What an amazing story! In Acts 10, we find the story of Peter and
Cornelius. Peter has already been stretched way beyond himself. He is preaching
instead of fishing. That in itself is huge. On top of that, he is staying with
a tanner. Tanners deal with dead animals and their hides. Living in his house
would make Peter ceremonially unclean. Peter is way outside his comfort zone,
and then God calls him to be stretched further.
God told him in a vision, "Do not call anything impure that God has
made clean." (Acts 10:15) Then Peter is sent to preach the gospel to a
Gentile. I'm not sure we really get how significant this is. When Peter first
encounters Cornelius, he reminds him that it is not lawful for him to even
associate with a Gentile. Then he proceeds to preach to these Gentiles, baptize
them and spend several days with them.
I watched my grandkids wrestle with their comfort zones. If Grandpa
doesn't say the prayer over the meal the same as Mom and Dad, they're not sure
it's right. If their schedule is a little different than at home, or if they
are faced with something they're not familiar with, they're not sure whether
it's okay.
Moving beyond that which is familiar is difficult, but sometimes
necessary if we are serious about being involved with God's mission. Peter was
stretched way beyond his comfort zone. The older I get the more I have to
wrestle with this myself. I recently heard a pastor say, "I often have to
remind my wife that the music is not for us. It's for our target
audience." How willing am I to worship in a way that is not familiar or
comfortable to me if it means ministering to others? How willing am I to hang
out with people I don't know and am not comfortable with if it means furthering
God's kingdom? How willing am I to lay aside my own will and desires in order
to get on with the mission to which we have been called?
I fear that we are more interested in our comfort than in our mission. I
fear that the older I get the more I am concerned about lack of pain in my life
and the less willing I am to sacrifice for the cause. God forgive me! That's
not the road I want to go down, but it seems to be the road to which I am
inexorably drawn. Father, never let me be satisfied with my own comfort when
the mission isn't finished. The song "The Gambler" goes,
"there'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done," and
there'll be time enough for my own comfort when the mission is over and I'm
called home.
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