The Cost of Discipleship

1.Bonhoeffer draws attention to the sheer immediacy of the disciples' response in the Gospels: they left their nets and their tax booth "at once," without theological deliberation. Why does he think this immediacy is theologically significant, rather than merely dramatic?

1.Bonhoeffer describes what he calls "the great divide" between those who hear Jesus' words and do them, and those who hear and do not. He says this divide is not between serious and casual Christians but between disciples and non-disciples. Does that strike you as too sharp a distinction, or does it ring true?

1.Bonhoeffer writes that "to endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ." What distinction is he drawing between the crosses Christians are called to bear and the ordinary suffering that comes to everyone in a fallen world?

1.Bonhoeffer argues that discipleship creates a new kind of individual — one who has been separated from all previous attachments and securities and placed in direct relationship with Christ. He calls this a "mediation" — Christ stands between the disciple and everything else. How does this image reshape how you think about your closest relationships?

1.Bonhoeffer argues that the community of disciples is called to be the salt of the earth — but that salt which has lost its flavor is good for nothing. He connects the loss of flavor directly to the loss of costly grace. How does a church that has embraced cheap grace lose its saltiness? Can you give a concrete example?

1.Bonhoeffer reads the antitheses not as Jesus tightening the law into an impossible demand but as Jesus revealing the full human depth the law always intended to reach — anger is the heart of murder, lust is the heart of adultery. How does this reframe the purpose of the law? Is Jesus liberating or convicting you as you read this?

1.Bonhoeffer argues that "righteous" acts done to be seen by others — almsgiving, prayer, fasting — are not discipleship but its imitation, and he calls this the "most dangerous" form of religious corruption. Why is religious performance more dangerous than open irreligion?

1.Bonhoeffer writes that anxiety is the natural result of trying to secure your own life — it is what happens when your eye is not "single" but divided between God and possessions. He says the antidote is not positive thinking but a reorientation of the whole self toward God. How does this connect to what he said earlier about single-minded obedience?

1.Bonhoeffer opens this section with Jesus' compassion for the crowds "harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." He insists that this compassion is the motive for mission — not strategy, not church growth, but the suffering of people who have no shepherd. Does compassion or strategy more often drive your involvement in outreach?

1.Bonhoeffer argues that the church is the body of Christ — not metaphorically or institutionally, but ontologically. Christ takes form in the world through this community. What does it mean for your understanding of church attendance, church membership, and church conflict if this is true?

1.Bonhoeffer argues that human beings were created in the image of God and that this image was shattered in the fall. The entire work of salvation — and of discipleship — is its restoration. How does framing discipleship as image-restoration change its emotional register? Does it feel more like recovery or more like achievement?

1.When you began this book, how would you have defined discipleship? How would you define it now? What is the most significant change in your understanding?