I'm not asking you to leave your comfort zone

"Leaving your comfort zone" is a social virtue. Regardless of context (at home, at work, in your community of faith, in a social or hobby club), kudos abound for those who leave their comfort zone. Leaders often ask their groups to step out of their comfort zones in order to try something new and, perhaps, enjoy some kind of new benefit. When we do, then we high five each other and give attaboys. And then we return to our comfort zones.

A "comfort zone" is commonly described as that sphere that surrounds you - within that sphere is comfort, and outside that sphere is some level of discomfort, whether slight or severe or something in between. We, being creatures who gravitate toward comfort, spend a lot of time inside that sphere or "zone," and the common wisdom is that it's a good thing to leave that comfort zone on occasion. And then return.

I have been bugged by the concept of "comfort zone" on the simple basis that comfort should not be our primary ethic. Comfort should not be that controlling value by which most decisions are made. With this mindset, leaving our comfort zone can become something "heroic" in our own eyes because we dared to challenge this primary ethic. I tried sushi - how daring and brave!

So, I began to talk in terms of "expanding your comfort zone" instead of leaving it (and then returning). Wouldn't it be better if we just expanded that sphere so that we were more comfortable with more things (without compromising morals)? Going to a foreign country to help in an orphanage then is not the brave "leaving your comfort zone" but the humble "expanding your comfort zone." Rather than enduring uncomfortable things more often, we are more comfortable with more things. We actually grow - increasing the number of things we're comfortable doing and encountering is a kind of growth.

But that still didn't answer the issue in a satisfactory way for me.

Lately, I've been toying with the idea that it's not really a "comfort zone" at all. It's a "control zone." It's the sphere inside which I feel like I have enough control, and outside which I feel like I don't have enough control. The sense of "comfort," then, is a byproduct of how much control I feel. If this is the right view, then my primary ethic is not my arbitrary level of comfort, but a question of who's in charge.

If God is truly God, He is then truly sovereign, perfectly loving, and completely purposeful. Everything is within His "control zone." And if I am truly His child, then the sphere of my control is entirely subsumed by His. Now, leaving my control zone is to enter His. It is not this brave, temporary venture beyond my level of comfort, but a matter of trust. If I do not trust God to know what He's doing, I will not leave my control zone. If I do trust that His sovereign involvement is actual and not just theoretical, I can leave my control zone and enter into His.

As we talk about living more missional lives, I'm not asking you to leave your comfort zone. I'm asking you to leave your control zone. And to enter His.

Comfort Zone

We've received great reports from youth group who are at Challenge this week! Good attitudes, good outreach projects, openness to letting the Word make a real difference in their lives. I'm looking forward to hearing stories from the full week after they return.

One of the events that our youth participated in was offering to pray with people who passed by them on the street. Apparently, it was a great experience - even though the thought of it must have been nerve-wracking at first. But, they jumped in, and saw God move in the lives of people. They were taken beyond their "comfort zone" - that space in which we feel comfortable and safe.

You've heard dozens of times "go beyond your comfort zone," whether in church, in business, or in school. It's a challenge to venture beyond that boundary between safe and risky, between comfortable and unsure. Jesus continually challenged people to step out of their comfort zones. You cannot come to Christ in faith without leaving your comfort zone, and you cannot serve the mission He has for you without passing that border.

But I prefer a different phrase than "go beyond your comfort zone." I would rather challenge you to "expand your comfort zone." Not only go beyond the borders, but then extend those borders! Bust through them as Jesus challenges us to, but then change them. Once you do something like praying with a total stranger, rather than retreat back into your same ol' comfort zone, redraw the boundaries to now include things like praying with total strangers.

Call it "gerrymandering for Christ"! Change your borders to include more and more of the things Christ wants us to do in your new, improved comfort zone. Stretch, but don't forget to then grow!