Comfy?

What stops us? We know we should get our sinful habits under control, but we hang onto them. We know we should be sharing the Good News more readily, but we avoid opportunities that are placed right in front of us. We know we should waste less time, spend less on entertainment, carve out more time for prayer and Bible study, and stop being a jerk at work. What stops us? (I'm not being too harsh - Paul wondered the same thing about himself in Romans 7.)

It's not just one thing - it's never just one thing. But there is one thing that is often one of the primarily culprits. Comfort. Not Comfort, really, but our pursuit of Comfort. We do nothing instead of something because we just want to relax and be comfortable. We don't share our faith when we see a clear opportunity to, because the situation might get ... heaven forbid ... uncomfortable. We spend money on pampering ourselves and less on impacting others for Jesus because pampery things are so comforting.

Comfort can become a god. It can be the altar we sacrifice everything in our lives for. It can determine how we spend a weekend, how we steward money, and how we treat others. Comfort can even dictate our church ministry, rather than the other way around. Comfort can call the shots and receive all our gifts and offerings. We even pray to God to make things more comfortable, often in lieu of asking Him to make things more righteous.

The god of Comfort is decimating the church in our society. We (the modern Western church) give less sacrificially, because we've moved from a sacrificial model of giving to a comfort-level model of giving - we give until just before it hurts. Fewer people are willing to sacrifice their careers in order to serve the church or the mission field. We've become timid with that which we should not be ashamed of. We boast about getting out of our "comfort zone" for as long as ... two whole hours! (It's sad how "comfort zone" is one of our most common phrases when talking about outreach - it shouldn't even be a second thought!)

Why? We know better. We see it in others and in ourselves. We don't like reading articles like this because we know it applies to us (it hurts to even write this!). Why? Because like the prodigal son, we want our inheritance NOW. God has promised us ultimate comfort in His Kingdom - with all joy, all glory, all access to God. More comfort and peace and satisfaction than we can imagine. Rather than trust Him that it's coming in full, we pursue it in part here and now - by avoiding things that make us uncomfortable to the detriment of the purpose of the Church.

Where's the line? Those who were called "ascetics" responded to this truth by intentionally creating a lifestyle of suffering - nothing comfortable allowed! But all they accomplished was throwing away the god of Comfort in favor of the god of Discomfort, who then started calling the shots and receiving the sacrifices.

Our Stewardship series is perhaps the best place to begin. The Master gave us all our resources, including time, and then left for an unspecified duration. He's coming back, and will ask us to render account for our stewardship. He will not ask, "Were you comfortable?" He will ask, "Were you faithful?" We fight the god of Comfort by worshiping and obeying the God of Everything, and surrendering all things, including Comfort, to Him in order to steward well all He has given us.

Do not let Comfort call the shots. Do not let Discomfort tell you you're more righteous than the Comfortites. Be a steward of comfort, making it obey your will, in total submission to the one true God.