True freedom

But from all that can be gathered about Bonhoeffer’s soteriology, it is clear that the self that needs to be broken—and broken into—is the guilty self, the self fallen way from God and others, hopelessly entangled in its own falsely construed world. Only because this bondage is so pernicious—it is, after all, a bondage where one is enslaved by oneself—does Bonhoeffer feel it necessary to emphasize the intrusive and disrupting influence of God’s call in Christ in words that are often quite forceful. Thus it should never be forgotten that the purpose of defeat of the selfish self is its liberation, its salvation, and its being made free for God and for others in community rather htan its destruction or corruption.—Bonhoeffer the Assassin?, page 142

<idle musing>
And if ever there was a message that is unpalatable to the world, death to self is. It doesn't matter that death to self is actually liberation. It just won't sell. It won't fill the pews. It won't meet the budget. It isn't popular. Never was. And never will be. But that doesn't mean it isn't true! And it also doesn't mean it shouldn't be preached...
</idle musing>