Growth Happens Outside Our Comfort Zones

by David Rollert

A comfort zone is where you feel safe and unchallenged. We all have comfort zones in which things feel familiar and safe: certain people and social situations, certain jobs, preferred topics, etc. We get comfortable with a certain academic depth (or shallowness). While there is nothing wrong or sinful about having comfort zones, exclusively staying within our comfort zone naturally leads to stagnation.

For us to grow, we must be challenged. We must have our current understanding expanded. We must face new situations and challenges to build new skills. However, this can be scary! Change can be intimidating, and getting out of our comfort zones can be stressful. But what are the benefits of growth, and are they worth the challenge of moving out of our comfort zone?

Expanding our comfort zone can help us overcome sin. Habitual sin is so hard to overcome because it becomes comfortable. The sin becomes part of our comfort zone. A person may be a little scared of what life will be like if they get rid of the sin they are so comfortable with. Hebrews 12:1 states “...let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Sin tangles us up and keeps us from growing. To run the Christian race, we must push out of that comfort zone of sin.

Expanding our comfort zone can help us reach the lost. We each feel comfortable with specific people and discussing certain topics. However, there is inherent risk in evangelism. To properly evangelize, we have to bring up topics that could lead a person to salvation...or drive a wedge in the friendship. Evangelism also requires us to meet new people, which can be scary. Part of the great commission is “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19a). We have to ask ourselves: is my comfort more important than their eternal soul?

Expanding our comfort zone can help us become better teachers. As teachers, it is easy to fall into a habit of teaching the same topics, in the same way, over and over. Sometimes we fall into this comfort zone because we are passionate about a specific topic, or because we don’t think we can learn a new method. However, the Bible contains a myriad of important topics that we must teach. Paul stated, “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God” (Acts 20:27). We also should not shrink from declaring the whole council of God, even if it pushes us out of our comfort zones. Furthermore, different people have different learning styles. A teaching method that works for one person, might not work for others. As teachers our purpose is to teach people God’s word, not to force them to conform to our teaching method.

So, let’s get out of our comfort zone. Let’s overcome sin, expand our subject matter, and learn new teaching tools so that we continue to grow!