Tag: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Jesus proves God wants intimacy with us

Posted: 06 Sep 2011 12:00 AM PDT

By Jon Walker

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. (Matthew 6:5 TEV)

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“Christian prayer presupposes faith, that is, adherence to Christ. He is the one and only Mediator of our prayers. We pray at his command, and to that word Christian prayer is always bound.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

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Bonhoeffer notes that Jesus is proof that God wants intimacy with us. Jesus came to create a bridge to God, and we become intimate with the Father through Jesus.

This is a problem when we pray in pride. Prideful prayers set us up to be false mediators between others and God. They slyly say, “Look at how I pray. Watch me and see how persuasive I can be with God.” They suggest we have a special connection with God independent of our connection through Christ. That encourages others to believe our prayers have more meaning before God than their prayers, when the truth of the Bible is that anyone connected to God through Jesus can approach the throne of grace boldly (Hebrews 4:16).

Bonhoeffer says, “[Jesus] is the one and only Mediator of our prayers. We pray at his command, and to that word Christian prayer is always bound.”

This is the reason we pray in the name of Jesus and why eliminating the name of Jesus from our prayers is a significant theological issue.

It is important to note, then, the distinct difference between being an intercessor for others and any arrogant attempt to be a mediator for them. We do not connect anyone to God; Jesus connects them to God. But Jesus calls us to intercede on behalf of others, standing beside them and sometimes instead of them as we fulfill the law of Christ by carrying the burdens of others to God in prayer (Galatians 6:2).

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Discipleship: Looking Back is Double-mindedness

August 2nd, 2011 → 2:00 am @ admin

By Jon Walker

Someone else said, “I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.” Jesus said to him, “Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God.” Luke 9:61-62 (TEV)

“The trouble about this third would-be disciple is that at the very moment he expresses his willingness to follow, he ceases to want to follow at all. By making his offer on his own terms, he alters the whole position, for discipleship can tolerate no conditions which might come between Jesus and our obedience to him.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

When we follow Jesus, we cannot stipulate our own terms. Discipleship is not, Bonhoeffer notes, like a career we map out for ourselves: “I’ll do this for Jesus after I get the kids through school and build my retirement fund.” We cannot arrange things to suit ourselves; otherwise, Bonhoeffer says, we end up serving Jesus “in accordance with the standards of a rational ethic.”

This still leaves us in control, deciding our service on what makes sense. We may accomplish good things, but that doesn’t make us disciples of Jesus. Jesus says, “Anyone who starts to plow and then keeps looking back is of no use for the Kingdom of God” (Luke 9:61-62 TEV).

Looking back is double-mindedness. It makes us unstable and uncertain, and that’s the exact opposite of the focused following Jesus expects of us. It means there are moments in our relationship with Jesus when we say, ‘I’ll get back to you, Jesus, just as soon as I finish with my priorities.’ It is the creature putting the Creator on hold.

Jon Walker is the author of Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer’s ‘The Cost of Discipleship’ and Growing with Purpose. He has served on staff at Saddleback Church and Purpose Driven Ministries and is currently the managing editor of Rick Warren’s Daily Devotionals and the Ministry Toolbox. Contact him at questions@gracecreates.com. This article is copyrighted 2011 by Jon Walker. Used by permission.