Comfort or the Comforter?

I am not really sure where to begin with this post.  I must choose my words carefully.  The words I'm going to write are not easy to hear, and they are not easy for me to write.  But they are necessary.  I want to be open about the harsh realities that God has been unwrapping in my life over the past few years, and He continues to do so even today.  And these realities are not only for me, but as believers, they are for us all.  Sometimes the truth hurts.

I love reading biographies of great heroes of the Christian faith.  Over the past few years I have enjoyed reading the breathtaking life stories of Corrie ten Boom, Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, Oswald Chambers, and Jackie Pullenger (among many others).  Their stories always leave me feeling convicted, inspired, and encouraged...but also burdened.  Amy Carmichael encountered Jesus, hopped on a ship at age nineteen, and spent the rest of her life rescuing temple prostitutes and raising them as her own children.  Jackie Pullenger went by herself  into one of the most dangerous cities in all of China and became the hands and feet of Jesus, even allowing drug addicts and prostitutes to share her very bed.  Jim and Elisabeth Elliot moved to Ecuador to give their lives to a lost Indian tribe.  And give their lives they did. After Jim was murdered, Elisabeth returned to work among the very people who tortured and murdered her beloved husband.  The list could go on and on  This is Christianity. This is heroic.  This is the life of a Christian. To these people, Jesus was much more than a cool concept to consider.  Jesus was not simply a part of their lives...Jesus.was.their.life. They chose to be broken bread and poured out wine.  These chose the narrow path.  Their stories are beautiful.  They had what I so desperately want--total abandonment to the King of the universe.

And then I look around at our modern version of Christianity, and I wonder...Have we missed it?  Are we so caught up driving to our fancy church buildings in our fancy Sunday-morning clothes that we've totally missed the entire reason for our existence?  The bottom line is--I think we've been deceived.  For many of us, our lives are built around ourselves--our comfort, our happiness, our wants and desires.  How can Jesus make me happier? How can Jesus enhance my quality of life? How can I live a life of comfort and ease but make sure I don't go to hell?  We live just like the rest of the world (perhaps with slightly higher moral standards) and tack the name Jesus on the side.  We've bought the lie that following Jesus costs nothing.  This is not reality. True, Biblical, Life-altering Christianity cost Jesus Christ everything and it demands everything from us as well.  

In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Luke 14:33

 This verse makes my skin crawl.  It makes me thoroughly uncomfortable.  Everything. Really, Jesus? Everything? Can't I just hold on to _______?  And He says, "Yes, my Child, Everything.  Only when you are completely emptied of yourself can I fill you with all of Me." Its a complete trade.  He gets all of me, I get all of Him. He gets my family, my body, my mind, my education, my possessions, my time, my dreams--He gets it all. And I get Jesus.  I get abundant life.  I get peace that passes understanding, that even when my life is an absolute mess, somehow I'm okay.  I get joy that bubbles up from the depths of my very soul.  I get to wake up every morning knowing that I have a purpose.  I get the power to hold an orphan in my arms and whisper "Oh, how He loves you..." and have it mean something. I do not have to be afraid of death because I look forward to my glorious heavenly home. I am in love with the King of the Universe.  And its worth every sacrifice imaginable.

See, in modern Christian circles, we're really concerned about being comfortable.  We bend over backwards to make sure that our lives are filled with comfort and ease.  Oh, we're good people.  We go to church, we volunteer at the fall festival, and we even sponsor needy children.  We love Jesus, we do.  As long as loving Jesus does not jeopardize our little, familiar, comfortable lives.  And it's so easy to live like this.  Especially in the everyday, mundane tasks of life.  Its easy to let sin slip in little by little until we're drowned in a pool of shallow complacency.   It scares me.  It scares me because I am speaking to myself.  The truth is, I really like comfort. But the problem is, Jesus never once promised comfort.  He actually promised quite the opposite.  He says:

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves..."

"I have not come to bring peace, but a sword..."

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.  And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.  Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it"

Matthew 10: 16, 34, 37-39

These are the realities of the poured-life.  A life of radical abandonment to Jesus Christ is not without cost.  But take a look at these words, also from our Savior:

"So have no fear of them..."

Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul..."

"Whoever acknowledges me  before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father, who is in Heaven..."

Matthew 10: 26, 28, 32

"I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly."

We can choose comfort.  Or we can choose the Comforter.  We can choose the easy life.  Or we can choose to have the Spirit of the Living God dwelling in our very bodies.  We can choose treasure on earth.  Or we can choose a Heavenly paradise where "He will wipe away every rear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there by mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore..." (Rev. 21: 4).  Friends, we have a choice to make.

Let me clarify.  I.do.not.have.this.all.figured.out.  I wrestle with these truths daily as my flesh desperately tries to coddle itself.  As my sinful natures tries to convince my spirit that  my life would be much more enjoyable if I would cave and live a life of comfort.  And much of the time, I do cave.  But what I know is that Jesus is so much more than a comfortable Savior who we can sit on a shelf and forget about (until we need Him).  Jesus demands all and He gives all.  Ian Thomas once said,

"The Christian life can be explained only in terms of Jesus Christ, and if your life as a Christian can still be explained in terms of you--your personality, your willpower, your gift, your talent, your money, your courage, your scholarship, your dedication, your sacrifice, or your anything--then although you may have the Christian life, you are not yet living it."

The heroic Christians I mentioned above are not "special" Christians who just got lucky.  They were simply obedient.  They decided to take the Bible literally.  They decided that Jesus was reality.  And they won.  This is the life of being dead to self and alive to the glorious manifestation of Jesus Christ.  Its available to anyone who is willing to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Jesus.  Its unpredictable.  Its hard.  Its painful.  Its beautiful.  Its fulfilling.  Its worth it.  

In light of the Bible we read, in light of the Jesus we've devoted our lives to, we cannot justify continuing living lives of mediocrity.  There are too many people who have never heard of Jesus.  There are too many babies without a mommy and daddy.  There are too many people dying without hope.  We have a choice to make.  We can choose comfort.  Or we can choose the Comforter.

"I refuse to spend the rest of my life in a pasture when there are so many fields to harvest.  I hope to die in harness."

-Corrie ten Boom