“The Cost of Discipleship” (16)

“Asceticism means voluntary suffering. … There is always a danger that in our asceticism we shall be tempted to imitate the sufferings of Christ. This is a pious and godless ambition, for beneath it there lurks the notion of stepping into Christ shoes and suffer as He did and kill the old Adam. We are then presuming to undertake that bitter work of eternal redemption which Christ Himself wrought for us.”-Dietrich Bonhoeffer

(If you have been keeping track of one of many TLC’s posts, this almost seems to fly in the face of what 1 Peter 2:21 has to say. However, it doesn’t. It is the meaning of Dietrich Bonhoeffer that to imitate the exact same sufferings that Christ went through in His Passion is a grave mistake. This to I would have to agree with. If we “imitate Christ sufferings” exactly, it won’t guaranty eternal life with our Savior; instead, it will put the burden of salvation from being apart from God in our own laps-a burden to heavy for us. Jesus Christ is the ageless way to salvation for us all-for the past, the present, and the future.)

Here is a couple of YouTube videos about suffering:

“O, Suffering Christ”-YouTube music video

“Christianity and Suffering”-a talk about the Christian and Suffering