Beware the idolisation of comfort

True spiritual growth and transformation is never comfortable. We will go through uncomfortable and challenging seasons of our lives not because God does not love us, but because He is lovingly pruning us so that we can learn to overcome all things through Jesus Christ and bear more fruit. God’s destination for us is victory, not complacency. After the discomfort of ‘pruning’, we find that we will bear greater love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control through the Holy Spirit. But when we choose not to step outside our comfort zones and bear fruit, however, we will fall into the danger of being taken off the Vine of Jesus, because we have rejected the new life that Jesus paid with His life to bring us.

(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 崇尚安舒 | 繁體中文 > 崇尚安舒)

John 15:1-2 ESV  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 

Galatians 5:22-24 ESV But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

The Bible warns us that if we truly live the way Jesus calls us to, we will be despised, hated and persecuted. Friends may mock us for refusing to have sex before marriage. Co-workers may ostracise us for not gossiping about the boss. The boss may fire us for not lying to clients. People will hate us for being grieved by same-sex marriage. Parents may threaten to cut us off if we get baptised or go into full-time ministry.

2 Timothy 3:12-13 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Faithfully keeping God’s commandments requires us to constantly step out of our comfort zones. For instance;

• It is not comfortable to go against the mainstream to stand up for God’s truths.
• It is not comfortable to love our enemies.
• It is not comfortable to give up financial security.
• It is not comfortable to bear other people’s burdens.
• It is not comfortable to forgive those who have hurt us deeply.

John 14:15 ESV  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

If we feel comfortable in our walk with God, then we might have to pause and check if we have simply been circling in our man-made comfort zones, instead of expanding God’s kingdom in our lives and the lives of those around us.

Romans 14:17-19 ESV  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Nothing that Jesus did for us was comfortable

The Son of God left the comforts of His perfect Father in heaven to live with imperfect people in a messy defiled world so that He could demonstrate what it means to love others more than ourselves – to the point of dying on the cross for us.

Jesus chose to deny His own tremendous power and live in absolute humility, even though He could have had anything He wanted.

1. Jesus didn’t have a comfortable place to sleep in | Matthew 8:20 ESV And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
2. Jesus didn’t enjoy comfortable financial or material security | Luke 9:3 NIV  He told them: “Take nothing for the journey–no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt.
3. Jesus didn’t choose an outstanding appearance  | Isaiah 53:2 NLT  … There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 
4. Jesus was gracious to people He knew would betray Him | John 13:21  After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.”
5. Jesus put the interests of others before His | Matthew 20:27-28 ESV  and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
6. Jesus allowed Himself to be despised by people | Isaiah 53:3 NLT  He was despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

Jesus went to such uncomfortable lengths for us to demonstrate how we ought to live – not within our man-made comfort zones but in God’s kingdom on earth.

Being transformed by discomfort

The “comfort idol” is a major blind spot for modern Christians.

Many of us sing praises about God’s great love for us, then resist Him whenever He calls us to love others like Jesus did – forgetting that we are meant to be transformed through the Holy Spirit “into his image with ever-increasing glory”.

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV  And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

1. A preference for comfort is self-idolatry

Change takes time, but we must be careful not to assume that God in His infinite mercy, will keep tolerating us just the way we are. Such stubbornness takes God for granted – and we become no better than non-believers (heathen at heart). The bottom line is that stubbornly sticking to our comfort zones is the same as self-idolatry, and we need to repent whenever we willfully “do things the way we like it” in defiance of our loving Father in heaven.

Acts 7:51 NLT “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? …

1 Samuel 15:23 NLT Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”

2. “Dying” brings a rewarding new life in Christ

God does not intend to steal our joy when He calls us to die to ourselves and deny our desires. It is actually to release us into greater joy, purpose and strength, as He leads us into His true intentions for our talents, passions and experiences.

When we stay comfortable, we only experience a fraction of the marvellous possibilities He has in store for us. When we “die” to our own ways of thinking and doing things, we are released to experience a much more fulfilling life because God is infinite and He rules the entire universe. Like any amazing adventure into exotic new territory, the journey will not always be comfortable, but the destination will always be worth it.

Galatians 2:20 ESV  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 5:24 NLT  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

3. Proactively stepping into God’s higher purpose

We all desire a higher purpose in life and we only find it when we seek God’s way –  not the “path of least resistance”.

The fact is, we will never have a sense of deep spiritual satisfaction until we participate in the works that God has prepared for us even before we were born. It is a journey of wonderful self-discovery – and one we only begin on by taking the first step forward.

Ephesians 2:10 ESV  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

4. It is better to feel weak and under-equipped than confident

Someone once said that “If you feel confident to do something for God, you are probably the least qualified to demonstrate His grace and power and the most likely to grab the glory for yourself.”

All things are possible with God by our side. Whenever we step into something that is unfamiliar and a bit scary for the sake of God’s glory, we can be confident that He will reveal His power through our weaknesses. God will do all things that bring glory to Himself, so His name may be demonstrated throughout the world – that’s His guarantee.

2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Matthew 19:26 ESV But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Exodus 9:16 ESV  But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

So let us all shake off the strongholds of a comfortable complacent life. A life that is not entirely comfortable with God is far, far better than one that is comfortable without Him!

Testimony: From using alcohol as a comfort to overcoming father wound 

“Because of my dad’s strict discipline that was instilled in me at home, I did well in school – but also learned to bottle up my emotions. When I graduated and started working, I continued to drive myself hard to win the approval of my boss and struggle with a sense of being boxed in. 

To cope, I started to drink a lot and eventually, developed a drinking problem. Alcohol became my comfort and I could not let it go. This affected my life and my relationships.

Not too long ago, a friend at church asked me if I was depressed and still idolised my father. I was shocked. There was no reason for me to be depressed when I had a good career, a good wife and good friends. Isn’t this the definition of prospering as a person?

I had previously learnt about ‘father wounds’ from attending a men’s fellowship years ago but never thought it applied to me. It took me a while to realise and accept that I was suffering from a father wound; that I had not felt affirmed as a child and felt compelled to do whatever my father wanted me to.

My dad’s intention to bless me through strict discipline every day had also cursed me. The reason I felt boxed in, without joy, was that I was still longing for my father’s approval and affirmation in my forties.

My friend counselled me and explained that I do not need to continue to look up to this relationship any longer but look objectively at my father as a fellow human being. This new understanding was very liberating.

We prayed together and I forgave my dad and asked God to help me heal from my father wound. I don’t have to live based on my past and what my earthly father has done for me anymore. God defines who I am. I can trust my Heavenly Father to take care of my identity and emotions.”

May this sharing be a blessing to you as you seek to love God with all your heart and turn from the idolisation of comfort to walk boldly with Jesus.