Comfortable idolatry

Jared Wilson is on an idol hunt, and he's taking aim at the idol of comfort:

We make anxiety an idol when we are really not as concerned about knowing God's will as we are protecting our own comfort.

We really want to be comfortable. So when we agonize over some decisions, we're not really saying, "God tell me what you want me to do," we are really saying "God show me the route that will be easiest and happiest for me." But many times God's will is for us to be very uncomfortable, afflicted even. It's a mistake to assume that, for instance, if you go into business with your friend and the enterprise goes belly up and doesn't pan out that you obviously stepped out of God's will. It's a mistake to assume that if you go across the country to take that scholarship in order to be close to your boyfriend and then he dumps you that somehow this decision was out of God's will.

It is the mistake of assuming that Christians are not meant for difficulty or trouble, and that if they somehow enter that, they are outside of God's will or have made a mistake. This is based on a Christianity that promises comfort and ease, though, not the real Christianity of the Bible.

Too true, I fear. You can read Jared's whole article here.