I’m growing to love biography. There is almost nothing more inspiring than reading about the lives of past saints, especially those who were faithful throughout difficult circumstances. God has placed us within a community of believers so that we might exhort, encourage, and strengthen one another. Should we not seek this exhortation, encouragement, and strength from the millions upon millions of lives lived by faithful brothers throughout past centuries? History, in this case, has provided for us a bottomless well of hope.

I recently finished Eric Metaxas’ biography of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a pastor who lived in Germany during World War II. The historical details during his life are, as you can imagine, infinitely fascinating. We fall woefully short, however, if we read biography merely to learn historical facts. Christian biography should be applied. It should be mined for personal and communal lessons. This is how we make the most of biography. And so, here are five lessons which Christians can learn from the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

1. The ‘Bigness’ of World War II

The name “World War” kind of screams “BIG”. The entire world went to war. Yeah, that’s pretty significant. But that bigness doesn’t really hit home until you start to read about the various individuals who lived during that time.

You could spend your whole life studying World War II and would have only begun to scratch the surface of everything that took place. The vastness of just how much happened during this time in history is breathtaking. Because of this, it would be wise for the Church to do its best in understanding the content of the war and the effects it has had upon the current sociopolitical landscape.

2. Ethics Can Be Complicated

It’s very easy these days to vilify those with whom we disagree. The terms racist, sexist, Marxist, hate speech, and even Nazi get thrown around the internet left and right. We just love to act like people are the absolute scum of the earth simply because they disagree with us on a moral issue. It is far easier, after all, to call someone Hitler than to thoughtfully think through their viewpoints. Why even consider the possibility that they have a real reason to take their position when you can just call them a bigot and move one?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived through the age of the actual Nazis and actual Adolf Hitler. He received an up close and personal view of what they were doing. If there is any war in recent history in which we can see a very clear “bad guy”, it is World War II. The atrocities being committed by that regime were undeniably satanic. We can all agree that Hitler was an evil man.

And yet, despite this clarity, Bonhoeffer had a deep personal struggle with how to proceed. As he looked at the face of the most evil man in recent history, Bonhoeffer was unsure of what to do. He couldn’t decide whether to fight in rebellion or remain uninvolved. At one point, he concluded that no matter where a Christian may fall on this issue, he will incur for himself a tremendous amount of guilt. Those who fight would carry the guilt of violence and treason, while those who did not would feel the guilt of standing by while a monster murdered millions.

Ethics are difficult. Sometimes really difficult. Perhaps, if Bonhoeffer was so hesitant in deciding how he should move forward within the Nazi regime, we too could hold back before crucifying a brother with a different approach to a complex evil?

3. Discipleship is Costly

Surely you knew this one was coming. We can’t talk about Bonhoeffer without discussing his greatest work, The Cost of Discipleship. The book is an absolute masterpiece in its own right. What makes it truly special, though, is when it’s read with the backdrop of Dietrich’s life. This man didn’t just write about a costly discipleship but lived it. In fact, he paid the highest price of them all when he was martyred on April 9, 1945.

If your life of following Christ has not cost you something, then you need to ask yourself if you are truly following Christ at all. It is true, as Bonhoeffer famously wrote, “When Christ calls a man he bids him come and die”.

We die to our flesh, that we might live in the Spirit (Rom. 8:13). We die as the old man, that we might live as the new man (Eph. 4:17-24). Sometimes, we may even die a physical death. But even in this ultimate earthly death, which strikes so many with fear, leads the Christian to the truest and fullest life possible (Phil. 1:19-26).

I highly recommend this video. Following Jesus won’t be easy. In fact, it will cost you everything.

4. One of Our Greatest Weapons is Our Joy

This is another fitting lesson for the age of outrage in which we live. One of the constant remarks made by those who knew Bonhoeffer, even whilst he was living out his final days in prison, was that the man was full of joy. Joy!

For some reason, many in the Church seem eager to get angry, quickly backing that choice up with the familiar defense “Jesus got angry! This is righteous anger.” Let me assure you, Scripture speaks much more of love and peace and unity and patience than it does of “righteous anger”. We all need to take a step back and examine our own hearts, asking if our anger is truly righteous? Far too often we use the story of Christ flipping over the tables in the temple to excuse our hard-hearted bitterness.

Let us instead be like our Father in heaven, who is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Ps. 103:8). Maybe instead of looking for an excuse to be angry, we should all be looking for an excuse to have joy?

5. The Importance of the Church

Bonhoeffer kind of had a lot going on. Believe it or not, there was more pressure on this guy than there is on any of us. In comparison, we have it easy.

And yet, throughout it all, the Christian community remained a priority for Bonhoeffer. Whatever trials came his way, the Church was central. He surrounded himself with believers through every step of his Christian walk. His entire life was centered around the people of the church.

If Bonhoeffer made time for the gathering of the saints through assassination plots and undercover work, surely we could find a little time between Netflix episodes?

“The community of the saints is not an ‘ideal’ community consisting of perfect and sinless men and women, where there is no need of further repentance. No, it is a community which proves that it is worthy of the gospel of forgiveness by constantly and sincerely proclaiming God’s forgiveness.”

João Silas