In his book, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “It is becoming clearer 
every day that the most urgent problem besetting our church is this: How can we live the Christian life in the modern world?”
We are still working on this. When we proclaim Christianity without living it, we are engaging in a useless activity. For me, there is a constant yearning: How do I live as Christ?
Related articles
- Discipleship Pondering (tbolto.wordpress.com)
- Passage by and About Bonhoeffer (tbolto.wordpress.com)
- An Essay by Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “A Reckoning Made at New Year 1943″ (theconservativetreehouse.com)
- Salvation is free – Discipleship Costs! (gospelofbarney.wordpress.com)
Hopeful 
“It is becoming clearer every day that the most urgent problem besetting our church is this: How can we live the Christian life in the modern world?”
It is a little sad to continually read posts and comments like the above quote. How do you suppose St Peter, St. Paul and their fellow apostles and followers felt in their modern world?
Are Christians today so weak and disillusioned they cannot do. The groundwork and foundations have been set. An advantage the early apostles did not have,
Ah, I do understand your point. For me I read the quote as a statement about focus and being attentive to living a life of discipleship. I don’t see it different now than it was in 1940’s nor different than the early days of the church. There is a need to constantly be focused on how do I live a life of discipleship as modeled by Christ. It was a challenge–and the ultimate opportunity–a few thousand years ago and also today. I don’t think is harder today than then. It is as important now as then: How can we live the Christian life? How can we live life as modeled by Christ? I pray that I not lose focus on how important that is for my life. I guess my focus as I read the quote is on how can we live the Christian life. I don’t see the focus on “modern world.” But I suppose Bonhoeffer may have been thinking some about the state of the Church and the state of the world in those days as Nazi successes were rocking his world. But for me the timeless question that I must ask myself each day is: How am I to live the Christian life? I open myself to hear that message.
Thanks for your comments d,