Discomfort, Change, Growth

There is a growing tendency these days to want to ban things which make us uncomfortable.

I recently read where some libraries are banning a literary classic because of a single word.

The reason given is that this word might make people feel uncomfortable.

This is nothing new.

History tells us of other times when books were banned.

In some cases, they were even burned.

There have even been times when people banned and burned the Bible.

Even churches are not immune to this kind of thinking.

Some churches have made a conscious decision not to display the cross.

The reason given is that the display of a cross could make people feel uncomfortable.

But is discomfort alone a good reason to ban anything?

Right now, I am studying The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Frankly, this book makes me feel uncomfortable,

Even the title is disquieting as Bonhoeffer reminds me that discipleship comes at a cost.

Bonhoeffer’s words are also unsettling as they remind me that I still have a very long way to go in my journey.

Even the Bible makes me uncomfortable at times.

This happens when it reminds me that I fall short even on my very best days.

The cross certainly makes me feel uncomfortable when it reminds me of the price Jesus paid for me.

In and of itself, discomfort is not bad.

Discomfort is a great motivator for change.

In fact, we should find books like Bonhoeffer’s uncomfortable.

We should even find the cross and the Bible uncomfortable at times.

The personal discomfort these things bring on should motivate us to change.

They should motivate us to grow as Christians.

As for the book in question, the word it uses should make all of us uncomfortable.

It should remind us that some things should be relegated to the past of which they were a part.

It should remind us not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

If we ban things like books, Bibles and crosses when they make us uncomfortable then we also ban the lessons they teach us.

Without these lessons, we are less likely to change.

Without change we do not grow.

Ephesians 4:13-15 (NET) - until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God—a mature person, attaining to the measure of Christ’s full stature. So we are no longer to be children, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching by the trickery of people who craftily carry out their deceitful schemes. But practicing the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ, who is the head.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, October 27, 2017.

I’ll be back here on Friday, November 3, 2017