Jerusalem was a pretty comfortable place, for a while. The followers of Jesus met together every day, sharing meals and money among everyone. They were generous and made sure everyone had basic needs supplied. They were a unified force, enjoying daily numeric growth. There were miraculous signs and wonders happening everywhere they turned.
Life was good!
But perhaps they had forgotten what Jesus left them behind to do. They weren’t supposed to hang around Jerusalem and let people come to them if they wanted to know about how to have a relationship with God the Father through His Son, Jesus.
They were supposed to go.
They had been commissioned to venture out into the wide world, taking this life-changing message of Jesus with them as they went. They weren’t supposed to pursue comfort and respectability, they were supposed to pursue God’s mission of expanding the borders of His kingdom in this world.
But it was so nice there in Jerusalem. It was safe and familiar. They knew their way around. They knew people there, family and friends. Jerusalem was a nice place to live, a safe place to raise a family. It was nice and safe and familiar and comfortable.
But it wasn’t God’s plan.
So God allowed the heat to be turned up in Jerusalem. Like a mother eagle who teaches her offspring to fly and then breaks up the nest so that they can’t come back, God allowed Jerusalem to become an uncomfortable place for followers of Jesus. In this way, His plan of having them take the message to the ends of the earth would be fulfilled.
God values people more than He values their comfort. God values mission more than He values safety.
That can be a very uncomfortable message for folks who live in nice houses in the suburbs, for people who drive nice cars and throw more food away each week than a lot of people consume, for people who pursue wealth and happiness, and who hunger and thirst for a nice, safe place to raise their kids.
There’s nothing wrong with having money. There’s nothing wrong with living in a nice house in a safe neighbourhood or driving a nice car. But what do we value more? Do we value our safety and comfort more than we value God’s plan? Are we content to stay warming up when God calls us to get out there and run around and play? Do we expect others to come to us instead of actively going out among them?
What would it look like for you to value people more than you value your own comfort? What would have to change for people to know that your priority is accomplishing God’s purposes in your generation?
Prayer
God of grace and comfort, when I consider the state of the Church in the world today, I realise that its greatest vitality is no longer in Europe and North America, but in Asia, Africa and South America. The secularisation, materialism and pragmatism of the West has diminished our spiritual power, and we have compartmentalised our faith to the degree that there seem to be few real differences between professing Christians and the rest of the population. I confess that we have become more concerned about our comfort than about our character and convictions, and we have become soft. I pray that we would cultivate hearts of gratitude for Your many provisions, and that we would be more generous in investing the resources You have given us for the spread of the gospel so that we participate more dynamically in the Great Commission.
In Jesus’s name, Amen
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