Comfort Zone

Since our Camry was totaled, over the past few weeks Jane and I have been having to think about what we want in our next car. When it comes to cars, I’ve never considered myself as overly picky. Price is probably the number one concern. Make and model were insignificant. Power locks, windows and mirrors are on the list of wants because of safety (there’s just something reassuring about being on the south side of Chicago, hitting the power locks and hearing that “click”). I don’t really care for big vehicles…I seem to encounter a lot of tight parking space. Yet, I don’t want a really small vehicle where I feel like I’m a flea among a bunch of big dogs. Automatic transmission is important because we have a habit of switching cars and drivers in our home, and I’m the only one that’s proficient with a stick. A gazillion airbags wasn’t important. I know that when the Lord wants to call you Home, an airbag isn’t going to keep your ticket from getting punched.
Yet, as I was going through my check list of what I wanted in a new car (at the very least new to us), one thing surprised me – I really wanted a power seat, at least on the driver’s side. I want to be able to make minor adjustments of height, tilt and recline – all at the push of a button. And then it hit me – I’m a comfort addict. I wish that was the only sign but there are others. For example, this summer I came home after a long day and one of my offspring dared to sit in “my” chair and didn’t vacate upon my arrival…and sadly, it irritated me.
While there’s nothing wrong with a little comfort, there is a major problem when we become “comfort addicts,” particularly in our Christian walk. For example, there are two polar extremes in Christianity today. There are “Stay at home Christians.” These are believers who because of either watching or being dragged on some level into conflict in a church, they’ve determined that it’s just less hassle and friction free to worship at home. After all, with TV and the Internet, the very best churches and preachers are available while you sit in the comfort of your own family room…in your pajamas sipping coffee. The opposite end of the spectrum are those who seek out a mega-church where they can sneak in and out week after week and “no one ever knows their name.” They can stay under the radar and be anonymous. They get all the benefits and blessings of a big production without any investment.
Yet, even in a medium sized church like ours, there is a temptation toward going for the comfort by being a relational minimalist. The Bible commands us to be in relationships with other Christians (that’s not just in our own families). There are 54 “one anothers” in the New Testament that teach us how to treat each other, meaning those of us who belong to the body of Christ. Relationships though are sticky and messy. People find out things about you that you’d rather they not know and you find out things about them that you’d rather not know. Add to that, our technological, transitory age often deceives us into thinking that we have relationships and we don’t. We’re extremely mobile, moving from place to place, rarely settling down in one spot for a long time where we truly build relationships. Or, we’re consumed by family life, pouring almost all our spare time into our children and what’s left over into our spouse. Then, we’re deceived by email and Facebook, imagining we have hundreds of spectacular relationships when actually we have lots of well-wishers and acquaintances yet very few flesh and blood friends. Finally, we’re mesmerized by one-way relationships, expending emotional energy as we bond with our favorite sitcom actor, sports star, or American Idol contestant. None of those are real. The kind of real relationships that the New Testament commands can’t happen in just a worship service. They begin to grow in small groups or Bible studies, as we peel back the veneer on our lives and begin to share our souls. But it’s not comfortable. It invades our personal space.
Many Christians have a retiree mentality or the “used to” mindset. They “used to” teach Sunday school. They “used to” serve in a ministry. They “used to” witness. They “used to” __________. But their children or grown or other events in their life have changed, and “it’s time for someone else to take their turn because they’ve done their time.” It’s almost like it’s some penal sentence. I have a friend who retired nearly twenty years ago now. He and his wife have never travelled. To my knowledge, though they were both in good health when they retired, basically, they sit in their house, watch TV, mow their lawn in warm weather and shovel snow in the cold. I’ve often thought as I’ve driven by their home, “What a sad, wasted life!” Yet, I know Christians who have a similar mentality. Often they will moan about the new and younger generation, yet they are not investing the Kingdom to make an impact for Jesus in the future. They’re comfortable.
Probably, there is no area where we are so tempted to be comfortable as we are with our finances. How often do we look for things that we can cut out of our budget or do without? America is driven by consumerism and materialism. We are a nation of spenders not savers. So much so, and please understand I really like him, when facing a Recession then President Bush urged us to “go shopping” to get the economy going. And there’s nothing wrong with using God’s financial blessings on things and comforts. Yet, how often do we ask, “What can I limit? What can I postpone? What can I do without? How much more can I give to advance Christ’s Kingdom? How can I give more as worship and gratitude for the gift of the Cross?” If we don’t watch it, we comfort becomes an idol, competing in our hearts with the one true God. I know that I have to fight my sinful heart here. I love comfort here.
Yet, you and I were not saved so that we could be comfortable. Jesus loves us and saved us so that we could invest our lives in something that has significance, that truly matters, so we would stretch, continually grow, be faithful, take new ground, fight on the front lines for His Kingdom.
It’s not exactly comfortable. In fact, it’s not comfortable at all. Yet, it’s the only way for your life and my life to really matter for eternity. It’s the only way that we demonstrate to the One who gave His all for us that we love Him and that we are so grateful!! “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).