved in a major assassination attempt on Hitler’s life (an attempt that was made rather famous in the Tom Cruise film Valkyrie). Other’s claim that he never took such action, but instead limited his resistance to aiding Jews escaping Germany during the war. I believe the evidence suggests that Bonhoeffer was indeed part of the Valkyrie plot! But either way, we can be certain that Bonhoeffer functioned as a spy within Nazi Germany thwarting Hitler’s regime. Because of this work, Bonhoeffer would be arrested, held in a concentration camp, and ultimately hanged days before the end of World War II.

I remember first finishing Metaxis’ biography on Bonhoeffer. My heart was pounding as I plowed through those last hundred pages, reading of his courage, his steadfast devotion to Christ, and the way he handled himself as he approached his death. It was nearly 2:00 in the morning when I put the book down, and I prayed a prayer that sounded like this, “God, I’m willing and ready. I don’t think I’ve been holding back, but I want to have the courage of Bonhoeffer. I want to be used by you no matter the cost. So keep me where I am, or send me somewhere new, but I offer myself to be used however you see fit.“

The very next morning, quite literally seven hours after saying that prayer, I walked into Church an hour before the service began. My Pastor at the time, who is now a dear friend, approached me immediately and said words that neither he nor I had ever discussed before. He said, “Raef, I believe that you are supposed to quite your job and come join the pastoral staff at our Church.” It wasn’t the way I expected God to answer that prayer, but I knew it was an answer nonetheless.

Nearly thirteen years later, Bonhoeffer still holds a very near and dear spot in my heart. He is an emblem of Christian courage and an example of fighting the good fight. In his day, Bonhoeffer was labeled a “Christian lunatic” and fringe activist. But history remembers him differently. He stood for what was right and was willing to sacrifice his safety, his freedoms, his comforts, and his privileges in order to stand for biblical justice.

Today, we need Christian men and women of Bonhoeffer resolve and courage. We need Christians who allow Bonhoeffer’s courage to bubble up inside of them as well. We need Christians who are not content to play their Christianity quietly and nicely, while wicked injustices occur all around them. Indeed there is a genocide happening in our own country right now, a genocide that claims the lives of millions every year, the genocide of legalized abortion. Further, the wicked ideologies of Cultural Marxism, Freudian / Kinzian Hyper-Sexuality, atheism, and many others, have permeated every facet of our culture, leading to all kinds of brokenness, idolatry, and death. We need Christians who are unafraid to say the simple clear truth out loud, no matter the consequences.

Oh Lord, may you raise up a generation of men and women with spiritual courage like Dietrich Bonhoeffer.