Christians, Church, & Comfort - Part 2
Read Part 1 of Christians, Church, & Comfort here.On a recent visit to Detroit, MI, where my husband (your pastor) is from, we got a chance to visit Restore Church in the Boston-Edison neighborhood of Detroit. I knew very little about this Acts 29 church that The Paradox helps to support. I learned all I needed to learn about this church in the first ten minutes of being there.Comfort. Comfort. Comfort.You know how sometimes God stirs in your heart, reveals truth, and you get fired up? You share your heart and others seem to lack your enthusiasm? I'm praying for you as you read this that your heart will be stirred for God's mission. That by His grace you desire to flee from your comforts, and do something to His glory. Or perhaps continue to serve to His glory. Our comforts are distracting us from being outwardly focused. They skew our idea of church and Sunday morning services.I'll be honest and say that I have had my share of dislikes towards the church. Thankfully by God's grace he has brought conviction and change in my heart around church and my personal preferences. I am the pastor's wife, and I am quite fond of him and his preaching so it's pretty easy for me to love our church ;-).But when it comes to our comforts (or discomfort) have you noticed we tend to begin to point out all the reasons circumstances should change? Meaning, we are uncomfortable with our City Group dynamic or the way the church does a particular thing or asks us to do something and we talk and think about what should change in them. But shouldn't our discomforts make us reflect on our own hearts? Shouldn't the first question be, "What in my heart needs to change?", not, "they should change for me"?
Desires are not always a bad thing when it comes to selecting a church. My prompting in writing this series of blog posts is to ask us to examine our hearts. If we're honest with ourselves we often have a shallow, self serving view of church. Is our desire for comfort, or our kids comfort derailing and distracting us from what God might be calling us to? I mean, does God only call the "other" people to the church with "bad music" or a small children's ministry?Let us define good comforts:Good comfort is temperpedic mattresses, sweat pants, fuzzy slippers, and certainly - but not limited to - warm brownies with milk, only in moderation of course.Bad comforts are:Anything that is entirely me focused and denies others. In a nutshell - our church preferences.Let's revisit what church gatherings really are. We are a sent people. Sunday morning is about us gathering and worshipping the One who has sent us; encouraging one another and being refreshed from our week of being on mission. A place where we are not alone, we stand amisdt others that have been equally called to the gospel mission. Isn't that comforting? A place where we are not alone. Others stand with you. We are tired, weary, suffering, and rejoicing over the mission that we have been called to. The sacrificial dirty work is not just for everyone else...it's also for you and me.
Are you distracted from being on mission because of your comforts and church preferences? Sometimes when we are leading we get burned out. Maybe we shouldn't be surprised by this? This calling is not easy, it's not comfortable. It rails against our very make up because it requires us to become Christ like and sacrifice. How does a sinful people become more Christ-like without some suffering, without needing to rely on a loving God that promises to equip us and sustain us? We don't have to have all of the answers, just a willing heart to lay down our comforts and trust the one who has sent us. He is willing to change us, equip us, and deliver us from ourselves and our church preferences. Praise God we don't have to muster up the strength to change ourselves!
"The sacrificial dirty work is not just for everyone else...it's also for you and me."
One last thought...how do you speak of your church? Do your words build up or break down? Are your personal preferences distracting others from being on mission? Can we please constantly come back to what the church is? It's so simple. Sometimes we want Sunday services to be more to us and our children then it needs to be. We just need to worship, show our children how to worship, and be others focused.We do not need amazing music, cool flashy lights, a sweet venue, or a perfect children's ministry to worship the One who has sent us. Nor do the lost need that to find Him.Apparently, you don't even need a bathroom. BOOM. God is good.Read Part 1 of Christians, Church, & Comfort here.Heather Essian is a covenant partner at The Paradox and a member of the Monticello City Group.