Well, I'm not quite sure yet, but I do want to write weekly spotlights of people who have impacted my life and thinking. These will be authors, theologians, family members, friends and those I admire. My ultimate goal is to encourage depth of relationships with those we already know and suggest impactful reading material.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
For anyone who knows anything about me, it is fitting that this is the first spotlight. I probably get more excited when talking about Bonhoeffer than any other theologian, or maybe even person. Bonhoeffer was a Christian during World War II who spearheaded the assassination plots against Hitler and led the largest network (and one of the only) of underground churches in Germany that opposed the acts of the Nazis. While most Christians in Germany blindly followed Hitler from the beginning, Bonhoeffer sensed an urgency that he needed to be stopped.
What impresses me most is that Bonhoeffer was a pacifist his whole life. For many years, he struggled with his call to put an end to Hitler's reign. I will leave you with a quote that changed the way I view my life's call. In his essay After Ten Years, Bonhoeffer analyzes the relationship between public responsibility and private virtue. He writes,
Who stands fast? Only the man whose final standard is not his reason, his principles, his conscience, his freedom, or his virtue, but who is ready to sacrifice all this when he is called to obedient and responsible action in faith and in exclusive allegiance to God — the responsible man, who tries to make his whole life an answer to the question and call of God. Where are these responsible people?
Bonhoeffer made his final standard allegiance to God, and so he was able to follow the call that directly led to Hiler's demise. An incredible challenge for me.
Suggested reading:
Life Together by Bonhoeffer
Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy by Eric Metaxas
No comments:
Post a Comment