Expanding Comfort Zones

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C.S. Lewis, a great bard of the English language, once quipped, "If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity."  On a similar theme, in a tweet shortly before he resigned as Supreme Pontiff, Pope Emeritus Benedict wrote, "The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort.  You were made for greatness."  In two pithy statements, these men captured one of Christianity's defining characteristics: it assaults a person's comfort zones.  Paradoxically, it is this assault on comfort that brings a person to the fullness of what God intends for him or her to be.

A nice representation of the benefits of expanding one's comfort zone.
If a person is comfortable while living Christianity, then she isn't living Christianity in a manner commensurate with the intentions of its Founder.  That's precisely because Christ always challenges us by pushing our boundaries.  He always attempts to lead us into areas that we may not be all-that-comfortable for us, or into areas in which we are not comfortable at all.  He asks us to show mercy upon persons whom we deem unworthy or unforgivable.  He asks us to trust in His Divine Providence, even while it seems we are treading into the darkest and most frustrating spiritual terrain.  He asks us to give up attachments to money, food, sports, and mere human relationships.  He asks us to relate to persons whom are totally "other" than us.  He asks us to take up tasks at which we don't excel, at which we might even fail.  He asks us to take hope and courage in the midst of desperate conditions and persecutions.  He tells us to follow Him while the whole world might think it is ridiculous, or while we are being branded as zealots and bigots.  No, we are never supposed to be comfortable as disciples and apostles of Christ.  Once any given comfort zone has been obliterated, He moves on immediately and begins challenging the next.

Even better...move toward the "Eeeeeek!" zone!
While the challenge is always before us, on the one hand, we must never forget the result and reward that coincides with these expanding comfort zones.  The world would have us believe that greatness lies in quickly achieving great power, wealth, and pleasure.  However, the "greatness" that Pope Emeritus Benedict mentioned is nothing other than coming to perfect holiness, heroic virtue.  Growing in holiness means that we must allow God to break down any of our given physical, emotional, or spiritual barriers.  It is only after the breaking down that God begins to build up individuals into the truly powerful, effective, and worthy conduits of His grace and love in the world.  To paraphrase St. Paul, it is in our weakness that His power and glory are made more perfect!

Maybe my favorite!
This truth has become apparent to me over the course of years, in any number of powerful ways.  I tried to convince teenagers of its validity while I was a youth minister.  I have heard it expressed in various ways while conducting retreats and formation sessions for adults, both fully-initiated Catholics and those seeking to become Catholic.  I continue to perceive it in the Church's lectionary readings, week after week.  It becomes a frequent topic of discussion with my wife.  In all of these ways, my Lord has shouted this life-giving truth at me during the last ten years in order to snap me out of my own pride, attachment to things, and laziness, among other trends that are bad for my spiritual development.

I can attest to the fact that the Lord is expanding comfort zones, sometimes subtly and sometimes overtly.  These zones are crumbling as He calls individuals, including me, to seek His will for what is next in life.  Join me in joyfully allowing the Almighty Lord to break through our complacency, selfishness, and pleasure-seeking.  Join me in standing courageously against the false security offered by the world.  Join me in transcending our natural smallness and moving toward the greatness of partaking of what God wants to offer us.  I promise that it will be better than we have ever imagined or expected.

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