The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - Discipleship and the IndividualChapter 5

Luke 14:26-27 (NLT)  ²⁶ “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.” See also Matt. 10:32-39

“Every man is called separately, and must follow alone. But men are frightened of solitude, and they try to protect themselves from it by merging themselves in the society of their fellow-men and in their material environment. They become suddenly aware of their responsibilities and duties, and are loath to part with them. But all this is only a cloak to protect them from having to make a decision [italics mine].”                                            D. Bonhoeffer

In our response to Christ, we must break with our past life, all aspects and elements of natural living. We do not choose to do this. It is Christ who compels us abandon all, not gradually over time or piecemeal but in one single, complete separation, setting up a barrier between our natural life and the life he calls us to. There can be no return for the disciple, for Christ bars access, we are cut off from being a part of the world (Rom. 12:12). John 17:13-18 shows us how Christ stands between us and God, interceding for he is our sole mediator. There is no other (1 Tim. 2:5) and we are unable to do it ourselves.

The world will make every effort to retain it’s hold on you, offering access to a multitude of “mediators” or gods, all who are virulently opposed to Christ having control. The difference is none of them, no person now or in the past, despite their claims or the claims made by any religion, can intercede before God on our behalf other than Christ himself. On this point there is no compromise. Admittedly, the pull of the world and its offered solutions is like dealing with an addiction, our worldly nature crying for us to set Christ aside and return to our previous life. Anyone or anything that prevents us from standing alone before Christ, and it must be alone, has to be renounced. To be his disciple requires we not turn back.

Some will argue; “I can follow Christ and keep my comforts. Look at Abraham, God gave him wealth and comfort after he left his home in Ur.” This is a trap for the believer. Christ alone will decide and provide what is best for you, not what you think is best for you. Again, we are back to deciding, my way or God’s way. There is no other choice. The principle in Joshua’s speech to Israel (Joshua 24:14-15) has not changed and is still relevant today.

So, we enter as a disciple alone, but we do not stay alone. Christ brings us into the fellowship of the church, a community who will more than compensate for all we have lost. Know this, what we gain also comes with a proviso – persecutions.

Are you ready to take up your cross, abandon all else and follow Christ?