Thoughts?
(Source: Creatov.nl – Wouter van der Toorn)Seeking a comfortable life?
Rachel
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Jesus follower, wife and proud mom. Youth ministry enthusiast, author, blogger, book addict and drama series lover with a deep affection for chocolate. Other than that I'm quite normal. I think. Find me on Google+!
It’s truth. And yet too many of our current churches seek out the comfortable.
When you look at the lives of biblical characters, their lives were anything but easy. From death, to hunger, to illness, to loss. Great people in the bible had great loss. Makes me wonder why we seek comfortable so often?
I agree. In my opinion, one of the biggest theological dangers right now is the theology of blessing and comfort. People think that a life with Jesus is a guarantee for blessings and prosperity, when it’s really not, at least not in materialistic sense. Jesus said we had to be willing to take up out crosses to follow Him…that’s a wholly different message!
Christianity does not offer the comfort of the world but the purpose of God. Lots of folks living as couch spuds “in comfort” without a purpose. Life in Christ may not be physically comforting but it is challenging in every way, but challenging with faith that the victory is already guaranteed. Way cool. I take great comfort in that truth when my world is not comfortable.
Couldn’t agree with you more Carl! If you’re living a comfortable, easy life as a Christian, you’re doing something wrong. Life was never supposed to be easy, because easy doesn’t make us more Christlike…
Yes and no, I think it is more of an issue of where you find your comfort. Just because you are physically comfortable does not mean you aren’t being faithful. In the same way, being wealthy is not a sin. If this is all you pursue, however, it can become your god. History is also full of misdirected people who forego all means of comfort so they are suffering for their faith. Jesus asks us to consider the lilys and birds and how they are taken care of, the key is not worrying about to distraction so we lose our perspective. Life before the Fall was paradise and humanity was created with purpose. Life is not easy (substitute “full of comfort”) because of sin. We find our comfort only in Christ who takes our burdens upon himself.
I agree that being wealthy and being a committed Christian are fully compatible. I was talking about comfort in the sense that there is literally no struggle in your life. Whereas I’ve had nothing to complain about financially the last years (though I wouldn’t say I was wealthy either, God has just blessed us with whatever we needed and more), I wouldn’t say it’s been comfortable. Being in ministry often results in spiritual battles and those aren’t exactly comfortable in the sense of being problem-free. But yes, Christ who has won the battle for us is our Comfort, our Shelter and our Rock!
The issue for us as Christians is what are we pursuing, a ife of comfort or a life of significance? There’s nothing wrong with being comfortable, but again, is that what we are pursuing? Many professing Christians believe that we can pursue both, equally committed to both the Kingdom and the world. But I believe that practicing Christians understand that a choice must be made, even though all of us find ourselves in the world to one degree or another, it does not mean that we are to pursue the world’s goals for our lives. If a comfortable life happens to be the byproduct of our following God’s will for our lives in our church lives, professions, marriages, relationships, hobbies, etc., then God Bless, especially if we are using that comfort to reach-out to and comfort others.
I agree that we must make a choice, we can’t put the Kingdom first and still want everything the world has to offer us. Surely God can make us comfortable and praise Him when he does, but in my experience more often than not ‘comfort’ isn;t very high on God’s list of priorities…