03/03/2026
It’s okay to challenge the norm, even in church.
It's not because we enjoy being edgy, not because we think we’re smarter than the people who came before us... but because the church doesn’t exist to preserve comfort. The church exists to preserve the gospel, and the gospel has a way of disturbing the status quo before it heals the soul.
We forget this sometimes: the gospel doesn’t begin with a warm hug, it begins with a mirror.
Jesus doesn’t first say, “You’re fine.” He says, “Repent.” Not to shame us, but to save us. The gospel confronts before it comforts because true comfort is built on truth, not denial. Grace is not God ignoring sin; grace is God dealing with sin—fully, finally, and lovingly through the cross. If the gospel never confronts me, I’m probably only listening to the parts that agree with me.
That’s why pressure isn’t always the enemy, pressure can refine. In fact, God often uses pressure the way a refiner uses fire: not to destroy the gold, but to burn away what doesn’t belong. We don’t like squeezing seasons, but they reveal what we’re really holding on to. They expose our idols, they surface our hidden motives and if we let them, they turn “surface Christianity” into deep formation.
This is also why I’m wary of a “platonized” gospel, the kind that treats Christianity like an escape plan from the real world. As if the goal is to float away to heaven someday while we tolerate injustice, broken systems, family dysfunction, and discipleship-lite in the meantime. That’s not the gospel Jesus preached. The kingdom of God is not an idea; it’s a reality breaking into the present. It confronts how we live, how we love, how we work, how we spend, how we lead, how we forgive. It doesn’t bypass the material world, it redeems it.
And here’s the irony: many of our breakthroughs happen at breaking points.
Not because breaking points are good in themselves, but because they finally strip away our illusions, especially the illusion of control. The breaking point is often where God’s strength becomes undeniable, because our strength has run out. It’s where prayer stops being a religious activity and becomes a desperate dependence. It’s where we stop performing and start surrendering.
So yes, challenge the norm when the norm is preventing repentance, muting the gospel, protecting comfort, or resisting growth. Do it with humility. Do it with love. Do it with Scripture open and ego down. But don’t be afraid of the discomfort.
Sometimes the most loving thing the gospel will do is confront you and sometimes the most comforting thing God will do is refuse to leave you as you are.
