Get a Little Uncomfortable

“ ‘You all know, ‘ said the Guide, ‘that security is mortal’s greatest enemy. ’ ” – C.S. Lewis, The Pilgrim’s Regress.
Yes, roll your eyes, another C.S. Lewis quote. You are probably wondering when we are changing the name of this blog from “RogueMillennials” to “C.S. Lewis Everything. C.S. Lewis Forever.” It’s not our fault the man was a genius who can do no wrong.

I bring up this quote because I believe it really sums up some of the problems with the church. The church has become too cozy and safe. It’s become too easy and comfortable. And as a result of that comfort and “security” we have become complacent in our faith. When we are comfortable and safe, we feel no need to venture beyond the comfort zone and we never grow. Yes, Christ said that we should accept him with the heart of a child, but not the mind of one. He wants our faith and its effects on the world to grow beyond its infancy.

What causes us to grow as Christians is the discomfort that comes from doubt, or from being in a discussion you feel you have no bearing point in, or from wondering why we believe such and such about passage so and so and realizing you don’t know the answer. Questions that make us uncomfortable are usually put in our paths for a reason, and it is through looking for answers (through study, and discussion, and prayer) that we find them.

Discomfort also causes us to get up and move as Christ’s body on earth. This comes from the discomfort of knowing that there are others in our communities in need of both nourishment of the body (physical needs) and of the spirit (the need for a savior). For many, this discomfort is ever-present (in that we encounter it on a day-to-day basis as we work, go to school, travel, etc.). That discomfort becomes latent, however, when we feel that going to church on Sunday and maybe teaching Sunday school to the 3^rd graders is doing enough for the kingdom. The comfort of doing church has dulled the discomfort of knowing there is many more in need of our talents (given to us by God to fulfill his purposes).

So security not only becomes our enemy in preventing us to grow, but becomes the enemy of the community that needs for the Church to reach its hands out to them.