Actual Christians meet high demands

February 18, 2007 -- Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

By Bishop Robert Morneau

	Bishop Robert Morneau
	Questions for reflection: 1. Do you experience discipleship as being costly? 2. How do you deal with your enemies? 3. What is our experience of forgiveness?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1905-1945), the Lutheran theologian and pastor who was executed at the end of World War II, is well-known for his phrase "the cost of discipleship." Equally well-known is his "no cheap grace." Christianity is demanding and it comes as no surprise that although the numbers of Christians in the world are in the millions, the numbers of those who follow the way of Christ are less numerous.

How could it be otherwise? Listen to the demands of discipleship: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, give to everyone who asks, lend without expectations, be merciful to all, stop judging, forgive everyone, and the list goes on. Add to these moral requirements the demands of faith: that God is a Trinity of persons, yet one God; that God has taken on flesh in the Incarnation; that the Holy Spirit dwells deep within the soul. Nominal Christians abound; actual Christians might well be an endangered species.

In the book of Samuel we see David being hunted down by Saul. When David has the opportunity to kill his enemy, he refuses. By sparing Saul's life, we are given an example of conduct pleasing to God. Conventional wisdom would call this foolishness; God's wisdom directs us to justice and faithfulness. David would not harm the Lord's anointed even though that anointed one was out to do him harm.

St. Paul makes a distinction of utmost importance: the natural and the spiritual; the earthly and the heavenly. By contrasting Adam and Christ, we realize that unless we are transformed by grace, the natural and earthly will govern our lives. We will kill when hunted; we will refuse forgiveness to those who are not remorseful; we will judge and condemn others at the drop of a hat; we will expect a return from every good deed. But the graced person, converted from our radical narcissism, will respond as Christ did. This is made possible by the gift of the Holy Spirit.

In the preface to Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1954), we read: "For him [Bonhoeffer] Christianity could never be merely intellectual theory, doctrine divorced from life, or mystical emotion, but always it must be responsible, obedient action, the disciples of Christ in every situation of concrete everyday life, personal and public" (8).

As important as orthodoxy (right thinking) is, it is orthopraxis (right doing) that provides evidence of authentic discipleship.

We might do well to ponder these reflections from Bonhoeffer from his Life Together: "The sin of respectable people reveals itself in flight from responsibility" (11); "It is not our heart that determines our course, but God's Word" (55); "The prayer of the morning will determine the day" (71); "But to speak about a brother covertly is forbidden" (92); "The Church does not need brilliant personalities but faithful servants of Jesus and the brethren" (109); "Confession is the renewal of the joy of baptism" (115).

No wonder discipleship is costly. It demands a deep faith, a confident hope, and a supreme love.

(Bp. Morneau is the auxiliary bishop of the Green Bay Diocese and pastor of Resurrection Parish in Allouez.)