“One act of obedience is better than one hundred sermons” - Bonhoeffer

Yesterday afternoon, I decided to watch a documentary that has been sitting in my Netflix queue for a while.  It was the about the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  I am not sure why I decided to watch this particular documentary yesterday, but it was just what I needed. I know it may sound odd to think that a documentary of any sort would lift me from my funk, but this one did.

If you are not familiar with who Dietrich Bonhoeffer is, I would encourage you to google him or, better yet, watch the documentary about him on Netflix.  But I will offer a short biography, so that my commentary on the movie will make more sense.

Bonhoeffer was a German who came from a conservative, but non-religious family and became a theologian early in his life.  He had massive influence on Christianity that still lasts today.  He was a passionate pacifist, but became one of the first to speak out about his resistance to Hitler's rule and he ultimately was part of the resistance movement that attempted several times to assassinate Hitler. He was executed at the age of 39 in a concentration camp for his participation.

Now, when I hear about people who are considered heroes in history, I mistakenly believe that they knew exactly what they should do and then did it with complete focus and certainty that what they were doing was right and that they didn't make major mistakes and not even that many minor ones!

But there were a few lines in the movie that struck me.  First, the commentator said that Bonhoeffer came to realize that Christian ethics was not a set list of principles, as much as it was discerning the will of God at every part of your life - in the moment or in the circumstance.  Secondly, the commentator said that the men who formed the resistance didn't even know if what they were doing was the right thing or if it would be perceived positively or negatively by those inside and outside Germany, and yet they were willing to lay down their lives to do it because they knew they needed to try to stop the slaying of the Jews.  Third, it talked about how the Catholic church, afraid of Catholics being ostracized or treated like the Jewish population within Germany actually signed an agreement with Hitler that they would offer no resistance to Hitler's regime.  And even Bonhoeffer himself refused to perform the funeral of his brother-in-law's relative because they were Jewish early into the reign of Hitler because he feared the repercussions. Lastly, the commentator mentioned that Martin Luther, the father of the protestant faith, had a part to play in German churches having negative feelings toward the Jews.  Late in his life, when many of the Jews that Luther tried to convert to Christianity refused, he began to feel negatively toward them and was quite vocal about it.

Now, this seems like a big conglomeration of unrelated facts I pulled from the movie, but here is what I got from them.

First, God isn't as worried about success as we are.


In America, we think that if something isn't successful, then it is wrong.  I believe that it stems from our "American Dream" mentality, that tells us that if we put our mind to anything, we can achieve it.  Therefore, if something doesn't go well, we automatically assume that we or someone else went against the will of God.  But really it is the journey and not the results that God really cares about, because ultimately, he's in charge.  It is just like when my kids try to do something with their whole might and really wish to please me with their efforts.  I don't look at the results and say, "I am really disappointed that you didn't do that better.  Now look how much I am left to do."  No, I am pleased that they tried their best to do as I wished.

Secondly, I will make mistakes - BIG ONES - but I can still be used by God to do incredible things. And that often doing things to "save our own skin" can cause us to make decisions and compromises that we would not otherwise make.  It is shameful how many things I do in the name of God that are really for my own protection.

Third, I can't just assume that the convictions I hold or everything I feel God is calling me to do today will be the same next year, 5 years from now, or even tomorrow.  So I need to constantly be looking for his guidance from Him, not my circumstances.

I know these may sound like pretty elementary lessons to learn, but I have to relearn things quite often!

I finished off the day by going to see Soul Surfer.  It was one of the best movies I have seen in a while.  It is just a reminder that circumstances do not define who we are, but our reaction to them does. 

So with the sun shining, temperatures rising, and some good things to think about rolling around in my head, I think I have won this most recent battle of the blues.