when i was in birmingham last weekend, i met a lovely gal named crystal. we were eating lunch at a fabulous little place called brio and talking about her church.
“i love going to church,” she said. “it makes me SO uncomfortable. like wiggle-in-your-seat uncomfortable.”
can i tell you how much my heart smiled when she said that?
our society is addicted to comfort. and when church is comfortable, it merely blends in with the rest of society. what makes it stand out? are we only providing help and support and leaving out the uncomfortable aspects of holiness and the gospel?
when it comes to a weekend church experience, how is your church planning to challenge people? yes, you should make everyone feel welcome…but there is a HUGE difference between feeling welcome and being comfortable.
Comments
33 responses to “uncomfortable church”
Man I love your blog. You continue to bring the truth in love!!
After my Cynical PK post, I posted a follow-up with similar sentiments.
Our next three weeks will hopefully make everyone uncomfortable. That’s what I’m praying for.
Great balance. While we should have no problem being “seeker intelligent” as a church we cannot forget that Jesus is the rock of offense and came “not to bring peace but a sword.” Or, as Craig might say, “Lord, Disturb us…”
Yes. Definitely. Less comfort in church! BUT I was intrigued by your mention of holiness as being something that is uncomfortable. I agree, I think. Sort of. But what do we mean by holiness?
So often we make ourselves feel more comfortable by our own self-focussed understanding of holiness. Or, alternatively, holiness has been used to simply make us feel bad about ourselves due to serious misunderstandings of what it is all about.
What if we were to understand holiness as reflecting God’s character to and for the world? Would that be more or less comfortable for us? Would any discomfort be for the right or wrong reasons?
SORRY! Some random ramblings that sprung into my mind upon reading your post!
that’s whose podcasts I listen. (i.e. Francis Chan, Matt Brown @ Sandals, JR Mahon at Hollywood Pastor, etc) My pastor beats me up on a regular basis and I have friends that are currently holding me by the throat until I straighten up.
thanks for the post….
Thanks for that, Anne. What an encouragement to know there are church members out there who “get it.” A good reminder to me to not let my folks get comfortable either.
Sam – I agree with holiness simply defined as you did – reflecting God’s character. Because of the Fall and human nature, I believe that can and will make us uncomfortable. In a good, growing way.
precisely the reason i left the midwest. although, i’ve found that anywhere you go … you can adapt and begin to feel just as comfortable. it does help, however, that we don’t have a nice little church building to hide inside of. i’ve found this particularly influential in my attempts to BE the church instead of GO to church.
it is common – sadly – in the south for folks to believe they are in a right relationship with God simply because they go to church…have “always” been a Christian…their parents were/are Christians…
spiritual pride runs deep. as the Holy Spirit leads – and with grace and truth – we regularly challenge people to humbly evaluate just where they stand with God. many find that they were believing that they were in relationship with God thrugh doing, not through receiving the forgiveness that Christ offers. it is by faith alone and nothing else.
our desire is that one of the ways we faithfuly serve the Kingdom is to do what He would have us do to ensure that none that pass through our doors would one day find themselves making the same argument that we read about in Matthew 7: but, Lord, I (fill in the blank) for You…
I’m not sure that I know how to answer your question…so I’ll ask a question. How does one measure making people uncomfortable? We’ve had some sundays when people complain about the temperature. We’ve had some sundays when people complain about the volume. To my recollection we’ve never had anyone complain about addressing a topic we shouldn’t have. We’ve never had people say that we’ve asked too much of them. Does this mean we don’t challenge enough? Should we intentionally make people angry just so we can say that we challenge them?
sam…well said regarding holiness. that is serious business in God’s design for us.
every one of us is invited into justification through faith in Christ AND sanctification through the Holy Spirit’s work within us.
Kenyon…totally meaning spiritual comfort here :) Although physical comfort…well, that’s a different post for a different time!
I think there is a difference between making people angry and making them uncomfortable. I think God always asks “too much” from us because it is only then when His spirit and strength work in our inadequacy and need. If people are left to rely on themselves, then yes, I don’t think you’ve challenged them.
