Comfortable Faith Can’t Carry the Gospel

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilt, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ” (Luke 5:37-39)

Who’s shocked to hear that today’s modern churches are now old wineskins? Yep, they are. With practising Christian faith in free-fall and only a 9% Remnant left in this country (2% in Europe), the Church is seriously broken, while we’re sitting on Sunday thinking it’s brilliant. The apex of Christian Churchianity - slick sermon, multi-channel, audiovisual, contemporary worship and drop-in baptismal - is broken. We’re drunk on the form of our old wineskins - so drunk with our slick churches we can’t see straight the collapse of our faith. It’s like that song, “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Well in a short time, Video also became extinct. Our fancy, pumping new churches are already on the extinction list.

Where along the way did we get soft?

The Gospel that once called men and women to lay down their lives now asks them to sign up for a Church carpark warden roster. The Jesus who once said, “Take up your cross and follow me,” now sounds (at least in our sermons) more like a life coach offering tips for better living.

We didn’t mean to tame Him. But we did.

And here’s the problem: a comfortable faith can’t carry the weight of the Gospel. Not in a world as heavy as ours. Not in a culture as resistant, as wounded, as lost as ours. We padded the pews and softened the sermons, hoping to be relevant to a modern society and generation. But in doing so, we removed the offence of the Cross - and with it, the power to save.

Jesus wasn’t crucified for being nice. He was crucified for speaking the truth that pierced people’s souls. In the church, he turned over the money-changing tables and drove out those who would tacitly be respected for their bank balances.

The early Church didn’t spread because it was safe. It spread because it was sacrificial. They had no buildings. No budgets. No Christian radio. What they had was the determination to be separate, a hugely engaging vision that they all bought into with one mind, and the power of the Spirit of God. Those who withheld their resources from God got slain on the spot. Dangerous Church.

They loved not their lives, even unto death (Revelation 12:11). We, on the other hand, won’t even love our neighbour if it interrupts our weekend. This isn’t a guilt trip. It’s a wake-up call. Because while we were busy making faith more palatable, the world got darker - and now it barely notices us.

If we want to carry the Gospel, we’ll need to recover its edge.

We’ll need to move from convenient Christianity to courageous Christianity.
From comfort zones to mission fields.
From “God help me with my dreams” to “God, what’s Your dream for me?”

The early Church turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6).
Not because they blended in.
But because they stood out.

It’s time to leave comfort behind. Not because we’re into hardship for its own sake, but because the Gospel is worth everything.