“Stop!  Wait!  I feel uncomfortable!  I don’t want to try something new!”

 Let me ask you… 

• Did Jesus feel comfortable when he overturned the tables in the temple courts?
• Did he feel comfortable knowing the Pharisees were listening to his every word to see if they could catch him make a mistake?
• Did he feel comfortable listing the bold and offensive “seven woes” to the Pharisees?
• Did he feel comfortable when his devoted disciple turned his back on him three times?
• Did he feel comfortable when they flogged him and pressed a crown of thorns on his head?
• Did he feel comfortable when he was hanging on the cross almost completely naked? 
• Did Paul feel comfortable confronting Euodia & Syntyche in Philippi about their disagreement?
• Did he feel comfortable confronting the Corinthians about their ridiculous meetings?
• Did he feel comfortable writing to the Corinthians again to defend his character?
• Did he feel comfortable going to Athens and challenging their leaders about their false gods?
• Did he feel comfortable opposing Peter to his face when Peter re-segregated himself from the Gentiles?
• Did the Jewish Christians feel comfortable when the Gentiles starting coming to their synagogue for worship?
• Did they feel comfortable eating bacon for the first time when they knew it was okay?
• Did they feel comfortable talking to their Jewish friends about Jesus of Nazareth?
• Did early Christians feel comfortable meeting secretly to worship God wondering if they would be caught or not?
• Did they feel comfortable being persecuted because they believed in Jesus?
• Did they feel comfortable sharing their faith with their neighbors with the foreknowledge that those very neighbors may turn them over to Roman officials to be questioned and possibly tortured?
• Did they feel comfortable running around in a lions den trying to stay alive?
• Did they feel comfortable being burned alive because of their faith?

My guess is the answer to all of these questions is “No!” 

Let’s face it, in our Christian heritage feeling “uncomfortable” about something has never been enough reason not to do it!  Similarly, “feeling comfortable” with something isn’t really a characteristic connected with our early faith heritage much at all!  I would like to suggest that if “feeling comfortable” is a requirement for doing something new or old in the church today then we aren’t like first century Christians in a very fundamental way, especially when it comes to living out and sharing the Good News message!

Undoubtedly the Good News message of salvation through Jesus must stay true.  However, if we cease to adjust and modernize the means in which we bring that message to the world, then we should expect to be poor messengers.  Times change and people change, and Christians need to adapt to keep the message available and heard.  And yes, in my opinion we must require of ourselves to feel “uncomfortable” at times in order for this to happen.  We must concur that “feeling uncomfortable” doesn’t equal “doing wrong”.  It does often mean, however, that we are being courageous and thoughtful and willing stewards of the great message.

We can be sure that many times uncomfortable feelings only linger because of the unknown.  But I ask: who truly knows the future?  Won’t the future always be unknown to us humans?  Therefore, will we ever fully feel comfortable about tomorrow?  If feeling uncomfortable truly should stop us cold in our tracks then we may as well die now!  Dreams and visions should never be conceived because they will only make us feel uncomfortable about the unknown future!  Nevertheless, we should remember that God’s message and his church will only live on without us.

How do we know that God hasn’t placed that very thing on our hearts to do even if it does feel uncomfortable?  Remember Peter’s vision of the sheet and the unclean animals in Acts chapter ten?  Peter said, “Surely not, Lord!  I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”  Feeling uncomfortable certainly didn’t stop Peter from taking the Lord’s message to the gentile centurion Cornelius the very next day!  Doesn’t God still work in us today, at least providentially? 

Faith must take action in times of discomfort.  We can’t just fall asleep in safe and familiar comfort like a man on his couch.  He just wastes away eating his potato chips while the world dies around him.

Should we use caution?  Yes.

Should we use discretion?  Yes.

Should we do all things new and modern?  No.

Should we do some things new and modern, especially if we clearly see their potential for spreading the Gospel message in the world today?  Yes.

I say we shouldn’t be afraid to feel uncomfortable, but let the feeling be our wake up call to be more responsible today with the Good News message of salvation through Jesus in our ever-changing world.