Monday, July 1, 2013

The Cost of Discipleship



"When he was challenged by Jesus to accept a life of voluntary poverty, the rich young man knew he was faced with the simple alternative of obedience or disobedience. When Levi was called from the receipt of custom and Peter from his nets, there was no doubt that Jesus meant business. Both of them were to leave everything and follow. Again, when Peter was called to walk on the rolling sea, he had to get up and risk his life. Only one thing was required in each case--to rely on Christ's word, and cling to it as offering greater security than all the securities in the world."

"To be called to a life of extraordinary quality, to live up to it, and yet to be unconscious of it is indeed a narrow way."     
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship. 

Note:  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian who was arrested and executed in a Nazi concentration camp. His book The Cost of Discipleship, centered on the Beatitudes, explores what it means to respond to the call of Christ.  Ultimately, Bonhoeffer’s theology of “costly discipleship” led to his death.

Text source
Photo source

No comments:

Post a Comment