Trust God and the Truth He Has Revealed

I recently finished the new biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, titled Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy and authored by Eric Metaxas (Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, TN, copyright 2010).

Biographies are interesting to me. If written honestly, a biography will present a person’s positive traits and his or her flaws. In reading this exhaustive and authoritative biography, one learns that Bonhoeffer possessed outstanding traits in abundance and very few flaws of character. He is best remembered for his heroic public outcry and stand against the Third Reich in Germany.

Part of the Nazi strategy for Germany was to silence the churches. It was thought this could best be accomplished by infiltrating and then compromising the church – which was done successfully. The church was even given a new name: the Reich Church. Some voices spoke out against this infiltration – and many of these church leaders were punished. No voice spoke louder than that of Bonhoeffer, a professor at that time with the University of Berlin. With overseas friends, he was able to communicate clearly the Nazi threat to Europe and the world. Along with other pastors, Bonhoeffer and other pastors became known as “the young reformers.” Bonhoeffer was their leader.

Bonhoeffer and those of like mind formed a group called The Confessing Church. The Confessing Church stood in opposition to the Reich Church and made public outcries against the persecution of Jewish persons. Bonhoeffer and The Confessing Church used the metaphor of a bicycle wheel: “defend the victims who have fallen under the wheel” of persecution. “Cast yourself into the spokes of the wheel itself” to halt the government’s murderous progress. Many of those “young reformers” were put into concentration camps. The others were harassed.

What really enlightens the student is the connection Bonhoeffer rightly made between the health of the church and the national interest. He understood that a healthy church, discerning clearly what is right from what is wrong, and basing this understanding on the Bible’s teaching, is vital to having a healthy country.

For his outspokenness against Nazi policies, the war and the Fuehrer; for aiding Jewish people in hope of seeing them survive; in discovery of his complicity in a plot to remove Hitler, Bonhoeffer was arrested in 1943. Eventually he was executed for his role in the conspiracy against Hitler in 1945, about three weeks before the end of the war.

There will always be opposition to God’s truth. Occasionally the opposition will be strong. People who faithfully serve the risen Christ may be ridiculed. Some will be persecuted. A few will die the death of a martyr, like Bonhoeffer.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life is a not-too-distant example of steadfastness in the face of danger, of pursuing faithfulness at all costs. While he may have lost his life in this temporary realm, he gained life abundantly in the next world and in another place, the Heaven of God. He joined an exclusive group, the martyrs – of whom God has said they are especially “blessed.”

Bonhoeffer’s life teaches many lessons. Perhaps two that should be especially remembered are, first, faithfulness is remembered; secondly, righteousness does prevail.

Be faithful. Practice the right. Trust God and the truth He has revealed.