Bonhoeffer: The Disciple and the Unbeliever

In Chapter 18, Bonhoeffer tackles “The Disciple and Unbelievers”, the “judge not lest ye be judged” portion of Matthew 7.  He continues with the idea of “hiddenness”, in this instance reminding us that our righteousness is hidden from us:  “He is a disciple not because he possesses such a new standard, but only because of Jesus Christ, the Mediator and very Son of God. That is to say, his righteousness is hidden from himself in fellowship with Jesus.  He cannot, as he once could, be a detached observer of himself and judge himself, for he can only see Jesus, and be seen by Him, judged by Him, and reprieved by Him.”  We cannot set ourselves up as judges of others, drawing lines of distinction between “us and them.”  Our righteousness is not a righteousness we own or can claim; it is only the imputed righteousness of Christ, and we know that we are but filthy rags before that righteousness.  There can be no claim of personal righteousness.  

Galatians 6: 1 – 5 says “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.  Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.  If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.  Each one should test his own actions.  Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.”

This is an interesting passage:  how can we carry each other’s burdens while also carrying our own load?    Bonhoeffer says “Discipleship does not afford us a point of vantage from which to attack others; we come to them with an unconditional offer of fellowship, with the single-mindedness of the love of Jesus.”  We love other people, we offer them “an unconditional offer of fellowship”—we carry each other’s burdens and fulfill the law of Christ.  At the same time, “if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing he deceives himself”—we are not to compare ourselves to others, to pull ourselves up by pushing others down, but rather to “carry our own load.”  All are only justified in Christ Jesus—we are not to seek self-justification, or to be justified by comparing to others.  Bonhoeffer says “Christian love sees the fellow-man under the cross and therefore sees with clarity.  If when we judged others, our real motive was to destroy evil, we should look for evil where it is certain to be found, and that is in our own hearts.  But if we are only the look-out for evil in others, our real motive is obviously to justify ourselves, for we are seeking to escape punishment for our own sins by passing judgement on others, and are assuming that the Word of God applies to ourselves in one way, and to others in another.  All this is highly dangerous and misleading.”  

The Word of God applies to all—all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3: 23).  We cannot look at ourselves one way and others in another way; we all have sinned and fall short of God’s glory.  We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way (Isaiah 53: 6).  But the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all, and we are all justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption that came in Christ Jesus (Isaiah 53: 6b and Romans 3: 24).  We have all gone astray, we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.  We cannot stand in our own righteousness, we are in no position to judge others.  As forgiven children of God, we can bring the message of redemption and forgiveness to others—and in this way share their burdens, to comfort those convicted and overwhelmed by their sin. But we carry our own loads as we do this, we know that we ourselves are full of sins and we know our secret faults; we are under no illusions about our own righteousness and failings.  

We are also in no position to attempt to believe on behalf of others, to force faith upon them or to aggressively persuade them of their sins and need for a Savior. This is the work of the Holy Spirit alone, not a burden we can take on.  Bonhoeffer compares this forced proselytizing to “casting pearls before swine”; he says that a careless casting of the pearls of forgiveness before those who reject the forgiveness and salvation of Christ is futile and dangerous.  “Our easy trafficking with the word of cheap grace simply bores the world to disgust….” he says, back to the theme of cheap grace with which he started the book.  We should not be proffering words of forgiveness to unrepentant hearts, hearts which perceive no need of the saving grace of Christ Jesus.  While we long to help our brothers and sisters lost to sin, we long to help carry their burdens by bringing them the gospel message of forgiveness, we cannot ultimately believe for them—we cannot carry that load.  

Bonhoeffer spends an interesting discussion on how the Word of God is not an ideology, in fact it allows itself to be weaker than an ideology in that it leaves room for rejection.  Fanatics force their message onto to others with marketing and propaganda and twisted words and twisted arms.  Disciples of Christ bring the message of forgiveness and salvation but never with force or coercion:  there is always room to reject the message of faith.  “To try and force the Word on the world by hook or by crook is to make the living Word of God into a mere idea, and the world would be perfectly justified in refusing to listen to an idea for which it had no use.  But at other times, the disciples must stick to their guns and refuse to run away, though of course only when the Word so wills.”

In our charge of making disciples of all nations, we do not have the power or authority to coerce others to faith.  But we are given the power of prayer.  And Bonhoeffer draws this line of thought between what initially seem like disparate verses in Matthew 7—the pearls should not be given to swine, but we should ask, seek and knock.  Where we find the message of Christ rejected, we cannot force it on others either by tailor-made judgement of others which reeks of self-justification; we cannot throw the pearl of forgiveness before the swine of unrepentant hearts; but we are called upon to pray for the good of others and for God’s will to be done, that the Word would be heard, that sin would be repented of and forgiveness and salvation granted by faith.  This is the power given to the disciples of Jesus Christ, that of coming before the throne of grace, before the God of the Universe who desires all people to be saved, and to petition Him on behalf of our fellows.  In this way also we bear their burdens, as we pray for others in their need and for their salvation.  Bonhoeffer ends this chapter saying “There is only one judgement, one law, and one grace.  Henceforth disciples will look upon other men as forgiven sinners who owe their lives to the love of God.  ‘This is the law and the prophets’—for this is none other than eh supreme commandment:  to love God above all things and our neighbors as ourselves.”

1)      It is human nature to make little of our faults while judging others. We are always looking to justify ourselves.  When you look at others, what do you see?  Do you see people who are worse than you—people specks in their eyes that you see clearly?  Or do you recognize that you and they are sinners the same, both fallen and in need of forgiveness?  

2)      Have you been tempted to “force” the message of salvation on someone?  How does this chapter speak to you in this regard?  How might your actions change?  Spend time praying for the people in your life who are in need of the message of salvation and forgiveness in Christ, pray that His will be done and that a way be opened for the Word.  

3)      Our righteousness comes only in Jesus Christ.  We are clothed in His righteousness alone.  How does this blind you to both your faults and any goodness you may otherwise try to claim?  Since we have no righteousness of our own, how does this shape your interactions with other people?