A Pondering Post

Thanks to the blog, Pure Church, I came across this quote:

It is quite common for people to say they are looking for a church they are comfortable with. I think that is a scandalous statement. When were churches supposed to be comfortable places? There is too much need in the world for Christians to be comfortable.

--Ajith Fernando, The Call to Joy and Pain: Embracing Suffering in Your Ministry (Crossway, 2007), 1994

I have a hunch that for most of us in the "western" church this may be far too true for our comfort. It highlights for me that "church" has many different descriptions and calls to ministry. Like Jesus, for whom the "church" is his body alive in the world today, there are times to be a place of comfort- and definitely the time and place to be an affliction to those who are too comfortable in their own self-focused lives.

HT to Darryl Dash.