I was in the Post Office the other day waiting to complete my transaction and caught a glimpse of this tall guy, he was really tall. Anyway, I sized him up (yeah, I could take ’em!) No, no, but my eyes ended up on his shoes. He was wearing a slipper on one foot and a work shoe on the other. Hmmm, comfort and work, where do I see this balance? In our own lives, in the church, in how modern day Christians act. We want the comfort and yet somehow still be ready for the work of Christ without the suffering. We’ve been told, we cannot serve both masters. We have been instructed that we are to watch out for we are to be of the world, not in it. WOW, all this from a guy wearing different shoes.

I have this pair of lambskin slippers that are so comfortable. I get home from a long day or I’m just hanging out, those are the pair I put on when I walk in the door. They have conformed to my foot so nicely and they warm my feet and my toes are like happy feet!! Oh, the world is so much like that. We’re told growing up that the world is our oyster it has a pearl inside, it can give us everything we want or need at a moments notice, and depending on where we are born, we are entitled to it all! It’s the dream of everyone! Is that it? Really? Is that what we are born to do? Is that God’s call on my life? If that is all that life has to offer, in the end, it is quite boring. Obtaining more and more, making ourselves more comfortable to get where? To the end of our lives without the risk of getting hurt or impacting others? Sure enough, I too fell into the worldly way of thinking, getting more, having a comfortable house, living my day to day without too much passion. Certainly not going out of my way to help or hurt. You could say I was living a flat-line life, but I was comfortable.

Then there is a pair of dress shoes I wear for work. When I first got them, they pinched, they were a bit stiff and produced a couple of blisters getting around. I would come home, not even untie them and run to put on those comfy slippers — AHHHHHHHHHHH! Now that’s more like it. But I wouldn’t wear my slippers, that flop around and are less than desirable to look at a client meeting or preaching at church, that is work time. We too often think about these as separate lives, our church time and our world time. Do you live a double life? Do you have one foot in a slipper and the other in a work shoe?

If we look to Christ and are one of His followers, we know that He spoke often about the world and that His world is not this one. That He came to take away the sins of the world. He’s not in His slippers, He is in His work shoes, constantly. As followers, He has called us to lace up knowing that we also are not of this world, but are to go out into the world showing others the way to Christ. And that is anything but comfortable.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” — John 15:18-19

Not comforting words are they? Why are we surprised then when the people of the world, the not-yet-believers hate what we do, hate what we say, hate that Jesus is glorified in our homes, work and play? We should not be surprised at all, but we are because we want to fit comfortably in the world. What if we were willing to risk it all? What if we were willing to tithe as God asked? What if we were willing to stand up for justice? What if we got on our knees for our government? What if we stopped being comfortable? Because the world will try to pressure you and me to conform to their way of living. So, if you’re searching to find your call in life, check out this short article by Relevant Magazine and find God, find your passion, pursue His mission.