You are traveling in a mundane dimension. A dimension of familiar sights, sounds and like minds. A journey into a colorless land whose boundaries require no imagination. Your next stop, The Comfort Zone.
The Comfort Zone may be one of most unsatisfying places in the world. What happens in The Comfort Zone? NOTHING!
No adventure, no excitement, no anticipation... no meaning. Just routine.
Not much spiritual growth takes place in The Comfort Zone, in fact, spiritual growth is stunted and hindered. The Comfort Zone is a premature destination that ruins a wondrous journey God has mapped out for you.
Actively serving God is an adventure. Everyone loves Indiana Jones. Had Indiana Jones remained in the classroom merely talking about searching for hidden treasure, no one would even know who he was. Indiana Jones left the confines of safety and comfort to pursue his passion and literally saved the world from Nazis. Yes, I know Indiana Jones is not a real guy, but the concept is true for all of us, we can sit in the pew and learn about what it means to serve God or we can get out and actually serve.
What good is learning if the learning is never applied? What credibility as a teacher of the Word do I have if I only instruct others how to serve God and never actually get off my hind end and do it?
A few years ago, I was dragged, kicking and screaming from my comfort zone. I had carved a nice little den for myself where I felt insulated and secure. I served God within the confines of established Christianity and just told myself, over and over, "my ministry is to equip the saints for works of service."
Easy, just give me a classroom or a living room and a couple of people wanting to learn the Bible and I was good to go! I was rotting away, marking time, waiting for... I don't even know. I never realized why I never progressed past a certain level of spiritual growth.
I stopped growing because I stopped allowing God to stretch me. I insulated myself inside my little Christian bubble.
If you are feeling frustrated with your Christian growth, you are probably rotting away in your comfort zone, also known as the serving free zone.
Not everyone is called to be an evangelist in the strictest sense of the word. Not everyone is equipped to strike up meaningful, life changing conversations in a grocery line or a doctor's waiting room. The ability to do that is a special gift from God. Everyone is, however, called to outreach to the lost in some form or fashion.
If no aspect of your life, even indirectly, supports outreach to the lost, you are missing out on a major component of the Christian faith. Chances are, you will never reach your full potential as a servant of Christ.
Just as every army has front line soldiers, every army has a vast support staff which is vital to the mission. I am blessed to be part of a ministry actively serving the homeless. Within this ministry, in addition to those who come out to the streets, we have a vast support of prayer warriors, those called to provide supplies and financial support, and those who spread the word about what we are doing. Each component is essential to the execution of the mission.
If you are dissatisfied, it is because you are rotting away in your comfort zone and not fulfilling your God ordained destiny. The command to "go and make disciples" did not end with the last martyred Apostle.
If you are not actively serving God according to your designed purpose, you are trapped in The Comfort Zone, missing out on true satisfaction, joy and peace.
God has blessed you with a unique personality and abilities that are essential components to the Great Commission. By rotting away in The Comfort Zone, you are not only robbing yourself of blessings, you are robbing those whom you were designed to serve and serve with.
James 1:22 - Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
We are designed by God to serve, to do , to function as a unit. This cannot happen in The Comfort Zone. Get up and go!
Now, go live as Christ... and give the devil hell!!
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