Constant Presence

Excerpts from Ed Stetzer post:  Book Interview:  Jon Walker On Costly Grace

...

Now Jon Walker has written Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship. Jon is the editor of Rick Warren's Daily Hope devotionals and the founding editor of the Ministry Toolbox. He served on staff at Saddleback Church and Purpose Driven Ministries.

...


ES: Bonhoeffer says the Church does certain things that make Jesus seem insignificant. What are those and do you think they are present in the Church today?

JW: First, Bonhoeffer says the Church has reduced the gospel to a set of burdensome rules, the antithesis of the easy yoke we should find in Jesus. We've loaded the gospel down with so many extra-biblical routines and regulations-- 'a real Christian ought to, has to, must do' -- that it is difficult for anyone to find the real Jesus.

We make our legal lists and that makes us legalists. But that teaches people they have to work their way up to God's standard of righteousness, which challenges the very Word of God, who is the crucified and resurrected Jesus. When we keep insisting that, through our behaviors and our attitudes, we can match godly standards of righteousness, we dismiss the Incarnation and suggest Jesus is insignificant to our hope for heaven?

Second, Bonhoeffer says the Church uses the doctrine of grace as an excuse for shallow discipleship and for a pervasive acceptance of sin in the Body of Christ. We've taken "I am a sinner saved by grace" and turned it into "I can sin because of grace." This allows us to be satisfied with discipleship as mere Bible study. Jesus appears insignificant because he doesn't seem to have the power or authority to really change our lives.

These two approaches are as prevalent now as they were in 1937, when Bonhoeffer wrote, "The Cost of Discipleship." In either case, a burdensome religion or a presumptive attitude on grace, we end up practicing a religion far removed from the intimate relationship God requires we have with Jesus Christ. The essence of discipleship is to know Jesus at a level of intimacy that can only be sustained by his constant presence in our lives.

ES: You say that following Jesus requires an "obedient trust." That is such a specific phrase. What do you mean by it? Can you give a biblical illustration?

JW: In many ways, the word "faith" has lost its meaning. We speak of faith, but often what we mean is something abstract and fanciful. In writing Costly Grace, I wanted the reader to understand the biblical essence of the word. Faith is not only trusting Jesus, it also means we are obedient to Jesus. We line up with the will of God and that shows we love God. We do what Jesus tells us to do and that shows we trust him. It is a loving, obedient trust.

Bonhoeffer says this means our faith must be concrete. We show Jesus we trust him by being obedient to what he tells us to do. And by being obedient, we learn that we can trust him more.

When Jesus walked on the water, Peter verbally expressed faith that Jesus could empower him to walk on the water also. But his faith didn't become real until he stepped out of the boat. That's when it became a concrete faith, when he climbed out of the boat in obedience to the call of Jesus. When he put his foot on the water and it didn't sink, he learned he could trust Jesus. That made it easier to be obedient with the next step, where he, again, learned Jesus was good for his promises.