Sunday Read: The Addiction to Comfort

King Solomon had everything. A thousand wives and concubines, houses filled with gold, servants attending his every need, entertainment at his fingertips. He wrote, "Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure" (Ecclesiastes 2:10). Yet this man who lived in unimaginable luxury concluded that it was all "vanity and a striving after wind" (Ecclesiastes 2:17). Solomon discovered what every comfortable civilization learns eventually: ease doesn't satisfy the soul—it starves it.

Modern Christianity has made peace with comfort in ways that would shock the early church. We assume God wants us happy, safe, and well-fed. We interpret trials as evidence of weak faith rather than tools for spiritual growth. Our prayers focus more on removing discomfort than developing character. Yet Jesus warned his followers, "In the world you will have tribulation" (John 16:33), and Paul declared that "through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). The New Testament authors didn't view suffering as an interruption to the Christian life—they saw it as integral to spiritual maturity.

Consider the contrast between Western Christianity and the persecuted church. Where believers face imprisonment, torture, and death for their faith, churches grow rapidly and disciples demonstrate extraordinary commitment. Where Christianity is culturally acceptable and legally protected, churches struggle with nominalism, moral compromise, and spiritual apathy. Comfort, it seems, is more dangerous to faith than persecution. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed from his Nazi prison cell, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die."

The early Christians understood this paradox. They "rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" (Acts 5:41). Paul could write from a Roman prison, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want" (Philippians 4:12). Their joy wasn't dependent on their circumstances because their hope wasn't invested in temporal comfort but eternal glory.

What comforts have you made essential to your happiness? How do you respond when God allows inconvenience, illness, or loss into your life? Are you more concerned with avoiding suffering or embracing the cross? The Christian life isn't about escaping difficulty—it's about finding Christ sufficient in the midst of it.