I love the fact that my church challenges me…I would go so far as to say that it encourages me to continue to grow and stretch my relationship with God…to not put my relationship with God into a little box that is opened only on Sunday morning. But, as with all things, ultimately it also falls on my shoulders to take what they are giving me, to learn from my brothers and sisters, to “see” what God is showing me, and be committed. My church is only one piece of my spiritual pie.
Awesome. A perfect balance. As long as that our coins continue to have both those faces on it…we can win the toss every time.
I totally agree, but we have recently run into a very strange brick wall.
We sing the song “How He Loves” by Jesus Culture and just recently many members of the congregation expressed that the lyric “Sloppy Wet Kiss” makes them uncomfortable to sing and some think it’s irreverent. I think we should continue to sing it because this song shakes people out of their comfort zones. However, our head worship pastor (whom is very wise) just X’d the song from our list stating that we are here to serve the congregation and provide an atmosphere for the pastors to preach. What are your thoughts on this?!?!?!
I love my church for many reasons, and the discomfort is certainly one of them.
We strive to decrease the “cringe factor” while intensifying the “wiggle factor”… the whole “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” thing. The bigger picture challenge is to move people beyond just wiggling in their seats on Sunday to wiggling with action the rest of the week. Move beyond wiggling for wiggling’s sake. I can’t count how many times I’ve wiggled into a lather on a Sunday morning only to freeze-frame throught the rest of the week. To paraphrase a scripture out of context “Wiggling without works is dead”.
I love the word wiggle.
And the visual that goes with it.
couldn’t agree more. as long as being uncomfortable isn’t a distraction from the purpose, then i totally agree.
Is it possible that we’re actually going to church to look for that uncomfortable feeling?
this is great stuff! right now our church is trying to make every last person uncomfortable! there are daily readings that we are to do church wide as a part of a series called Days of Vision…we are having every angle of our worldview challenged and questioned to make sure that it is God’s worldview…
my challenge in teaching was, if I put on God’s glasses and look at the world around me…is my vision clear or do my eyes need to adjust to how he sees things… i’m facing more and more uncomfortable situations each day in my own life. it’s been great so far and we’re only in week three of an eight week study!
That’s so awesome! That’s the kind of church I want to grow.
Comfort is overrated.
Brad Ruggles
http://www.bradruggles.com
Here is another thought… how do you define “church”…
TAG! You’re it!
We try to challenge people to change, change in itself is usually uncomfortable for people. My goal Sundays is that people will sense the unconditional love of God yet still be convicted to change their lives and follow Him.
amen.
This whole blog topic is why we felt called to be on a leadership team to launch our new church. The sit back and relax attitude…lets just enjoy our own fellowship mentality has ruined American churches. It’s a social club and not much more to most. We are all about being uncomfortable…stretched. I just heard today that being a Christian should be like being a rubberband. Thanks Anne!
I think churches should be half full of homeless men who haven’t bathed in a month or prostitutes in a really bad street outfits and gold teeth,people like that. THEN church people would be really uncomfortable cuz’ they would be hanging with the people Jesus did. THAT is how we should be uncomfortable so we never forget what this is all about-Loving people, reaching people like Jesus did,not with judgement and seperation but with love.
i like her name.
Just say NO to Country Club Church!
The state of being uncomfortable is such a beautiful thing.
A lot of churches are afraid of the uncomfortable setting. However, I agree, it is possible to be welcoming and uncomfortable.
Great post.
http://www.vagabondrunn.wordpress.com
That’s why I LOVE my church. It is the most welcoming church I’ve been a part of and the most challenging.
Awesome blog anne. Also Ed Young preached an great message on being comfortably uncomfortable.
That brings up a great point – are our churches making us uncomfortable? If not, why? How do we change?
Interesting dilemma. We want visitors to feel welcome (comfortable), but at the same time we want to challenge them (uncomfortable).