How is it that we now believe it is our spiritual heritage and right to achieve a high level of comfort? The house, the car, and busy 'soccer mom' lifestyle? And then we get so frustrated in traffic, or with any small inconvience, such as not being able to understand the drive-thru cashier at McDonald's?
Pastor Bob (from our new church in Paramount) and I watched the DVD sermon from the 2003 Willowcreek Leadership Summit of Pastor Erwin McManus of Mosaic here in LA about the 'Barbarian' Christian lifestyle of Paul and John vs. the 'civilized', comfort-focused lifestyle of the typical American Christian. Amazing stuff. This is a must see sermon. McManus hits it on the head when he talks about the famous saying, "the safest place for me is to be is in the center of God's will." But looking at Paul and John and other great Christians of our time, when was God's will ever "safe according to our definition?"
The center of God's will for me is to live and raise my family here in Compton. Is that safe? Did God promise me that we will never have heartache, danger, break-ins, being yelled at, ridiculed, etc. If I lose one of my children by living here, was I outside of God's will? Obviously, that would devastate us. So I don't throw that out flippantly. But what if something like that happened? Is God still God? Still sovereign? Still in control? Did He promise us that everything would be safe by moving here?
These are good challenges for us. Tonya and I desire to be more involved in the lives of families here in our neighborhood. Less focused on having our sanctuary away from the troubles, inconviences and dangers of ministry. But that won't really be comfortable.
Is this what a church should really be focused on?
"A church here in Houston is having a 'Breakfast with Santa' for $30/family - church members can enjoy a continental breakfast, crafts, taking pictures with Santa and Rudolph, and getting to visit with Santa all conveniently in the church hall. more
Lord help us not to be comfortable.
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