Too comfortable for comfort?

By Pastor Dave Stimers

I can’t help but thinking that a huge percentage of North American Christians are too comfortable for comfort. Many of us have made ourselves comfortable in many ways as we have been given good financial opportunities, or we’ve worked hard to earn a good living and save our pennies. Providing a good life for our families is usually associated with the kind of home you have, or car your drive or things you own. And why not? After all there’s nothing wrong with working hard and enjoying the fruit of our labor, right?

Sometimes our theology pitches in and reinforces our comfort level. We preach that once you’ve said the sinner’s prayer then you have salvation. There are, of course, things that a Christian shouldn’t do and so we make sure we don’t use profanity, we try to be honest in all situations and make sure that we don’t fight with others in public. Then there are the big ones, the things that every Christian must avoid at all costs: adultery, stealing, murder. This brand of Christianity makes us comfortable because as long as we avoid these (fairly visible) sins then we can ease through life enjoying our material comforts and luxuries while being assured of our spot in heaven and an eternal reward.

What makes me uncomfortable is that when someone asked Jesus what they had to do to receive eternal life, he didn’t tell them to say and prayer and enjoy a life of avoiding certain sins while enjoying their material happiness. After the man told Jesus that he was actually very good at following the rules, Jesus told him to sell everything he had and follow him. Then when the man went away discouraged Jesus made a convicting statement, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Living in Canada affords us many comforts and luxuries that most of the world cannot afford. We are rich. When I hear these words coming out of Jesus’ mouth it makes me cringe. His style of evangelism looks very different from ours. Instead of asking for a prayer, He asks for a life. And unfortunately those who experience the comforts of material prosperity also encounter the distractions that are part of the package. Things have distracted us and made us think that we can depend on them. The reality is that our comfort should make us uncomfortable. Where our treasure is, is where our hearts will be. So, get uncomfortable enough to desperately follow Jesus, to reallocate some (or all) of your wealth, to invest in the things of the kingdom, to forsake the lure of this world. Then remember what Jesus said next – “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” –Mark 8:27.

The Gospel is Bigger than that!

By Pastor Dave Stimers

I was recently reading about Ed McMahon. He was a well known entertainer, side-kick to Johnny Carson, and pitchman. One of the things that he was most famous for was being the face of the Publisher’s Clearing House sweepstakes. In essence he would show up at some unsuspecting person’s house and proclaim to them that they had a won a pile of money. For a whole generation of North Americans he was the face of financial prosperity, a picture of the hope that anyone could strike it rich in a moment. What most people didn’t realize is that Ed struggled with his own finances to the point where, before he died he was constantly fighting to keep his house and stay out of bankruptcy.

Unfortunately there are enough parallels between Mr. McMahon and the North American church to make me uncomfortable about the gospel that we claim to preach. On the one hand, there seems to be just as much zeal to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ as ever. On the other, it seems that thousands upon thousands of people want to herald the richness of life with Christ, and yet lead spiritually bankrupt lives. I’m not saying that people do it on purpose…It’s actually quite easy to be lulled into a life of spiritual complacency in our society. There is certainly enough entertainment, comfort, and distraction to make us believe that we are doing OK. Furthermore, often the ‘gospel’ that has been preached to us is that we have only got to say a prayer and expect that one day we’ll die and show up in heaven. Christianity ends up being fire insurance, a ticket out of hell and into heaven.

There is, however, good news about the good news…

Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” He made it clear that we should pray for, anticipate and expect God to make earth like heaven – a place that is characterized by love, peace, equality, joy, and a place where He rules with love and faithfulness. Let me assure you that I believe a true prayer of faith can save people into a future that includes living in heaven forever with God. But I also believe that we are saved into living a Spirit-filled life that will require us sacrificing our entire life in order to commit to working to bring God’s love to this world. This means we may be called upon to sacrifice (all of) our money, our time, our comfort, our right to pick a career, place to live or physical safety. What we’ll find, though, is that the Spirit of God will work in our world to reveal the glory of God through the sacrifice of His servants. We’ll see God work in ways that we never would have imagined. We’ll discover that the richness of life with Christ far exceeds the comforts of this world.

So. I dare you to ask God to use you for His kingdom today. You might find that He asks you to give up something that you don’t want to give up, He might require you to do something uncomfortable in order to bring more of His character to someone’s life. He may ask you to rely on Him for more than a ticket to heaven, but that’s OK because the gospel is bigger than that.