You would think that being comfortable is a good thing, right? Who doesn’t like a warm blanket on a giant sofa with re-runs of VH1’s latest reality show entertaining you? Or a nice chai latte with Ray LaMontagne playing through the speakers as you sit in the last big chair at starbucks? Or even those Saturday mornings that you have nothing to do and no one to see, so you put on your old torn up jeans, a hoody, and get a mani/pedi?! People love comfort! And who can blame them, it is awesome! But there are some issues with comfort.
When you are comfortable, you are so laid back that you aren’t able to be on your toes.
Working in ministry, I want to be comfortable in my position. I want to know that I am needed and valued enough that I don’t have to worry about making the wrong move, or saying the wrong thing. Comfort in the workplace is reassuring, and almost necessary for peace of mind. The issue occurs, however, when one gets so comfortable they stop trying. People can stop caring if something is right, because they are just doing things the way they are done. Striving to be creative looses value when comfortable, because you are already considered creative. Double checking, re-thinking, or pushing that much further for better doesn’t happen, because when you are comfortable, you don’t need to. Excellence is lost, and you begin to ride on your laurels as opposed to continuing to strive and push for greatness. When your comfortable, you don’t need God’s guidance. This is when mistakes happen, the wrong thing is said, and things fall through the cracks. And you are so sunk into your recliner that you can’t get up quick enough to catch them.
Being comfortable has damaged me in the past, sometimes with minimal consequences, sometimes with life changing consequences. Either way, I decided to rest on what I was capable of, not what God was. I wasn’t on my toes waiting for God to use me. I wasn’t keeping in mind the amount of influence, embarrassing myself and hurting others. There is a time and place to be comfortable, ministry isn’t one of them. Save it for the couch, for there are far too many people with far too high a stake to get comfortable.
