ARE YOU COMFORTABLE IN YOUR CHURCH?

Posted by Ethan Edwards, Senior Writer - The Cypress Times on February 5th, 2012

If you are, get out now while you still can

Comfort. We yearn for it, we work
for it, we save for it, we cherish it. In suburban America,
comfort is the Holy Grail. We avoid
conflict and troubles whenever possible.
While you may be very comfortable in the cul-de-sac, if you’re finding
yourself comfortable in church you may be in trouble. If church is comfortable, your church may not be
preaching the word of God.

Have you ever had an itch? An itch
you can’t scratch can be annoying, maddening, horribly distracting. Scratching that itch brings instant relief. It’s wonderful. Yet, the Apostle Paul, author of much of the
New Testament, warned against scratching certain itches.

In 2 Timothy 4:3 Paul writes to his apprentice, “For
the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to
suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers
to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

That time is upon us.

Today we call the scratching of itching ears being
relevant. Many pastors now fall into the
trap of preaching the word of God in such a way as to not offend you, or anyone
else sitting in the pew with offering in hand waiting for someone to pass
the basket.

In Hollywood the movie industry calls scratching itching ears “putting
butts in the seats,” and it translates into big bucks. Hollywood films have less story and more
action and happy endings no matter what.
Why? That is what you want.

In pursuit of a larger congregation, which means a larger collection, many churches all over the United States do just what Hollywood
does, they give you what you want. Pastors today rarely stress the reality of Christian life around the world, those who are dying, starving, imprisoned in the name of Christ.

Personal sacrifice is approached on egg shells, if at all, and many pastors heavy up their sermons with words like joy, love, healing, forgiveness…all of which are absolutely part of the truth of Christ; however, it is the parts that are being left out which may endanger your soul and may rob you of any real intimate relationship with the God of Creation.

Take an inventory of your church. Nice facility.
Awesome music. All wonderful things.

What of the teaching? Are you comfortable in the pew or squirming a little? God-light is comfortable; the light of God is not.

Do you get a watered down Gospel in the hopes that your comfort level will keep you coming back each week? If
you’re comfortable, you’re more likely to come back again and again, “butts in
the seats,” repeat business. More
money. Everyone wins. Except you.

God does not care if you’re comfortable. That statement may fly in the face of the “God
loves you” seek “God’s favor” mentality that is drowning out the real Gospel today.

God could not care less if you’re comfortable. God wants to have a personal relationship
with you, and because both you and I are sinners, that relationship will mean some
very uncomfortable situations.

Paul, who wrote of “itching ears,” and was the most
significant evangelist in all of Christianity, did not come to Christ comfortably.

Paul, known then as Saul, was a Jew who persecuted
Christians. Saul hated Christians. He was a bounty hunter who scoured the Middle
East looking for Christians, and when he found them, he brought them to what
society called justice. He was not nice
about it.

One day on the road to Damascus, the same Damascus that exists in Syria today, Saul the bounty hunter was struck blind by Christ.

Acts 9, 3-9 tells the story, “As he neared Damascus on his
journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground
and heard a voice say to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’

^‘Who are you, Lord?’
Saul asked.

“’I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting,’ he replied. ‘Now get up and go into the city, and you will be
told what you must do.’

“The men traveling with Saul stood
there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from
the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him
by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or
drink anything.”

Not a very comfortable encounter
with the living God. In fact, there are
no accounts anywhere in the Bible that display anyone having a comfortable,
easy going encounter with Christ. Those who met him either hated him immediately, or ran from him, or fell to their knees to worship him.

If your church doesn’t make you
uncomfortable, you’re probably not hearing the truth of the Word of God. If you’re not squirming in the pew, you’re
either getting a Gospel-light or you’ve deluded yourself into believing you’re
not a lowly sinner.

If the devil doesn’t make it into
the sermons at your church, get out. If
hell is a concept that is wholly dismissed or avoided in your church, get
out.

God doesn’t want you to be
comfortable, he wants you to be saved.
There is nothing in that process that is comfortable, convenient, or
easy-going.

The only way God could reconcile you
onto himself was to send Christ, God’s only son, God manifest in a wholly
human/wholly God form, and set him on a path that would lead to the cross.

While we may be comfortable, even stylish, wearing a cross around
our necks, few if any of us ever go willing to the cross of crucifixion which rightly is where we should all be.

Christ went to the cross in our place. He did not go the cross to purchase our comfort. He was not seeking to be relevant nor was he helping us free up our lives so we would have more time to
focus on suburbia’s number one past time – keeping up with the Joneses.

Christ wants to know you. That invitation and relationship requires you to dig deep, evaluate who you
really are, listen to the unvarnished Word of God and submit to Christ as
your savior and your king. You must
become His slave. There is nothing
comfortable in the process, but “life to the fullest” and eternity with God is
the payoff for the discomfort.

When a church is preaching in step
with society, then the church is not preaching the word of God. God rarely ever agrees with society. God rarely ever values what society
values.

“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who
will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his
kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the word; be prepared in season and out
of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful
instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound
doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a
great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will
turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” – 2 Timothy
4: 1-4

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