Getting Comfortable

One of the things we encourage people to do at New Season is to be comfortable as they worship. We invite them both in our worship program and in our time of welcome to just relax and let go of some of the trash that has been part of life the past week and turn their focus on God. This "culture of comfortability" is played out in the casual dress of worshippers and our ancient future style of worship as well. This is all cultivated of course so that people can give their full attention to worshipping the great God of us all. And of course, it is a reaction to the fact that for so long coming together to worship was an uncomfortable experience.

Lately, I have been rethinking this idea of being comfortable. I still believe that we need to remove as many barriers as possible to the end that people might experience the risen Christ and be transformed and grow into being radical followers of Jesus. But, perhaps the greatest purpose of helping people to be physically and mentally comfortable is so that the Holy Spirit can move to make them spiritually uncomfortable. The Holy Spirit makes us uncomfortable through the faithful preaching and teaching of the scripture, in music, and through community. In the end, church is supposed to be uncomfortable spiritually as we are convicted of sin, called out of the safe places, and confronted with our lackluster response to injustice and oppression in the world. We cannot stay comfortable. This is what differentiates the church from a country club. I think it has something to do with what we call "comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable."