The reason I feel every Christian should read this is because it draws one to a deeper understanding of belief in God. It raises many “what if” questions. These questions can reside far from reality in the eyes of most without a proper understanding of these situations. It made me draw upon the question, am I a Christian American, or am I an American Christian? My desire is to answer this question with neither and say that I am simply a Christian that lives in America (Christianity is Universal). However, this was not the case for the German Church during these dreadful years. The so called German Christians were rising up in the heart of Germany justifying the very evils of the Nazi regime by false interpretation of the scripture and restatements of important documents. On the other hand, one can’t deny that these men had good intentions. A favorite singer of mine ones said, “good intentions never set a man free” and that is so true. They were “Self respecting Christians who where patriotic and proud of their country”. Sound familiar?
“If I had been a Jew and had seen such dolts and blockheads govern and teach the Christian faith, I would sooner have become a hog than a Christian.” Martin Luther p. 88
So as the German Christians are giving into the hype, or choosing to remain indifferent by chosen ignorance, there is a small minority who can’t justify the evil of persecuting a race of people and claiming that one race is superior to another. (I might add that at this very time the water fountains, restrooms, schools, restaurants, etc. where segregated in the United States so, we have no place to judge.) Among this group of outcast Christians in Germany was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was perhaps the most consistent and out spoken critic of the Nazi regime on Christian ground. Hitler and the Nazis claimed to be Christians for political gain, but hated the humility and selflessness of those who follow Christ.
“It’s been our misfortune to have the wrong religion. Why didn’t we have the religion of the Japanese, who regard sacrifice for the Fatherland as the biggest good? The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?” Hitler p. 165
Bonhoeffer and a handful of others saw the extreme contradiction and stood up for true Christianity. On the contrary, where the handful tried to give Hitler the benefit of the doubt, and hope to convert him, Bonhoeffer stood his ground. When his close friends believed that he was to extreme with his views and sermons, he did not budge. Bonhoeffer was a man of faith when the whole world even other Christians stood against him.
“It is 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 realize that this is the very least the Bible requires of us?” p.246
It’s easy to look at the work and actions of Bonhoeffer and believe that if put in the same positions as the great theologians one would have acted in the same way. The interesting thing is that a great majority of Christians in America would say that now. But as I stated earlier, there were only a handful of Christians who stood up to the Nazis and some were unsure about how hard to stand against the regime because of the success of the country. The Nations of Germany was brain washed. They stood back and watched while millions of Jews were killed.
The only way to judge if one was willing to stand up for the Gospel as Bonhoeffer did, is to use current situations as an example. It is easy to say that we are not in the same situation as Germany, but to say so is to be ignorant to evil and remain indifferent to the evils in our world. When we have 27 million modern day slaves, I want you to ask yourself, are you taking a stand against it? When 400-600 teenagers in Wichita (or any major city) are at risk everyday to being captured and forced into sex slavery how are you making a difference? When every year millions of lives are being taken and justified because they are categorized as unborn do you remain indifferent? Those who are like me and marvel at the faith of a man like Bonhoeffer and long to “Speak out for those who cannot speak” have our chance in this world. My question to myself and everyone else is a question in which Bonhoeffer concluded a speech to his Berlin students at a youth conference, “What are you waiting for the time is late?”(p.242).
My favorite section of the book was Bonhoeffer’s first trip to America. Believe it or not, Bonhoeffer struggled quite a bit in his search for a real fundamental presentation of the Gospel. It didn’t help that his place of study was Union theological Seminary in New York City. Those who know of seminaries know that Union is very liberal in its interpretation of Scripture and that is not how Bonhoeffer believed the bible should be understood. The book portrays Bonhoeffer as almost feeling sorry for the American Church stating, “There is no theology here” (p.101). Early in his trip Bonhoeffer wrote this about the New Your City preaching style, “In New York they preach about virtually everything, only one thing is not addressed, or is addressed so rarely, that I have as yet been unable to hear it, namely, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the cross, sin and forgiveness, death and life” (p.106).
Bonhoeffer’s saving grace for the American church was the African-American Church in Harlem. Filled with elders who were once slaves under American law, there was a stern sense of suffering. Eric Metaxes put it this way, “Bonhoeffer’s experiences with the African American community underscored an idea that was developing in his mind: the only real piety and power that he had seen in the American church seemed to be in the churches where there were a present reality and a past history of suffering.” In reading this I am reminded of Jesus’ own words, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” This time in American proved to be the Exodus for Black American’s so one (myself include since I am black) can understand the strong sense of hope in Christ that must have been experienced by the African-American Churches during the time Bonhoeffer was in America. It also makes sense that the Black Church would hold on to every bit of the Gospel. The community as a whole knew that God was their only hope to escape this slavery so they would cling to him with every bit of their soul.
Of course this is only a brief summary of the biography “Bonhoeffer”. What about the others who were with Bonhoeffer, his family or even how he came to the conclusion that attempting to assassinate Hitler was the right thing to do, and his short lived love story? This is just something you will have to read for yourself. This book is one that I am sure I will read again and has shaped the way I will follow Jesus forever. Perhaps the one reason this book draws me in so deeply, is because Bonhoeffer was not willing to die for what he thought was right; instead he gave his life for that which Christ believed is right. For me, as a man who is after God’s own heart, that is the common accord I will stand for as well.
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