“When the church is just simply religious and not truly Christian, bad things can happen, such as what happened in Nazi Germany.”
Eric Metaxas, speaker for the 17th annual John Hamrick Lectureship, returned to the theme again and again. “The church must be the church of Jesus Christ,” he said.
Bonhoeffer biographer Eric Metaxas.Speaking Jan. 15 and 16 at First Baptist Church of Charleston, the author of the New York Times bestselling book, “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy,” said that Bonhoeffer demonstrated the high cost of discipleship.
Bonhoeffer was the product of gifted, talented parents and a family made up of scholars, scientists and artisans. When he announced at age 14 that he planned to be a theologian, his family was surprised but supportive. He wanted to be a theological scholar at Berlin University. He received his doctorate at 21. When he went to Union Seminary in New York City in 1930 for further study, he was dismayed by the liberal theology he found there.
Franklin Fisher, a fellow seminarian, introduced Bonhoeffer to the African-American Abyssinian Baptist Church, and his life was changed forever. Bonhoeffer was captivated by the blending of political activism and preaching the gospel. The fervor of the preaching was what he found missing at Union Seminary. He became active in the church and taught Sunday school. He loved the spirituals and took recordings of them back to Germany.
When he returned to Germany in 1933, he found it a different place from when he left. Hitler’s Nazi party had become the second most powerful in Germany. Bonhoeffer now wanted to preach as well as teach. He wanted to warn Germany about what was happening. The German Lutheran Church was co-opted by Hitler. Bonhoeffer helped to form the Confessing Church in order to rescue the church from its complacency. He returned to the United States on June 12, 1939, but on the ship, he felt God calling him back to Germany. Although he could have remained in the United States, he stayed only 26 days before returning to Germany.
He continued to speak, preach and write that Germany could have only one God, and that God was the God of the Bible. When his involvement in a plot to kill Hitler was revealed, he was imprisoned. Bonhoeffer was executed two weeks before the war in Europe ended.
Metaxas said Christians cannot just criticize the culture, but must challenge it and be actively involved in it. “When we close ourselves off into what is just Christian, we can be easily marginalized and ignored,” he said. He described the experience of publishing his book as an example. His book was on the New York Times Best Sellers list, but has not been reviewed by it. The book was published by a Christian publisher, which Metaxas said caused it to not be considered seriously.
“Jesus Christ is Lord over everything, not just those things that are designated Christian,” he said. “We must make that clear to everyone. Jesus is for everyone.”
Metaxas conducted a lively question-and-answer period after each lecture.
Bret Lott, a friend and best-selling novelist, introduced Metaxas. David Templeton, minister of music, and Beverly Bradley, organist, provided special music.
The Hamrick Lectures were established to honor the life and work of John A. Hamrick, long-serving pastor of First Baptist Church and the founding president of what is now Charleston Southern University.