The Tempest of the Living

God Calls Us to Dare & Do What Is Right While Yet Imperfect

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a dynamic and occasionally controversial theologian who became a household name because of his character and courage. In a time when many of his fellow Germans, including pastors and priests, embraced Hitler and the ideas of the Third Reich, he stood with conviction.

After the Nazis rose to power in 1933, the bulk of German Protestant groups submitted to pro-Nazi leaders. These so-called “German Christians” compromised the eternal truths of God in deference to a racist, statist, and eugenicist totalitarian regime and were left free to practice their faith, as long as they did not transgress Nazi doctrine.

Bonhoeffer, with others such as Martin Niemöller and Karl Barth, did transgress. They also stood against compromising churchmen. Bonhoeffer helped found the dissident Confessing Church and underground seminaries and was among those who published the defiant Barmen Declaration. Rejecting his earlier pacifism, he took an active role in resisting Hitler’s tyranny.

Courage in Suffering

Though Bonhoeffer has been rightly praised for his faithfulness and courage, his most courageous act may have been simply going home. In the early years of Nazi terror, he went first to the U.K. and then to the U.S., taking up teaching positions in a free, safe part of the world. His conscience, however, did not let him remain in safety while his nation was facing and committing such evil. In 1939, he returned to Germany. He explained, “I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people.”

Despite his courage, Bonhoeffer wasn’t perfect. His theology at times strays and is puzzling. This is a theme that frequently emerges in Christian history. Figures as prominent as Martin Luther and Martin Luther King, Jr., though used by God in incredible ways, were flawed in behavior and belief.

Flawed & Faithful

This fits well with the heroes described in Scripture. The author of Hebrews offers a list of champions for God that is rightly described as the Bible’s Hall of Faith. Yet even the best of the list, men like Abraham and Moses, are as famous for their flaws as their victories. In the cases of some, it’s difficult to understand how they are even heroes. Yet there they are.

The danger in refusing to honor the imperfect isn’t just the temptation to whitewash others’ sins while excusing our own. It’s also the temptation to wait for an imaginary tomorrow when everything is “just right,” rather than working today. And it is here that we can learn another lesson from Bonhoeffer. In his book Ethics, he called on Christians to be faithful in the here and now:

Do and dare what is right, not swayed by the whim of the moment. Bravely take hold of the real, not dallying now with what might be. Not in the flight of ideas but only in action is freedom. Make up your mind and come out into the tempest of living.

For Bonhoeffer, the Christian faith must be lived in the time and place in which God places us. In that sense, courage and faith are inseparable. We must do the right thing, even if the cost is great and even if we feel inadequate for the task.

God has called us into this tempest of the living. As James instructs, Christianity is not merely believing the right things but doing them, empowered by the Spirit given to us in Christ Jesus. This will mean risk. It may mean failure. But it’s through the imperfect faith of his people that God is at work renewing his world.

—This article first appeared at Breakpoint.org. Used with permission of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview.