I will not tell a lie…
I LIKE COMFORT. I LIKE COMFORTABLE.
There you have it. As unspiritual as that sounds…
I LIKE BEING COMFORTABLE.
Shortly before Christmas last year I began looking at a new recliner. My old one was close to 15 years old and had seen its better days. The extension on the leg piece no longer worked well. The seat was getting…well…worn. It had lost its comfort for me. At 6’5″ and 210 pounds (solid cycling muscle of course) 😉 not only had it lost its comfort, but my size made it difficult to find another one that fit me like a glove. I finally found one that I really liked and after getting some Christmas money decided to pull the plug and buy it.
IT. IS. COMFORTABLE!!
I have read in it. I have watched TV in it. I have dozed in it. I have slept in it. It is so comfortable that sometimes I find it hard to even get out of it. But I sleep better in my bed so…what can I say?
I bet you like comfortable also. Here…take this simple test. Favorite tennis shoes or wooden clogs. La-Z-Boy Recliner or straight-back wooden chair. Comfortable SUV or subcompact (especially if you are tall). Temper-Pedic mattress or bed of nails. My guess is you chose the more comfortable options. Now…there is nothing wrong with that.
Tragically, comfort can also come to mean complacency. There is nothing wrong with a comfortable building that is heated and A/C. There is nothing wrong with comfortable seats. But they aren’t necessary. Just ask the followers of Jesus in many Third World countries. But when comfort becomes complacency then “Houston we have a problem.”
The Gospel was never intended to make us comfortable.
The Cross was and is considered foolish to the wise of the world. Take a quick look at this Scripture if you don’t mind. That very first verse speaks to my core: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The cross is not a comfortable thing. Nor is what it exacts from us.
Comfortable says, “Stay in your comfortable building, sitting in your comfortable seat, singing your comfortable songs, and leaving to get into your comfortable cars.” The Cross says, “Since when does a building trump my work? Since when did I say ‘Sit’?” (I believe He said, “Go.”) The Cross says, “Since when did singing replace telling?”
WE ALL, AND I INCLUDE MYSELF, NEED A REALITY CHECK ON OUR COMFORT LEVELS.
Where do you fall the scheme of things? Has comfort lulled you to sleep? Or has the Cross compelled you to risk? That will be my challenge Sunday. Any thoughts?
At a few discrete moments I have felt moved to take risks well outside of my comfort zone. Most often I seek comfort, I seek anonymity, I seek ease, I seek routine. Yet I fully understand that just going through the motions marks a weak or vulnerable faith.
I think we all struggle from time to time with it Daniel. Yet, your last sentence speaks volumes.
Hi Bill,
Obedience compels me to risk. My love and obedience to God. In my mind this does not translate ‘evangelizing’ of the lost.
What this means to me is that if God puts my feet in a particular path, my desire is to walk in it with his help and provision. This means doing what God is asking of me in my current life and circumstances.
There may come a time when believers are going to have to make some tough choices. Abraham had to.’ Sacrifice your son, Abraham’ said God. And Abraham did.
If we choose the world and trust the world’s ways more than God we will have shown our true colors, so to speak. We either will be servants to God or we will be servants to the world and the devil. These are the only two choices that we have.
Obedience compels me to risk. So true Linda.
I’m pretty much a creature who craves comfort. I usually don’t stray too far from my comfort zone. I guess the most discomfort that I’m willing to suffer is the odd comment on a blog or two that say I’m off my rocker. Or being censored for my beliefs about the Christian faith, by other Christians who feel a bit uncomfortable when their foundations seem to be shaken when the pure gospel shows up.
Small potatoes, in the grand scheme of things.
Stepping out of the comfort zone is different for all of us. it is also harder for some depending on their life circumstances.
Bill, from the other side of the cross than I once was, can we say that the cross changes our definition of comfort? Because there is tremendous comfort in it.
I totally understand what you are saying larry. There is comfort in knowing the cross has changed things eternally for us.
great post Bill!
My family and I had a chance to go to Mexico with Back2Back 3 weeks ago. It was a surreal experience. Seeing some of the most beautiful mountains ever and then 30 minutes later driving through a “neighborhood” of homeless folks.
Where they lived was called a “squatter village”. Government owned land by a river. They are allowed to live there because there isn’t anywhere for them to go. It is literally in the middle of a dump. You know – the place where we say “gotta take the trash to the dump”.
Hard to see. Smell. Watch. Even the homeless in America have shelters to go to. It may be a cot on the floor but they have a roof over their head and a meal to eat next morning.
I had visions of my comfortable bed at home. I knew that I could take a shower whenever I wanted. Grab a bite from the pantry if I wanted a snack. So comfortable.
There were many things that hit me on this trip. One of the big ones is that I am going to be held accountable for how I use the stuff I have. Am I a sheep or goat? (Matthew 25:31-46).
I don’t think it is “wrong” to have stuff. But I do get worn out with the demanding attitudes a lot of Americans have. I deserve this. I deserve that. Honestly I think we have “enough” stuff.
I heard a quote from Joyce Meyer. “why should God give us more when we aren’t thankful for what we already have?” that pretty much sums it up.
it is so hard to break free from our “comfort zone”. It is humbling to think that one day we will have that conversation with Jesus. I want Him to say – hey I was sick and you comforted me. I was an orphan and you got me off the street. I was an addict and you loved me anyway.
I can’t stick my head in the sand and pretend that conversation won’t happen. I have to live different.
Getting off the soapbox now 🙂
Please get back on Craig! You did a fine job of illustrating my thoughts. 🙂
Good point. We are called to action. The life of Christ and the being of God who sustains this cosmos constantly is that of action. It’s good to recharge, but that rest is for a purpose; to get up and go again.
True gratification of our souls comes when we are acting in accordance with our Father’s will. I’ve never had one of those type of chairs. When we sit, it’s a race to the couch, we often crowd onto it… You just made me realize I may have done something right by accident! You know what they say, “It’s better to be lucky than good!” Then again, we know there are no coincidences.
Praying for you, brother.
That rest is for a purpose-to get up and go again. You said it well right there Floyd.
I really enjoy being comfortable and God has a way of getting me outside of my own comfort zone. I know it’s good for me, however at the time it can be difficult.
Do I dare pray, God keep pushing me out of my comfort zone so I can better serve you? I think so:)
Yep, I think it is good to pray that God would keep pushing you out of your comfort zone.
Amen!
Great post brother…so glad you are preaching on this. I love living in a comfortable country. But I love more being obedienant to the Savior. He left the comfort of Heaven for us and we bulk if He wants us to go across the street to witness to our neighbor.
Let me just say anything we give up for the Lord will be worth it all when we see Him.
It would be interesting to hear how your message Sunday changed people lives. So many are stirred but not changed. God wants changed lives…so those around us will ask, what happened to you?
I am thinking of an old song, what the world needs now is love, sweet love…yes it need the love of Jesus invading their lives till their love of self is gone and all that remains is pure gold.
Blessings..will be praying for your message tomorrow.
It is one thing to love living in a comfortable country. it is another to be obedient and follow Him when He says Go. I ask myself often the question in your third paragraph. Were people changed?
‘Since when did I say ‘sit’. I think I said ‘Go’. That one really got me, Bill. Thank you for helping us check our comfort levels and see where we are sitting in complacency instead of in the light of the Cross. God bless you!
You’re welcome Deb. I have to look into the mirror first.
You know, of all the many messages in the cross, in the act of His whole life on earth, sometimes the point that breaks through and reaches me the most is what all He left to come. How comfortable is His chair next to the Father’s? The feasting on milk and honey kind of life, etc. Everywhere He goes He receives praise and honor and glory. He left all that amazingness beyond description to go on a mission trip to earth and be Jesus to us. The first act of being Jesus with skin on.
You can’t beat that example. That would be like us going to Craig’s Mexico and see all the suffering but adding in that the suffering ones were those we had created. Then adding in knowing FOR SURE that we would be hatred, beaten, spit upon, nailed to a cross and held up there before our loved ones to suffer in the watching.
I can’t even get there in my little pea brain. Anything…ANYTHING I do is small potatoes, as Steve pointed out, when I look at it in that light.
That passage in Phil.2 which describes your thought always gets to me MS. I am continually amazed by it.
Hi Bill,
I like the comments here, but LarrytheDeuce has hit something for me this Sunday morning.
How do we believers describe comfort? Is it joy, peace, and rest from the Holy Spirit? Jesus says these are ours in Christ.
Are these things comfort for us? I believe they are. I love what Larry says about the cross being a tremendous comfort for him.
Should the church be adopting the world’s definition of comfort? Being material possessions and lots of excess? Jesus did not possess wealth. The Holy Spirit is our comforter. This needs to be taught and proclaimed in the church. Our hope in not in worldly possessions, money, etc. If we believers keep looking to possessions and money for our comfort we are going to be very dissapointed in the end.
Like Betty says, she enjoys living in the comforts of our countries but there are other comforts in our lives that are more important for us and that are eternal in nature and scope.
Thanks Linda. It is nice to know others read comments made by others. 🙂 I agree with your thoughts also.
The message Christ preached included the cross as well as the crown. He never hid His scars to win disciples. He revealed the worst along with the best….then told His listeners to count the cost. It seem’s that many today popularize the message and promise “fun”. Jesus isn’t our “buddy”……He is our Lord! What does faith look like? What is the cost? We would live radically different than we currently are living. We would give up the lie of the “American Dream” and stop pursuing the sin of personal peace and affluence. Our time and resources would be given to expanding Gods kingdom on earth. We would take care of the orphan and the widow and make disciples of all people’s. We would pursue making Christ most glorified by enjoying Him above all things. Christ as our greatest treasure and desire is our goal. We would cut everything out of our lives that conflicts with this goal. We proclaim salvation by faith alone and grace alone against every false gospel. No exceptions.
Be willing to die for Christ. When the time comes, we give our lives for Christ and His gospel. No exceptions. Leave everything to follow Christ… family, house, comfort, money, career, country etc……Christ is everything…..or He is nothing. It will cost you your life.
How am I doing….I am ashamed.
BAM!!!
To all: I so appreciate your comments. With the weekend being a “zoo” it was all I could do to approve them let alone respond. I do not like to go a long time and not comment. Hope you don’t mind that I didn’t get to these until Monday morning.