Comfort Zone

There is a distinct stereotype of the English Anglican church that it is steeped in tradition: things have to be done this way; we can't do that!; well, if we allow that, then we must make sure we do this... It is a culture that puts so much emphasis on tradition that we lose the heart of why we do what we do; like why we take Communion, or why we read the Bible, or even why we go to church in the first place.

This post is not to reinforce these stereotypes, or even to imply in any sense that they are true. My aim is simply to say that I disagree with this notion. We should not be so steeped in tradition that we forget the heart behind our actions.

A few weeks ago in church, the prayer at the start of the service was not one that I knew, yet I tried to follow the words on the big screen at the front as though I did know it. As a result, I ended up stumbling over half the words, reading the wrong line and reading them in the wrong order, just generally messing up. It occurred to me that I was messing up because I was out of my comfort zone. I didn't know this new prayer, and I wasn't willing to admit that I was unfamiliar with it. I simply expected to be fluent with the new words, because I expected it to be the words that I knew already.

However, this does not work. We should not expect everything to be exactly the same, because when we do that, we end up messing up when something changes. We mess up because we get used to the tradition, and when we get used to the tradition, the tradition becomes habitual.

God is not interested in habitual worship. He is interested in our sincere worship, worship that we mean - not that we do simply because it is What We Are Used To. Because of this, we should seek to leave our comfort zone as often as possible. Listen to new worship songs, read different Bible plans, pray with other people rather than alone (or vice versa). Do something different to show God that we are not worshipping simply because it is What We Do, but rather because it is What We Want To Do. And, yes, we may mess up, but we are not perfect - and God accepts that. It is far better to mean what we do and mess up, than to be 'perfect' in what we do but insincere.