Beyond Comfort: Why Discomfort is Key to Disciple-Making
You can have the right strategy for disciple-making, the right tools, lots of knowledge, hearts that are open, and people who are ready to be trained, and still not see new disciples made in your context.
In podcasts and books, I have heard people blame “movement killers'’ that can stop our disciple-making in its tracks. Personally, I have blamed external factors like the culture, busyness of life, or the hardness of people’s hearts. But what if often there’s another culprit closer to home?
Here in Southern California, I want to live a faith-filled life and share my faith. I want to see new disciples being made and new churches emerging out of the harvest. However, at times my comfort zone can tempt me to shy away from obedience, instead of leaning in with trust to see what God might do.
Over my past years of learning to make disciples and training others to make disciples, I have come to believe that, in the West, one of the largest barriers to seeing new disciples is our comfort zone.
And man are we comfortable. We can look for the church that caters most to our needs. We can eat from the buffet of programs that they offer. We search out volunteer opportunities that make us feel good, but that don’t involve any real risk. We are comfortable and we are afraid to step outside of our comfort zones.
Yesterday, when I was going to knock on a neighbor's door to invite them over to a barbecue at our apartment, I was filled with fear and tempted to not go. Last week, I was tempted to skip sharing my testimony at a Soccer Clinic that we host in an apartment community. Countless parents were there, I told them ahead of time that I would be sharing, but still fear rose up in me and tempted me to skip it entirely.
Thankfully, those times I pushed through the fear. That neighbor never answered their door, but 5 other neighbors who I also invited came over and it was an amazing time. I asked a friend to help me gather up the parents and shared my testimony with them. A few of the parents thanked me for sharing my story with them.
I have no clue what fruit will come from that, but what I am convinced of is that if we want to be fruitful disciple-makers then we must be willing to be led by God into discomfort.
Like Peter, when he obeyed Jesus and stepped out of the boat to try and walk on the water, or like the disciples when they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to boldly proclaim the Good News of Jesus, we are all invited to take steps of faith.
Are we willing to step out of the plane and take a leap of faith into all that God has for us?
We are not going to see a Gospel Movement through right thinking alone. Our churches have more knowledge of scripture and theology than ever before. As believers we have more access to resources and training and strategies then anytime in history. And yet, around the world, God is doing incredible things with people who have none of that. God is moving through unexpected people in unexpected places, because they are available and willing to be led into discomfort.
Following Jesus will lead us outside our comfort zone. If we want to join in the work that Jesus is doing, then it is going to require us to be willing to leave the known for the unknown.
Living on mission, being obedient to Jesus, will inevitably lead you to begin relationships with people you do not yet know and may lead you to places you have not yet been. It might require spending less time in the church coffee shop and more time in places where people far from God frequent. It might require that we learn other languages to build relationships with people from around the world who are now our neighbors. It might require listening to other people’s stories, asking questions, and spending time with people we wouldn’t have previously spent a lot of time with.
So, what is the step of faith that Jesus is inviting you to take today?
Have you ever had a meaningful conversation with your neighbor? Have you called that family member who isn’t walking with God, just to check-in? Have you offered prayer to your co-workers?
If you want to join Jesus in the work that he is doing around you, you are going to have to step into discomfort.