An article which I wrote with my Pappy, Len Schmidt, for PRISM magazine. See the beginning of the text below; click on the link at the end to link to the magazine and read the entire article. Images are from the blog of PRISM magazine.
WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING COMFORTABLE?
IN PRAISE OF THE MUCH-MALIGNED “COMFORT ZONE”
by Len and David Schmidt / original illustrations by Caitlin Ng
No matter
where we turn these days, we seem to run into a preacher telling us that we
need to “get out of our comfort zone.” The exhortation is often couched in
positive terms: “You can do it! God wants you to move out of your comfort zone
and into your faith zone!” Sometimes, however, the message contains darker
undertones and nearly threatening implications: If you’re in your comfort zone,
if you’re using your natural talents and gifts and feel fulfilled doing so,
watch out…God just might take it all away from you.
To be sure, at certain times in life we definitely need to move
beyond our personal comforts. The “comfort zone” becomes a problem when we fall
into complacency and laziness, when we trust in our material abundance as if it
were eternal, when we assume our spiritual life no longer has any room for
improvement. We must stretch ourselves to pursue worthwhile goals, to
help others in need, and to answer even the most delightful calls on our
lives—a marriage, for example, or a cross-country move for a new job. Most
importantly, getting out of our unhealthy comfort zones is an integral part of
spiritual growth. When we move beyond our customary patterns, ruts, addictions,
habits, and dysfunctional relationships, it almost always feels
uncomfortable—but it is always worth it in the end. As C. S. Lewis once said,
“The blows of [God’s] chisel which hurt us so much are what make us perfect.”
If all we meant by the “comfort zone” were a state of
indifferent complacency, it would make sense to always set our sights beyond
it. Many preachers cast a broader net with the term, however, suggesting that
we should make a conscious effort to be uncomfortable for the sake of being
uncomfortable—that discomfort is a desirable state to inhabit...
Click this link to read the entire article:
http://prismmagazine.org/whats-wrong-with-being-comfortable/
