Blog

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Bonhoeffer on Life

"Being a Christian does not mean being religious in a certain way, or on the basis of some methodology to make something out of oneself, such as a sinner, penitent, or saint. It means being a human being. Christ creates us to be human, not to be some special type of human being. It is not some religious act that makes one a Christian, but taking part in God's own suffering amid worldly life. That is what conversion means. Not to think first of one's own distress or questions or sins or fears, but rather to allow oneself to be swept onto the path of Jesus Christ, into the messianic event itself, into realization that Isaiah 53 is now fulfilled. Hence: "Believe in the gospel," or John's reference to the 'Lamb of God, who bears the sin of the world' ...

... Jesus calls us not to a new religion, but to life."

Labels: discipleship, reflective, theology