Geting (Un)Comfortable

“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” – Luke 7:23

Are we willing to accept the unpredictability of how God’s kingdom is breaking into our world?  He frustrates our desires for clarity and comfort right now.  To paraphrase that great Anne Lamott quote, he refuses to hate all the same people we do – in fact, he tells us to love them.  He goes and does his healing, restoring work in the middle of people who look, think and act so differently than we do, and then tells us this is our new family.  He calls John the Baptist, and he calls us, to continue walking in faithfulness and love even in the midst of our questions, in our disappointment and discomfort.  In John’s case, it ultimately meant being killed for continuing to tell truth to the powers of his day.

The Refuge church in Colorado describes their community this way: “We are all hurt or hungry in our own ways.  We’re at different places in our journey, but we share a guiding story, a sweeping epic drama called the Bible.  We find faith as we follow Jesus and share a willingness to honestly wrestle with God and our questions and doubts…  Christ’s love binds our differences together in unity. At the Refuge, everyone is safe, but no one is comfortable.”

Take a few minutes to talk with Jesus about this call to holy discomfort – to growth in love and Christlikeness through relationships that are just not easy.  Is there a person or group he’s asking you to take a step towards today?