By 1939, the situation in Germany had become dangerous for Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The seminary he began had been shut down because of its speaking out against the National Socialists. His Jewish friends and family members fled to Switzerland. Some of his fellow leaders in the Confessing Church were arrested and would not be freed until after the war. He had already been arrested and released for his teachings. A mandatory draft had been issued for people of his age—he faced the choice of being drafted or being executed.
Initially, Bonhoeffer took a third way. He secured a teaching position at Union Theological Seminary where he had taught nine years earlier. However, from the time he arrived back in New York City he was unsettled. The energy he found there nearly a decade earlier was gone. Moreover, he felt that he abandoned the cause of speaking up for those who had no voice in Germany.
Within a couple of weeks he would turn down the teaching position at Union and return to Berlin, knowing full well the threats and danger awaiting him. After making this decision, and while doing his daily devotional, Bonhoeffer wrote, “The reading again is so harsh. “He will sit as a refiner of gold and silver (Mal 3:3).” And it is necessary. I don’t know where I am. But he knows, and in the end all doings and actions will be pure and clear.”
How convicting is Bonhoeffer’s strength and courage in comparison to our comfort? He walks toward the refiner’s fire by the conviction of his faith. We try to avoid every conflict and slight discomfort. How do we know when to shake the dust off our feet and walk the other way and when to stand our ground?
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