Radical Shift #4

The fourth radical shift the church in America needs to make today is the shift from comfort to sacrifice. Don't get me wrong I'm not opposed to comfort. I remember my childhood days of going to church and having to keep cool with those little paper fans on a wooden stick . . . that really dates me and some of you remember what I'm talking about . . . because we didn't have air conditioning. . . sitting on hard pews . . . and then when I was old enough to drink really, really bad church coffee. So I kind of like having air-conditioned buildings, soft cushioned chairs, and Starbucks coffee.

 

But I think our comfort has a way of causing us to become selfish. We're not quite as eager to "give up" for the sake of others. Sacrifice for us in America could be something as simple as parking further away from the main entrance, giving up our favorite seat, sliding to the center of a row, or attending a less popular service time.

 

Sacrifice could look more like giving up daily espresso, not buying your second or third flat screen TV, being content in your 2000 square foot house rather than moving to 4000 square feet, or any number of things and start channeling those resources toward eternal, kingdom purposes.

 

So radical shift number four . . . from comfort to sacrifice. Ask yourself, what could I sacrifice today that would help to advance God's purposes for eternity?

 

 

Comments

[Rod Walker]

George,
I have to agree, we've really missed it on sacrifice. Romans 12:1 links the 'red letter word' WORSHIP to SACRIFICE. Sacrifice took on a whole new meaning as I studied it and understood how much God desires this to be a permanent condition, not a temporary inconvenience. We've enjoyed our COMFORT far too long for the sake of CONFORMING. It's time to change our PATTERNS to allign with His PURPOSES. May God bless your message on WORSHIP this weekend because I don't think we can truly WORSHIP without SACRIFICE! Rod

-and I remember using the fans too.

[Courtney Inman]

I like those ideas. There are many different ways to sacrifice and even small things count. I think Rod is right about enjoying our comfort for the sake of conforming. It can be so hard to be in the world but not of the world.