We don’t get to edit the Gospel!
For too long, I read God’s Word with a highlighter and a pair of scissors.
I loved focusing on what felt good. But the items didn’t agree with? Well, I just left that alone.
You know what I mean, right? The verses about fleeing sexual immorality or counting the cost before building a tower. Those verses pushed back against what I desired most: control of my life so I could live the way I wanted.
It was easier to pretend those verses weren’t there than to wrestle with them directly. And honestly, there are many faith settings today where that same approach is happening, and it drives me crazy. In a world where everyone is trying not to be offensive or rub people the wrong way, we are too stinking quick to soften the message instead of standing on the truth of what it says.
That’s why I’m so thankful for how the Apostle Paul wrote and the clarity with which he wrote. He talks about admonishing and teaching with wisdom so that everyone can become fully mature in Christ. Then he doubles down and says he strenuously contends for this with all the energy Christ gives him.
Now that’s what I’m talking about. Stuff like that makes me want to run through a wall. And at the same time, it has me feeling a ton of conviction because too often I’m more concerned about strenuously contending with what I have going on at work or on my personal to-do list than I am with doing what God desires.
What I’ve learned the longer I’ve followed Christ is that while verses like that are not the most comfortable to swallow, they do lead to the most growth when I fully lean in and embrace what God is trying to show me along the way. One of the biggest things I’ve learned firsthand is this: The goal isn’t comfort but instead maturity.
And maybe that’s where I got stuck for so long. Let’s face it, the world’s message is that we need to pursue all we can in life in order to achieve a level of comfort where we finally find the proverbial good life.
Man, straight up, what if that is a bunch of bologna?
I haven’t found in my Bible where Jesus, any of the disciples, or the Apostle Paul encourages us to lead lives in pursuit of comfort. In fact, I think that is one of the greatest lies the enemy has been so successful in evangelizing to the point that it’s nauseating.
The reality is that maturity trumps comfort every day of the week.
Think about a workout routine. If your goal is to increase your overall strength, you wouldn’t go into the gym day in and day out and never increase the weight on the bar, would you? No. You increase the weight over time because you know that in order to grow, you’re going to have to put comfort to the side, embrace the suck, and get it done.
The same has to be true with our discipleship journey.
If all we ever do is show up to a service a few times a month and stay surface level with our Bible study, then while we may have been saved a long time ago, we will remain, in essence, baby Christians. That’s why there are people who have been believers for decades and are still drinking milk every day.
So where do we go from here?
For me, it started with a decision to strenuously contend with what God desired for me. That meant leaning into the things I had been avoiding for far too long. It meant reframing what true success and comfort actually look like.
And to that end, I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that when a man is truly leaning in and walking the path God desires, that is where we experience the peace that passes all understanding.
So maybe for you it starts today by examining what you are pursuing and asking yourself why.
Maybe it’s money, status or worldly comfort.
From there, ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you’ve been misplacing your effort and how He would have you adjust. What you may find is that the conviction He provides brings clarity on the next step to take. Then it’s going to come down to this: Are you willing to take the step of obedience, or will you remain in your comfort zone?
Put down the highlighter and scissors.
Choose His path.
And pursue it strenuously with everything you have.