{"id":1735,"date":"2015-07-10T13:01:34","date_gmt":"2015-07-10T20:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonsensechristianity\/?p=1735"},"modified":"2015-07-10T13:03:01","modified_gmt":"2015-07-10T20:03:01","slug":"the-comfort-zone-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/commonsensechristianity\/2015\/07\/the-comfort-zone-myth.html","title":{"rendered":"The Comfort Zone Myth"},"content":{"rendered":"

“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed.”<\/em> (Luke\u00a08:16)<\/p>\n

God has a plan for your life.<\/p>\n

Do people still say that?<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Our journey with God will take us new and exciting places, but if our strong, aching desire is to go to Paris, France, it’s not a given that He’ll send us to the Dead Marshes outside of Mordor. The Traveler, original charcoal drawing by Steve Henderson<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I guess they still do, since when we\u00a0look on the Internet we\u00a0find all sorts of celebrity Christians assuring us\u00a0that this is so, and a\u00a0key tenet of the doctrine is that God has made us each\u00a0special, and He has special things for us\u00a0to do.<\/p>\n

It’s\u00a0not a bad piece of fish bait, incidentally, if people actually believed it, but once we’re\u00a0hooked\u00a0into establishment Christianity with a promise of good news — that we\u00a0are cherished, unique, have a meaningful purpose, and are precious\u00a0to our\u00a0creator (all very true, incidentally) — the boot drops on our\u00a0bare foot with the attendant caveats:<\/p>\n

“Well yes, God has given you skills and talents, with the desire to use them, but more importantly, He wants to take you out of your Comfort Zone! So, with that in mind, He’s going to give you work that you do NOT have the skill, ability, or interest to do.<\/p>\n

“That’s why God’s plan for your life includes coordinating\u00a0children’s church. And finding volunteers for Saturday Clean-up Day.\u00a0And attending next week’s\u00a0webinar on being a dutiful servant of\u00a0the church community.”<\/p>\n

Worshiping Psychology<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

What I mentally call The Baptist God (although He’s found in multiple evangelical denominations) is such a petty, illogical Person, one who lights a lamp and stuffs it away, who so micro-focuses on our daily activities that we freeze\u00a0into inertia. The whole “comfort zone” concept, which author Dr. Judith Bardwick<\/a> defines as “a behavioral state where a person operates in an anxiety-neutral position” (sounds just like something Jesus would say, doesn’t it?) relies upon teachings\u00a0from the ever-morphing world of\u00a0psychology. But that’s\u00a0not so unusual — much of what is preached as Biblical wisdom these days finds its roots in temporal philosophy.<\/p>\n

\"Blossom<\/a>
This is not a representation of how some people feel when you mention the word, “Shopping.” Blossom, original oil painting by Steve Henderson, sold. Licensed wall art home decor at Framed Canvas Art and Amazon.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The other day I found myself tasked with a\u00a0dream chore: at\u00a0someone else’s expense, I was to go\u00a0shopping. The person paying, headed into assisted living, needed bedding, towels, personal effects, extra clothing, and the little things that make a place special. Color, style, design — it was all up to me. With a female progeny at my side, we spent an entire day feeling fabric, squeezing towels, seeking gentle, yet happy colors.<\/p>\n

Shopping, or Driving Fence Posts?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Now under the Baptist God, this task would have been relegated\u00a0to my husband or son, both or whom recoil at the word, “shopping,” and animatedly discuss paddock fencing for the garden and livestock.\u00a0My daughter and I would have been given fence post drivers, all in the name of taking us out of our Comfort Zone.<\/p>\n

But forgotten is the person moving into assisted living, whose literal comfort zone will be compromised by the right job being given to the wrong person. We forget that, when God gives us work to do, His single\u00a0focus is not necessarily\u00a0how the work impacts us, but how it affects\u00a0others as well. With this in mind, only a foolish manager (and there are many of those) would choose the least qualified employee.<\/p>\n

And this\u00a0is exactly how\u00a0corporate Christianity works. Maybe we should start reading Jesus’s words more, and listening to the voices of those who don’t know Him, less.<\/p>\n

Thank You<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for joining me at Commonsense Christianity, where I encourage Christians to stop accepting the loud, insistent, strident voices as purveyors of truth.<\/p>\n

Posts complementing this one are<\/p>\n

It Is Easy to Follow a False Christ<\/a><\/p>\n

Fomenting Hate Divides Us – and Divided We Are Weak<\/a><\/p>\n

Submission to Authority — and the Gag Reflex<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed.” (Luke\u00a08:16) God has a plan for your life. Do people still say that? 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