From “Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy” | Peace, the Opposite of Security

Between June 30-July 2, 1934, Adolf Hitler ordered that over 100 people be killed and over 1,000 arrested, for known opposition to his leadership and vision for the future of Germany. The event, though largely ignored by the international community, became known as The Night of the Long Knives. In defending his actions, Hitler masterfully appealed to the German sensibility of a strong state, saying:

“In this hour I was responsible for the fate of the German people, and thereby I became the supreme judge of the German people…everyone must know for all future time that if he raises his hand to strike the State, then certain death is his lot.”

Clearing the path of opposition, Hitler was then able to move much more swiftly and adeptly toward his gruesome vision for Germany. Many were swept up by his leadership, in glad submission; many were terrified of what he represented and the danger he posed to the German people, but remained too paralyzed to speak or act out publicly against him.

Almost two months after these horrible events, several pastors gathered together on the island of Fanø to discuss and formulate a response to a recently ratified edict stating that all future pastors must swear an oath of obedience to the Führer, Adolf Hitler, and that discussion of disputes between the church and state were illegal.

A few weeks before the conference, however, Bonhoeffer wrote a letter to a bishop, who was scheduled to speak at the event. Bonhoeffer knew he was often regarded as a blunt object, so he appealed to the bishop to break the ice and prime the crowd before it was his turn to speak. With a prophetic sense of what was at stake, Bonhoeffer wrote:

“It is precisely here, in our attitude toward the state, that we must speak out with absolute sincerity for the sake of Jesus Christ and of the ecumenical cause. It must be made quite clear – terrifying though it is – that we are immediately faced with the decision: National Socialist or Christian…”

Corruption can be so powerful, and power so corrupting. This was the terrifying reality Bonhoeffer lived in – a reality in which people could be killed without due process or warning; a reality in which someone so powerful and corrupt could silence ideological opposition with relative ease; a reality completely under the control of one man. With each ideologically-opposed or non-Arian group Hitler targeted, fear spread throughout Germany. The greater the fear, the greater the premium and desire for peace and security.

Peace and security are good things. But given the circumstances, Bonhoeffer knew that there would be a great temptation to trade in a faithful Christian witness for the trappings of a safe life, and he would not let that spirit of idolatry come upon the church without a fight.

So, in his address at The Conference at Fanø, Bonhoeffer reminded those in attendance of the cross – the most dangerous and evil place in history – a place where obedience to God and the comfort of security could not be reconciled:

“There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared, it is itself the great venture and can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. To demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself. Peace means giving oneself completely to God’s commandment, wanting no security, but in faith and obedience laying the destiny of the nations in the hand of Almighty God, not trying to direct it for selfish purposes. Battles are won, not with weapons, but with God. They are won when the way leads to the cross.”

Bonhoeffer’s point was just this: peace is not safe, it must be won. And at the cross of Jesus, peace was won. When with his last breath Jesus said, “It is finished,” the full wrath of God was poured out on him, and peace was won. On the third day, when Jesus was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, peace was won. The unpeaceful and unsecure obedience of Jesus won ultimate peace and security with God for all who would believe.

May we, today, heed Bonhoeffer’s warning of the idolatry of security that sacrifices faithful obedience to God. And may this reality of ultimate peace and security with God give us the courage to live faithful, obedient lives, even if it costs temporal peace or security.

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This post represents my summary and reflections of pages 230-41 in Eric Metaxas’ book, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy : a Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich.

Metaxas, Eric. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy : a Righteous Gentile vs. the Third Reich. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010. 230-41.