The Cost of Discipleship in Postmodern Culture
"And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me"
Luke 9:23
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
(Dietrich Bonhoefer, The Cost of Discipleship)
I have a confession to make. I don't like where the Southern Baptist Convention and American Evangelicalism are at right now. Although I came of age in American Evangelicalism and went to some of the best schools American Evangelicalism and the Southern Baptist Convention has to offer, I was not at all impressed with both the spirituality and academic rigor of these movements.
I saw very little spiritual and intellectual authenticity in American Evangelicalism and the Southern Baptist world I came out of. We were too busy fighting the losing battles of the past, such as boycotting Disneyland or debating the timing of the rapture, than to speak to our neighbor about Christ in a way she or he could understand...
I look around me here in Princeton, New Jersey and see how very little, if any impact Evangelical and Baptists have made in this secular enviornment and it disheartens me. I realize now, that I must go rogue and develop my own approach to be an effective Christian witness here in a land or almost complete secularization.
As I reflect upon the suburban, upper middle class Evangelical world I came from, I realize that it has very few answers and even less effectiveness for the academic and secular culture I presently live in. I realize now, that I must go, "Full Metal Jesus" (go all out for Christ) in a brand new way to reach my world for Christ.
The little games Southern Baptists and Evangelicals play all the time mean absolutely nothing to the culture I am in and I am presently thinking about developing a cutting edge ministry with the distinctive purpose of being a Christian witness to the many atheists, agnostics and secularists I encounter in my new community.
I realize now that I must bust out of my little Evangelical comfort zone and go rogue for Christ. I realize. to be the most authentic witness I possibly can be to this secularized community, I must discard almost all the Evangelical and Southern Baptist baggage I have been enculturalized in.
Most people I encounter in the Princeton area want nothing to do with Christianity and feel that Christians have nothing to other them. I want to be the best and most authentic Christian I can be to point these skeptical people to a relationship with Jesus Christ...
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