The man who leapt in front of a car

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran clergyman and a lecturer at the University of Berlin when Hitler came to power in 1933. Though most Germans were dazzled by the pyrotechnic blaze of Hitler’s leadership, Bonhoeffer remained clear sighted, and what he saw frightened him. “When a madman is tearing through the streets in a car,” he said, “I can as a pastor who happens to be on the scene, do more than merely console or bury those who have been run over. I must jump in front of the car and stop it.” So Bonheoffer leapt in front of the car. As a result, he was arrested on April 5, 1943, and two years later, he was hung in the concentration camp at Flossenburg.

How many of us are prepared to choose suffering for the sake of a worthy cause? Bonhoeffer wrote in ‘Letters and Papers from Prison’: “It is infinitely easier to suffer in obedience to a human command than to accept suffering as free responsible men”. That is to say, it is easier to accept suffering when it is forced upon me than to choose it of my own free will.

Now here’s the rub: most people in the world are too poor to avoid hardship, but this is not true in my case. My social and financial standing make it possible for me to freely choose comfort over hardship.  Consequently, I find it hard to freely deny myself and my family for the sake of the gospel. This might be one of the reasons why Jesus said, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:24)."

It would be easier if God FORCED me to suffer for the sake of His cause. It would be easier, perhaps, if He sent me an email with precise instructions.

Be that as it may, I would like to give God permission to lead me along the path of hardship, even suffering, for the sake of the good news about Jesus. After all, did not Jesus set aside the privileges of heaven and for my sake became obedient to death on a cross? The gospel message offers a treasure beyond worth. God uses it to turn rebels into children, to bring the dead to life and to turn darkness into light. There is much at stake, so may God give me the grace to follow Jesus’ example for the sake of those that need to hear the good news.

In the words of Bonhoeffer:

“It is infinitely easier to suffer in obedience to a human command than to accept suffering as free responsible men. It is infinitely easier to suffer with others than to suffer alone. It is infinitely easier to suffer as public heroes than to suffer apart in ignominy. It is infinitely easier to suffer physical death than to endure physical suffering. Christ suffered as a free man alone, apart and in ignominy, in body and in spirit, and since that day many Christians have suffered with him”... but God did not force them to, it was the result of free obedience to Him. I guess it all hinges on what we value.

Cheers for now - Ian