Dangerous comfort: Are You Growing Seedless Grapes?

What is holding you back from discipleship?

A few weeks ago, we started a review of how “dangerous comfort” may be killing our souls. Let’s take that a step further to see how far it can reach and how perilous it really can be.

Our journey of faith changes over time for good or bad. What if, when you were younger, you believed that accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior was your golden ticket to Heaven? You thought that once you had it, your work was done. All you needed to do was pray when you wanted something, ask for forgiveness when you messed up, and try to be a "good person." Occasionally, you'd read your Bible and go to church—when it was convenient.

But as time passed, things changed. You started to give more focus to spiritual life and growing. Slowly, your behavior began to align more with Scripture. You felt like you were getting closer to Jesus!

If someone gave you a checklist to measure your faith, you would feel confident you were doing well. Maybe your list was looking like:

✔ You pray daily.

✔ You engage with the Bible at a transformational level, at least four times a week.

✔ You place a high value on your spiritual well-being.

✔ You’ve developed a strong understanding of core Christian doctrines.

✔ You feel like your faith is growing, and you’re filled with gratitude.

✔ You attend church weekly—sometimes even more.

And as an added bonus, there have been moments when you felt the Holy Spirit so powerfully that it seemed like God was speaking directly to you. It’s easier to think, “I’m doing a lot right.”

Here’s where dangerous comfort is lurking. Imagine with me that one day, you’re having a conversation with Jesus. He looks at you and asks, “What’s up? What have you been doing?”

Confidently, you go over the checklist while expecting to hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

But instead, Jesus looks at you and says, “You’ve done everything that mattered to you. But outside of your own comfort zone, outside of your personal faith journey, did you do anything that really mattered to Me?”

It must be how Peter felt at times in discussion with the One he loved so much.

In John 21:15-17, Jesus said nothing about what Peter had been doing so far. He repeatedly asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Each time, Jesus commanded him, “Feed my sheep.” Jesus kept driving the point home that there was so much more to do and figure out.

And that’s the painful truth about dangerous comfort. For many of us, this hypothetical scenario isn’t so hypothetical.

Eighteen years of spiritual formation research in the U.S. reveals a startling trend. This checklist describes the typical "mature believer" who is over the age of 50 and living in America. And what’s noticeably absent from this list? Discipling or mentoring someone else.

Think about it. The sum total of our spiritual efforts often result in tending to vines that produce seedless grapes. We’ve been growing a faith that doesn’t go beyond ourselves. It doesn’t reproduce. And because of this, we see people of all ages—children, teenagers, and adults—walking away from Jesus.

This should not only shake us to our core but more importantly evaluate our motivation. The team and I here at Back to the Bible are doing our best to figure out a solution to this critical problem. Many of you reply, comment, take surveys, pray and give. That all means so much, and I am very thankful, but so many do not react or respond at all. And here is what I really need—are you willing to try reaching and discipling someone else?

Jesus gave us two powerful commands before He left this earth. His last command was simple: “Love one another.” His final marching orders were equally clear: “Go and make disciples.”

So, join us. Start by honestly answering the question, “Am I doing this or at least willing to try?” Help love others in a way that compels them to follow Jesus. Become a mentor by discipling and equipping others to grow in their faith and make disciples themselves. This is the time to start feeding His sheep.

In the coming weeks, we’ll dive into these concepts as we work on building the foundation of LastCommandMission.com. This mission is built on Jesus’ commands:

• Love One Another

• Go and Make Disciples

Phase One is about motivating Christ followers to become disciple-makers. We’re making it easy to bring people and link them to our Individualized Discipleship Technology. As you check out our work in progress on LastCommandMission.com, let me know what you think about the concept and our video sending your comments and thoughts below. Together, let’s move beyond personal comfort and ask ourselves: Are we tending seedless grapes, or are we truly feeding His sheep?

Send your comments to me here.

-Arnie