Its rather amazing how easily our passions and desires are lost in the day to day. I have found that “being comfortable” has been one of the greatest tools that the enemy has used against us… Prosperity and the elegant life styles seems to be the mantra we hear from near and afar. From the time we are introduced to this world we’re indoctrinated with success…yet one can never really grasp the concept of it, but it always seems to boil down to whats “bigger and better”…what makes us more comfortable.
It saddens me that over the past few years I hear of people going to churches based on how “successful” the church is or is not. ( or at least appears to be.) We as the church have become incredibly self seeking and egotistical. Starting at one place and ending in another, constantly looking for the next fix…who has the biggest and the best, with the best lighting, where can I be entertained…where can I feel comfortable? The Bride of Christ is not a damn dinner buffet, and it sickens me to see how I personally allowed my self to become the very root…picking and choosing what works for me, usually ending up in the dessert and coffee part of the buffet skipping all the healthy hearty stuff. We need a major wake up call, we need to understand that a church service is not about how we get catered to, but rather…Its about how we serve this world…even more our King.
It saddens me to see leaders of the church today base their success on how many chairs are filled rather than how many of those filled chairs are going out making an impact on the world. For the sake of our comfort we are offered “cheap grace” Bonhoeffer says it best when he wrote…”Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church.” We have led people to believe that we are simply sinners who are forgiven yet costly grace tells us that we are more then that, rather we are saints who have sinned. Grace is costly because it beckons us to follow Christ, to leave our nets behind.. and by doing this we forsake all comfort, all trend, and all modern views of success. a successful life can only be determined by how quick you are to say yes Lord. If the Lord asks you to quit your 100k year job to live in the bush, and you do…then my friend you have success that can never be taken from you.
Let me bring this back to myself now. My passions and desires have been stripped away one to many times for the sake of living a seemingly successful and comfortable life. Today I give that away yet again ,and no matter how crazy the world may think I am, I will pursue the burdens and the passions that are inherently given by my creator. It is that response to the call that I will find true success and comfort. May the same be for the rest of you…To say No Lord is a contradiction of terms.
Shalom.
