The first chapter of Discipleship opens with a conversation about grace. Bonhoeffer begins by bemoaning the victory of what he calls “cheap grace”—the “mortal enemy of the church.” Cheap grace is “grace without a price, without cost.” It is a doctrinal principle, a general idea, an abstract truth. Thus, it demands nothing from us. We are free because of the grace of God in Jesus Christ, but this freedom requires no transformation, no sacrifice, it allows everything to remain the same.
Thus, the Christian should live the same way the world does. In all things the Christian should go along and not venture…to live a different life under grace from that under sin! The Christian better not rage against grace or defile that glorious cheap grace by proclaiming anew a servitude to the letter of the Bible in an attempt to live an obedient life under the commandments of Jesus. (44)
Here, Bonhoeffer sarcastically declares cheap grace to be the abdication of all responsibility. Christian faith, in this context, is reduced to a personal piety that makes no demand upon how I live in relationship with my neighbor. It is an abstract ideal that cultivates both pride and complacency.
The Christian has to let grace truly be grace enough so that the world does not lose faith in this cheap grace. In being worldly, however, in this necessary renunciation required for the sake of the world—no, for the sake of grace!—the Christian can be comforted and secure in possession of that grace which takes care of everything by itself. So the Christian need not follow Christ, since the Christian is comforted by grace!…Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ. (44)
The politics of cheap grace seeks security for a way of life by preserving the status quo. It employs religious language, asserting divine privilege for those who hold the instruments of power. Cheap grace is ideology at its purest. Whether it is on the right or the left, conservative or liberal, cheap grace is ideology that lives in abstraction. Its much easier to hold to a principle or idea than it is to live with a concrete human being. We throw around words like “fascist” or “communist” so we don’t have to talk with those with whom we disagree. There is no room for compromise, no room for humility, because there is no room for suffering. For Bonhoeffer, this means there is no room for the cross.
I received messages from people all around the country upset with my suggestion that Christians should follow the example of Dorothy Day and take personal responsibility for our immigrant neighbors. What struck me about these messages is the fear and pain lurking behind the vicious characterizations of immigrants and refugees. This same fear and pain undergirds our political rhetoric. How can the Christian community, whether republican or democrat, independent or non-partisan, became signs of love and reconciliation during this political cycle?
For Bonhoeffer, cheap grace is the way of death; costly grace is what gives the world life. Costly grace is about embracing the realities of this world, its about facing the hardships and struggles without resorting to ideological masks. Its about entering to the mess of this world, not always trying to keep ourselves clean and uninvolved. Costly grace calls us to face head on the overwhelming problems associated with immigration and asylum, not by hiding behind empty rhetoric and polarizing speeches, but by seeking to solve problems. Costly grace, as with a costly form of politics, is difficult, it’s uncomfortable, and it costs us something (thus the adjective). But it is the path that leads to life. For Bonhoeffer, a Christian pastor and theologian, there’s no resurrection without crucifixion. And the road of discipleship is the call of Jesus Christ to take up our cross, to follow him by entering the suffering of the world. Of course we don’t save the world through our suffering, in the same way we don’t save the world through our political engagement, but our lives can function as signs of God’s salvation, pointing to the costly grace that calls us to love God by loving our neighbor. This form of discipleship should inform our political engagement. Politics is a tool; it is not the end, and our parties and candidates are not saviors or gods. Politics can be an imperfect signpost of God’s justice by which we seek the flourishing and well being of our neighbors.
Jason, Could you post a link to the comments you received? I cannot fine them.