Uncomfort Zone

I read this today on a blog:

"We will never become who God wants us to be without having a desperation for Him. It is not abnormal that most of you are fairly comfortable. You have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a house to live under. So how do we become desperate when all around us screams comfort? You have to follow God into things that you could never do on your own. "

Looking back on my Christian walk, the year that I felt it was the "easiest" to follow Christ was the first year that I was a Christian. After that year it became much harder to follow Christ with passion and zeal. WHY?

The answer lies in the quote above - COMFORT.

The first year as a Christian I was acutely aware that most of the people around me were not Christ-followers and it caused me to be more aware of how I lived my life - trying to watch what I said & did. I was intentional about trying to invite people to church and was very passionate about my relationship with the Lord. I became a Christian the summer before my senior year of high school and when school started I was a bit uncomfortable. People knew me one way and I was now completely changed. It was hard to be different but honestly, it was easy to walk firm in my faith. Does that make sense?

After that year I went to a Christian college. I was SO excited. The mere thought of going to a school where everyone was Christians was awesome to me. I had visions of incredible worship services, Bible studies with dorm-mates, and had this vision of being in a big place full of other on-fire Christians. I started off majoring in youth ministry (it's okay, you can laugh) and had to meet with the chair of the Bible Dept. He said some thing to me that day that have stuck with me. He commented that he hoped I didn't lose my zeal for the Lord after my 4-years there and that I should try not to get discouraged.

I didn't quite understand what he meant.

I do now.

I found a lot of people who claimed to be Christians but who weren't Christ-followers. They could talk to the talk but their walk didn't match up. I didn't understand how people could know what Jesus saved them from - an eternity in hell - and NOT be excited about it.

Here's what I came to realize - it's "comfortable" being around other Christians. Sometimes it's so comfortable that we relax too much and suddenly we become like those who claim to be Christians but who struggle to be an actual Christ-follower. The difference - one is about a religion (Christian), the other is about a relationship with the Father (Christ-follower).

Four years attending a Christian college, 2 years working at a Christian college and then 7 years working at a Christian non-profit organization have shown me the truth of the quote above - we can never be desperate for God when we are "comfortable." We will never get to experience ALL that God has for us when we are "comfortable." We will be mediocre Christ-followers at best.

I don't want a mediocre Christian life. Do you?