“Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship. The disciples are not above their master. Following Christ means ‘passio passiva’, suffering because we have to suffer. That is why Luther reckoned suffering among the marks of the true church, and one of the memoranda drawn up in preparation for the Augsburg Confession similarly defines the church as the community of those ‘who are persecuted and martyred for the gospel’s sake.’ If we refuse to take up our cross and submit to suffering and rejection at human hands, we forfeit our community with Christ and have ceased to follow him. But if we lose our lives in his service and carry our cross, we shall find our lives again in the community of the cross with Christ. The opposite of discipleship is to be ashamed of Christ and his cross and all the offense which the cross brings in its train.”

From A Testament to Freedom 314 p 147 ‘A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer