Comfort and Challenge

As I weigh and wear the responsibility of a pastor on my shoulders, I am struck with the task of comforting and challenging those that I minister to. Not only of figuring out when some need to be comforted and some need to be challenged, but of presenting the gospel in a way that allows for both - AT THE SAME TIME.

For me, the gospel has always been about both. There are times when I am down in the dumps, depressed, and just need to hear that God loves me. There are times when my life is steady, unchanged, and unchallenged. I go with the status quo, with the norm, and trudge through my days. That's when I need the wake up call that life is about a lot more than passing the time - and I've got a place in it.

So what do we do with this Christ who has arrived on the scene? With those wise men who traversed afar bringing gifts that proclaimed that Christ was king? With this figure who gets baptized and the skies open up? Where is the comfort and where is the challenge? And which, at this moment, do we need to hear?