When you think of “comfortable” Christianity, what comes to mind? Tempur-pedic pews? Bubble bath baptisms?
The challenge in our day is not to reject comfort, but to redefine it. When we think of comfort, we think of entitlement, safety, independence, financial security, etc. But Christian comfort is different. It is comfort rooted in Christ alone. It speaks of true security and assurance, and because it is a perfect guarantee in Christ it provides a radical freedom to be others-centered, sacrificial, risk-taking, committed, etc.
The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism puts it this way:
Q: What is my only comfort in life and death?
A: That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.
