The Hollowing Of True Discipleship
In recent decades, the call to follow Jesus in true discipleship has been simplified, sometimes to the point of missing its deeper significance. Many in the church today have come to rely on a “cheap grace”—a grace that requires no transformation or commitment, only passive belief. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the theologian who famously criticized this trend, described cheap grace as “the deadly enemy of the church,” a grace that justifies sin without calling the sinner to change.
But real discipleship, according to Jesus, is costly. It calls for more than lip service and goes beyond mere attendance or intellectual assent. True grace transforms and challenges; it calls each of us to a standard, not out of obligation but out of devotion. This post explores how the modern church’s embrace of cheap grace has weakened discipleship, hollowing out standards and stifling transformation. We’ll see that returning to costly grace—the kind of grace that calls us to leave everything and follow Jesus—is essential for a faith that is both authentic and life-giving.
Cheap Grace In Christianity
The deeper understanding of discipleship as a call to leave everything and be transformed by Jesus has been mostly lost to the modern Christian. Somehow, we have divorced discipleship from Christianity, as if merely assenting to the basic message of Christ’s forgiveness of sin is enough to qualify us for the Kingdom. True discipleship “became the extraordinary achievement of individuals, to which the majority of church members need not be obligated.”[1] Bonhoeffer insightfully notes, “The fateful limiting of the validity of Jesus’ commandments to a certain group of especially qualified people led to differentiating between highest achievement and lowest performance in Christian obedience.”[2] The Christian no longer need follow Christ in discipleship, since he is covered by grace. He ought not “defile that glorious cheap grace by proclaiming anew a servitude to the letter of the Bible in an attempt to live an obedient life under the commandments of Jesus Christ!”[3]
By embracing cheap grace, the modern church has sacrificed standards and clear expectations. Cheap grace justifies sin without calling for change; it excuses disobedience rather than inspiring transformation. To illustrate, imagine two people who exercise regularly. Both of them work out at the same gym, have similar desk jobs, and similar builds. Both started working out consistently twelve months ago. Yet, one of them looks fit and healthy and the other appears flabby, still retaining the modern-day “dad bod”. A closer interaction with these two men will reveal two totally different mindsets regarding their diet. One says to himself, “I worked out hard today. I can justify a little ice-cream.” The other thinks to himself, “I worked out hard today. I shouldn’t undo all that hard work by eating that junk food.” The modern Christian who eschews true discipleship looks like the former. The danger is that person may find their eating increasing, their working out decreasing, and to their surprise, may discover they are not fit to enter the kingdom of heaven at all.
This embrace of cheap grace has lowered our standards to the point that church attendance averages just 1.7 times a month among Christians in the West. Any call to a higher standard is often resisted out of fear—fear of being labeled as “legalistic” or hypocritical. Instead of challenging one another to faithfulness, we lower expectations and abandon accountability, all in the name of “grace.”
What we need is a return to costly grace—the grace Jesus described as a hidden treasure in the field, worth selling everything to obtain. This costly grace is like a pearl of great price, for which the merchant joyfully sells all he owns. It is the grace that calls for radical transformation and deep devotion, the grace that leads us to tear out any stumbling block to live fully for Christ. Costly grace doesn’t just forgive; it renews, transforms, and calls us to a life of purpose and obedience.
A Call To Return
The modern church’s adoption of cheap grace has emasculated the call to true discipleship, eroding standards and settling for a faith that demands little beyond assent. True discipleship, however, is not about lowering expectations but about responding to the call of Jesus with all that we are. Cheap grace may promise the comfort of forgiveness without commitment, but it fails to transform us into true followers of Christ.
Costly grace, on the other hand, is a grace worth everything. It is the pearl of great price, the treasure in the field for which we would joyfully give all. This grace doesn’t merely cover our sins; it frees us from them. It calls us to live a life marked by growth, faithfulness, and a genuine pursuit of Jesus. Rediscovering costly grace means embracing a faith that transforms us, challenges us, and calls us to a life that reflects the heart of Christ. May we answer this call and pursue the depth and fullness of true discipleship in every area of our lives.
[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, ed. Martin Kuske et al., trans. Barbara Green and Reinhard Krauss, vol. 4, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003), 47.
[2] ibid 47.
[3] ibid 44.