Beyond Comfort

Why Your Spiritual Growth Requires Stepping Into the Margins

In a world that promises comfort at every turn—from the mattresses we sleep on to the temperature-controlled environments we live in—we’ve become accustomed to equating comfort with goodness. We avoid discomfort like it’s the enemy.

But what if the discomfort we so desperately flee is actually the pathway to our most meaningful growth?

The Comfort Crisis in Modern Faith

I’ve noticed something troubling happening in many of our churches and Christian communities. Somewhere along the way, we’ve started to believe that spiritual growth should feel good—that if we’re uncomfortable, something must be wrong.

As I’ve shared in “When Healing Doesn’t Come”, it’s easy to love a God who does what we want, to understand a deity who swoops down to tidy up our mess with miraculous healings and answered prayers. But that’s not the God of Scripture. Healing doesn’t always come. Prosperity and happiness aren’t guaranteed rewards for correct prayers or faithful tithing. Tidy faith crumbles in the face of tragedy.

We’ve created faith experiences that are increasingly frictionless:

Convenient service times that work around our schedules
Worship that entertains more than it challenges
Messages that affirm more than they transform
Community that rarely pushes beyond surface-level connection

Don’t misunderstand me—there’s nothing inherently wrong with these things. But if our entire faith experience is built around convenience and comfort, we’ve missed something essential about following Jesus.

Because Jesus never promised comfort. In fact, he guaranteed the opposite.

What Jesus Actually Promised

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

These aren’t the words of someone offering a comfortable journey. They’re the invitation of a Savior who knows that transformation happens at the edges of our comfort zones—in the places where we must trust Him more than we trust our own preferences and patterns.

The path to spiritual growth isn’t paved with comfort. Your greatest impact will come when you step beyond what feels safe and embrace the calling God has placed on your life.

This truth runs counter to what our culture—and sadly, sometimes our churches—tell us. But it aligns perfectly with both Scripture and the lived experience of Christians throughout history who have made the most significant impact.

As John Leeland wrote in 1804, “Persecution, like a lion, tears the saints to death, but leaves Christianity pure: state establishment of religion, like a bear, hugs the saints, but corrupts Christianity.” Perhaps our modern obsession with comfort, with avoiding suffering at all costs, has corrupted something essential in our faith.

The Hidden Cost of Comfortable Christianity

Comfortable Christianity costs us more than we realize:

1. It limits our spiritual formation

When we prioritize comfort in our faith journey, we inadvertently place limits on how God can transform us. Think about it: the most significant growth in your life has likely come through challenges, not through ease. The same is true spiritually. When we avoid discomfort, we miss the refining fire that shapes us into Christ’s image.

2. It diminishes our impact

The world doesn’t need more Christians living comfortable, isolated lives. It needs followers of Jesus who are willing to enter into brokenness, who will stand with the marginalized, who will speak truth to power, who will sacrifice convenience for the sake of others. In short, it needs Christians willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of love.

3. It distorts our understanding of faithfulness

When comfort becomes our goal, we begin to measure faithfulness by how good we feel rather than by how well we love. We might believe we’re growing spiritually when we’re actually just growing more comfortable in our religious routines.

4. It disconnects us from the heart of Jesus

Jesus consistently moved toward pain, not away from it. He engaged with the outcasts, touched the untouchables, and challenged the powerful. His life was marked not by comfort-seeking but by love-driven discomfort. When we prioritize our own comfort, we move in the opposite direction of our Savior.

What Growth Beyond Comfort Looks Like

Breaking free from comfort-driven Christianity doesn’t mean seeking suffering for its own sake. It means being willing to embrace discomfort when love requires it. It means following Jesus even when—especially when—it leads us beyond the familiar.

Here’s what this looks like in real life:

It means having conversations that make us nervous. Talking about racial injustice with someone who sees things differently. Addressing conflict directly instead of sweeping it under the rug. Asking for forgiveness when pride makes us want to justify ourselves.

It means developing relationships that stretch us. Building genuine friendships with people who don’t share our faith, politics, or life experiences. Staying engaged when differences emerge rather than retreating to echo chambers of sameness.

It means serving in ways that cost us something. Giving until it impacts our lifestyle. Showing up consistently for people in long-term struggles when the emotional reward of helping has long since faded. Advocating for change even when it makes us unpopular.

It means examining our own hearts honestly. Looking at our biases, prejudices, and blind spots. Asking God to show us where comfort has become an idol in our lives. Being willing to change when the Spirit convicts us.

In my post about Christian Nationalism, I shared how Jesus consistently subverted expectations of political power, showing us instead a kingdom that transcends national boundaries. Following him means we can’t stay silent when we see harm being done in His name—but we respond through servanthood, not power.

A New Way Forward: The Beyond Comfort Workbook

This journey beyond comfortable Christianity isn’t one we need to navigate alone or without guidance. That’s why I’ve created the Beyond Comfort Workbook—a practical, Scripture-based guide designed to help you intentionally step into the growth that happens when we’re willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of Christ.

This isn’t just another Christian self-help tool. It’s a challenging invitation to examine where comfort might be limiting your spiritual journey and to take concrete steps toward a more courageous, impactful faith.

The workbook includes:

Six transformative sections that progressively challenge different aspects of comfort-driven Christianity
Scripture-based reflections that ground each challenge in God’s Word
Self-assessment tools to identify where comfort might be holding you back
Practical action steps to move from insight to real-world impact
Journaling prompts to process what God is revealing to you
A personalized growth plan to help you continue beyond the workbook

How to Use This Workbook

The Beyond Comfort Workbook is intentionally flexible, designed to meet you wherever you are in your faith journey. You can use it:

On your own as a personal spiritual growth tool. Set aside 30-45 minutes each week to work through a section, reflect on the questions, and implement the action steps.
With a partner for mutual accountability and encouragement. Meet weekly or biweekly to discuss your insights and experiences.
In a small group to journey together toward more courageous faith. The workbook provides natural discussion points and shared activities that build community while challenging comfort.
As a church-wide initiative to cultivate a culture that values growth over comfort. Imagine what could happen if an entire congregation committed to moving beyond comfortable Christianity together.

The Invitation Before You

Growth beyond comfort isn’t easy. If it were, more people would choose it. But the alternative—a faith constrained by the boundaries of what feels good and safe—ultimately leads to spiritual stagnation.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “The ultimate question for responsible people to ask is not how we are to extricate ourselves heroically from the affair, but how the coming generation is to live.” Lent challenges us to look beyond our personal spiritual journey to consider how our practices shape the world around us.

Jesus is inviting you to more. More impact. More transformation. More of His presence in the places where comfort can’t follow.

The Beyond Comfort Workbook is simply a tool to help you respond to that invitation. It won’t do the work for you. It won’t make the journey painless. But it will provide structure, support, and practical guidance as you step beyond what feels safe into what God has for you.

Ready to Begin?

I believe this workbook can be a significant catalyst for growth in your spiritual journey. But ultimately, its value doesn’t lie in its pages—it lies in your willingness to engage honestly with the challenges it presents and to take courageous steps in response.

The question isn’t whether God is calling you beyond comfort. The question is whether you’ll answer that call.

Purchase the Beyond Comfort Workbook today and take your first step toward a faith that’s defined not by comfort but by courage—a faith that looks more like Jesus and impacts the world more powerfully.