The Comfort Crisis

Have you noticed that just about everything wrong with the world today is a “crisis?”  If an influential person wants to elevate their issue, it is instantly cast as some sort of existential threat. It’s a crisis!  Since the crisis stokes fear, we’re also more likely to buy whatever people are selling. If it’s really a do or die moment, we don’t want to be on the wrong side of the equation. Multiply that times all the strongly held opinions in our divided world and it’s crisis, crisis everywhere.

Don’t get me wrong. I do believe we face a number of calamities both here and around the world.  However, not everything is a crisis. So what leads us to fire off the crisis alarm bells so quickly and so often? I have a theory. Comfort. The pursuit of happiness has evolved into the pursuit of comfort. What is the measure of success? Comfort. Comfortable house, comfortable car, comfortable lifestyle, comfortable retirement, comfortable relationships, comfortable values, comfortable everything. I’m not saying that comfort itself is evil, but if the pursuit of comfort is the goal of our existence, then anything that threatens our comfort is a crisis.  

At the risk of heaping on another crisis, I would like to propose that our insatiable pursuit of comfort is a crisis of its own. When we value our own easy existence over the welfare of others, we tend to resist things that are inconvenient us. While we may express compassion for others experiencing difficulty, we may limit our help to what is easily accessible. We let society determine our values so we can easily fit in and justify our behaviors. When differences of opinion or conflicts arise, we lack the will to have the awkward conversation. Perilous realities that require immediate sacrifice for the sake of generations to come are swept under the rug so we don’t rock the boat. I dare say, the pursuit of comfort eventually leads society to the very opposite.  

Have we as Christians adopted the pursuit of comfort? That’s an uncomfortable thought! Are we only willing to follow Jesus when it’s easy and fits in our schedule? Are we willing to dig into the scriptures and grow in our faith, even if that growth requires real change? Are we willing to expand our comfort zones to speak the truth in love, to confess our sins, to forgive those who have wronged us and to pray for (or even with) them? Are we willing to sacrificially support the work of our churches and ministry organizations as they sacrifice for the sake of those who need Jesus? In this world filled with crises real and imaginary, are we willing to pursue the Kingdom of God, casting an alternate vision for humanity where Jesus is King, goodness is worth the suffering, and our comfort can wait until Jesus returns? My prayer is that we are willing. 

I am no prophet, but as I look forward, I do not see a comfortable future for Christianity in America.  Now, don’t think for a moment that I’m speaking of doom and gloom. Rather, it’s our perfect opportunity to embrace uncomfortable Christianity. Isn’t that exactly what Jesus taught us? Jesus didn’t have a place to lay His head. Jesus crossed comfort zones to love the “unlovable.” Jesus cared about the hearts of the hurting, not just the policies of the powerful. Jesus taught eternal truths that made even the religious leaders squirm. Jesus challenged us to entrust to Him our deepest regrets so that He could pour in His life-giving forgiveness. Jesus carried His cross so that we could do the same. Jesus was supremely uncomfortable as He suffered and died for humanity, only to rise again for our new life, now and forever. Eternity with Jesus sounds pretty comfortable. In the meantime, let’s learn to be comfortable with an uncomfortable Christianity.