The Christian Paradox

On December 11, 1928 Dietrich Bonheoffer gave a lecture in Barcelona, Spain entitled “Jesus Christ and the Essence of Christianity” in which he said “the Christian message is basically amoral and irreligious, paradoxical as that may sound.”  A Paradox?  One does not usually think of Christianity in terms of the word paradox, but if you think about it, Christianity really is full of paradoxes.

For example, in Christianity, one must die in order to live.  That is a paradox.  Most of us would know and understand that life in Christ is possible because of the death of Christ.  This is not the paradox.  The paradox comes in the fact that in order for me to accept the life offered by Christ’s death, I too must die.  I must die to my self.  I must die to my old way of life.  I must die to my sinful nature.  These are not things that we eagerly give up, and so many so-called Christians claim the life offered through Christ’s death, but they have not yet died themselves.

Another example of the Christian paradox is that we are freed from slavery in order to willing submit ourselves to servitude.  Jesus said in John 8:32 that the truth would set us free.  That is a wonderful truth that attracts the attention of many who feel they are in bondage.  However, the Christian concept of freedom is not what most of us would understand.  Our view of freedom is that we are unbound by anything and are sovereign to do whatever we wish.  This is not the Christian view of freedom.  In Christ, we are freed from the bondage of sin, and yes, we are freed from the bondage of death.  However, we are not freed to do whatever our own will desires.  Instead, we are freed to willingly serve God and accomplish his will.  Paul the Apostle regularly described himself as a willing slave of Christ.  When Moses came before Pharoah and said to him, “God says ‘let my people go,’” he also told Pharoah that it was so that the Israelites could go and serve their God. 

This is a paradox.  Why would we agree to leave one master to serve another?  The answer is plain.  One master promises fun, frivolity, and a life of pleasure but in reality delivers only pain, suffering, inner turmoil, and death.  He is a master that hates our very existence because we were made in the image of his enemy.  Many who are slaves to this master do not even know it.  They believe themselves to be free until the consequences of their bondage come crashing in on them.  The other master demands obedience and submission, but delivers a life of spiritual healing, peace (inner peace), and joy.   He is the master that created us and loves us.  He is a terrible master, but he is a wonderful master at the same time. The idea of freedom as we understand it is an illusion.  Humanism is a lie. We were created to serve.  We should serve the one who loves us.

Bonheoffer, however, spoke not of these paradoxes, but said instead that Christianity was amoral and irreligious.  That, indeed is a paradox.  One does not normally think of Christianity as amoral – that is, without morals – or irreligious – that is – not requiring religious rite.  Indeed, one thinks exactly the opposite.  However, Bonheoffer explains this paradox as follows.  The moral code of Christianity in the New Testament is no different than the moral code of the ancient Jews of the Old Testament or of any number of other religions.  Christianity does not bring anything new to the game in that regard.  In fact, Christianity acknowledges that humanity cannot in its own strength adhere to these moral codes.  We are incapable of the good they demand.  Moreover, Christianity is founded in the fact that fact that these moral codes can do absolutely nothing to save us because they are powerless in and of themselves (Romans 8).  However, we are still obligated to live according them.  There is the paradox.  We are bound by a moral code that cannot save us.  We are to live according to a set of principles that (a) we are otherwise unable to live by and (b) accomplish nothing within us.  Why then are we to live by them?  The answer requires first examining the second of Bonheoffer’s paradoxes – that Christianity is irreligious.

Religion is all about man’s attempt to reconcile with God.  Our religious rites are all about atoning for our shortcomings or appeasing the wrath of our deities.  In Christianity, however, none of these religious activities accomplish those purposes. Indeed, these purposes cannot be accomplished by ANY religion.  There is nothing that we can do in our religiosity to appease God or to make him happy in any way.  On the contrary, in Isaiah chapter 1, God indicates that when our “religious” activities are done thoughtlessly and without a dedicated heart, they actually disgust him.  We come before God to worship him, but we can actually drive him further from us in the process. We try to appease him only to make him angry.  There is the paradox.  Why (and how) then are we to worship God?  What is the value in our religious activities?

Both of these paradoxes – the amorality of Christianity and the irreligiosity of Christianity – are based in our fundamental misunderstanding of their purpose.  As the self-centered, prideful people that we are, we tend to make everything about ourselves, when in fact everything is first about God and second about others.  The moral code we live by is not about how we can be “good” to earn our place in eternity.  The moral code we live by is so that (a) our lives would display the nature and character of God to the nations so that (b) they, too, would be drawn to God through our actions.  We don’t live by a moral code for our benefit; we live by a moral code for the benefit of those around us so that they can see the goodness and greatness of God.  Similarly, our religious activities are not about our piety.  Like the Pharisee that stood on the street corner and loudly proclaimed his own self-righteousness, our religious activity is often about ourselves.  Instead, religion is about magnifying God before a lost and dying generation.  If the world looks at our church services and sees our self-righteousness, they will be turned away, because they will not be fooled by that lie.  They know we are not good as we claim.  On the other hand, if the world looks at our church services and sees Jesus magnified for the great things he has done, they are more likely to be drawn to him.  Our repentance before God does far more religiously to draw the world to God than our self-rightousness.

 As someone who claims the name of Christ, ask yourself why you do what you do.  Why do you strive to be a good person?  Why do you go to church on Sunday?  What is the meaning and purpose behind your moral and religious actions?  The purpose of Bonheoffer’s lecture that day was to get all of us to examine our Christian lives to see if we are accomplishing God’s purposes or living under the false premise that we are somehow benefitting ourselves.  Be sure you (and I) are truly living for the right thing.  Be sure you (and I) are living for Christ.

Blog copyright (c) 2013 by Joel J. Dison
Comments are welcome and encouraged.