Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." - Mark 8:34-35
Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. - Romans 8:17
At my church (The Vine of the Mountains) this past Sunday, our pastor Owen Fulghum talked about how familiarity brings us comfort. And while it might feel nice at times, this comfortable familiarity can blind
and numb us to the overwhelming wonder and the always-fresh power of the
gospel. This got me thinking, and I realized this relatively simple concept has
major significance for the life of our church community, and the lives of many other Christians living in the United States and around the world.
The truth is that we
live in a culture that values comfort to the extreme, not only physical
comfort, but also the social and spiritual versions as well. It's not much of a
stretch to say that comfort tends to be an idol of ours. This has become
especially apparent to me since I returned from New Zealand, where I had been
embedded in a YWAM culture with very different values. In fact, our American
culture of comfort actually felt oppressive to me, and I struggled against the
lulling, numbing comfort of distractions and possessions which was opposing the
vibrant, passionate life I had gained in the Spirit.
You see, the YWAM
experience has shown me that we just don't grow when we're comfortable - growth
requires tension. The exciting and
passionate "life abundant" that Jesus offers requires that we are
stretched and challenged. My experience of being led by the Spirit has always involved walking on the edge of
discomfort. When everything is familiar, we feel quite capable of doing life on
our own. But as we walk into the unknown and unfamiliar, our self-reliance gets
shaky. The newness produces tension in our lives as we are pushed to place our
dependence on God and trust Him. We usually don't like it while it's happening,
but as we get to the other side we realize we have experienced his
faithfulness and changed for the better.
Despite our
continual search for comfort (or perhaps because of it), most of us feel like
there is already quite enough discomfort in our daily lives without inviting it. So we sometimes (or often)
go to church just wanting comfort - a reprieve from our daily stresses. I
myself have done this plenty of times. I arrive at church still tired from a busy
week, just hoping to blend in and receive a comfortable dose of familiar songs,
an inspirational message, and friendly faces. But the reality is that if we
really want to the know the Living God, that kind of mentality won't get us
very far. The gospel of Christ and the ministry to which he has called us are
much bigger and much more unsettling than that.
Because the
prevailing current of our culture pushes us to seek this numbing, desensitizing
sort of comfort, avoiding it will require nothing less than challenging actions
which will stretch you past the familiar - your comfort zone. It will probably
require you to be vulnerable, take risks, obey God when his commands seem over
the top, and step out in faith when worldly wisdom advises against it (2
Corinthians 5:7). Becoming fearless will require that you face your fears, especially
the fear of what other people think of you. What an uncomfortable prospect!
I think that to
press deeper into who God really is (and the story he has for us), we have to
decide as churches and individual Christians that we will follow Jesus and to come to church not with the primary
intention of finding comfort, but of encountering God.
Certainly, in the Presence of God there is comfort, but there is also so much
more: stunning revelation, unnerving freedom, staggering power, overwhelming
love, a distressing (sometimes offensive) amount of grace, and profound
healing. The comfort our Father offers is not what the world offers - it is not
a life of shallow pleasantry that dulls and numbs, but a sanctuary in the midst
of a vibrant life of great hardship and adventure, a bastion of joy and peace
in the midst of a battle.
If God truly can
accomplish more than we can ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20), then the reality must be that what
we are familiar with, no matter how good, is not the full picture of God's
goodness and power. Further on, in the uncomfortable newness, there is much
more. And He is inviting us into it… together.
Grace for the
Journey,
Dan
[I myself will be stepping back out of the familiar as I depart for New Zealand today! As I help staff a Justice DTS and then work to launch our first-ever Pilgrimage DTS in October, I'll be walking further into the unfamiliar and further away from comfort. But I know from previous experience that God will meet me and walk with me, giving me life and comfort as I trust in the One who is Faithful and True (Rev. 19:11).]
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