As a young man, Dietrich Bonhoeffer became a teacher and leader in the Confessing Church of Germany. With increased persecution of Jews and rumors of plans to eliminate all disabled ‘weak’ German citizens, Dietrich urged Christians to understand they were in a spiritual war and the only hope was to let God be the Center of everything. “It is a war that demands the commitment of one’s whole life. Is not God, our Lord, worthy of the struggle?”
Decisions faced every Christian. In April of 1938 an ordinance was issued requiring every pastor to pledge allegiance to the Fuehrer, Adolph Hitler. On September 11 of that year, synagogues and Jewish businesses and homes were destroyed on Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. Through Scripture, Bonhoeffer believed God showed him that when his people were being persecuted, He was being persecuted. But what could one do?
Early in 1939, Dietrich received the dreaded order to report for military duty. He had friends who declared themselves to be conscientious objectors, but they were quickly arrested and most died in prison. Other friends accepted the assignment of their government only to find themselves fighting in an unjust war. Dietrich knew too much of Hitler to even consider becoming a soldier. Christians with connections gave him a third option that involved an invitation to be a guest lecturer at a seminary in New York City. Bonhoeffer had been to America eight years earlier, and at the advice of his German brethren he accepted the invitation and gained a deferral from military assignment. Dietrich arrived in New York on June 12, 1939 but only stayed twenty-six days.
“I have had time to think and pray about my situation and that of my nation and to have God’s will for me clarified. I have come to the conclusion that I have made a mistake in coming to America. I must live through this difficult period of our national history with the Christian people of Germany. I shall have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share in the trials of this time with my people. My brothers in the Confessing Synod wanted me to go. They may have been right in urging me to do so, but I was wrong in going. Such a decision a man must make for himself.”
The clue that led to Bonhoeffer’s arrest in April of 1943 dealt with money that had been spent to get Jews out of Germany. And while Hitler ordered Dietrich’s execution in 1945 for being involved in a conspiracy to overthrow his government, it could be argued that a pastor died because he attempted to save the innocent. Hitler committed suicide three weeks after Bonhoeffer was hanged.
From letters written in prison it was clear Dietrich was at peace with his decision… because he believed God led him. But he humbly admitted that decision-making is often difficult. “At the end of the day I can only ask God to give a merciful judgment on today and all its decisions,” he once wrote in his diary. Bonhoeffer taught that Jesus is the Way. Jesus taught that eternal life is knowing God. Maybe the best strategy for making decisions simply lies in knowing God on the Way. “Father, through your Son, help me to know You better. Amen.”
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23-24
All quotes taken from “Bonhoeffer” by Eric Metaxas, published in 2010 in Nashville , Tennessee by Thomas Nelson, Inc.