I am reading the book Bonhoeffer; Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. Click on the photo to see it on Amazon. Kathy bought it for me for my birthday. She is sweet. It seems at this point to be thorough, and I am sure it will take a while to get through it's 542 pages. It makes me think, already, while only 42 pages in, of those who have gone before us.
There is a trap for us, who stumble around the legacy of such greatness, to try and find fault with those who jut from history like granite mountains bursting forth from the flat ground. We can look for what they did wrong. In taking this approach, we will very likely be robbed of all the good that they have come to contribute to us.
I have heard some things about this man from others in the past, most of which has been skeptical. Do we draw comfort by such comparisons and analyses? Here is a non-Jewish person, a Christian, who offered his life on the Nazi gallows. He was marched nude in the dawning of morning, to his final moments on this side of eternity. His faith brought him to this intersection. This seems real to me at this moment, though I haven't gotten that far into the book yet.
What is it like to die for your faith?
I am sure this man has something to tell us about this, even though we will not know the reflective view of this from him in this age. What he might be able to show us, nonetheless, is what it is like to have a faith dangerous enough to evil's rule to face such a backlash. I hope to see this in him.
Much of the Christianity in our times poses no threat to evil significant enough as to warrant a response, any response.
This we know was not true of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's life, who at age 39 concluded his preparations for eternity. Perhaps he will have some things to teach us.
Are we readying ourselves in these days of non-unified disturbance for the times that must surely lay just outside of view, when the harvest of everything man has sown comes into full maturity? It is from this and other similar testimonies that we can be given guidance.
An old friend of mine once said to me that the only thing that goes away if you ignore it is your health! The evil, the darkness, and the INSANITY of our times are not going to go away. They are going to grow, gain strength, and unify against the Lord and against His Christ! This time is given to us for preparation. We will wisely put them to their intended use!, especially as we feel the rumblings of future chaos hurrying into the present.
Are you one of those who Jesus is calling to engage the evils that lay ahead, as this man who was one sent to confront the evils of his day? Do you grow weary of ignoring the evil, and hoping it will go away? Use this time. Don't draw back. Press into God! Prepare yourself against the evil of our times, and confront it.