As of this typing, it is Day 4 of “doing something uncomfortable on purpose”. I’ve been meaning to type up the background to this. On 6/27/12, I finished reading the book by Kyle Idleman “Not a Fan”. This got me thinking some crazy thoughts. Where do I stand eternally? Am I being fake? Here was my thoughts on the book.
“I must tell you, this book rattles my relationship status with Jesus to the core. This book regularly challenges the status quo and made me feel uncomfortable at every turn. God laid something tough on my heart that I’m not sure how I answered like a follower should. I’m not sure where I stand, my confidence is pretty much shattered 🙂 It’s a powerful, powerful book. it’s a must read!”
One might be asking, “How does reading this book and doing uncomfortable for 90 days challenge relate?” Here are some of my thoughts. A fan basically is someone who follows along, cheering their team on or another example is “following a cause” casually. A follower is someone who puts their cause first. In the book Kyle wrote, there are fans of Jesus and followers. Fans are those who will seem to do all the right things as long as they remain comfortable (Kyle does a great job describing this). Jesus calls us to do many things and a lot of them won’t make you feel comfortable. Might even cause some Anxiety, which I don’t personally like.
This got me thinking, most everyone I know strives to be comfortable in life. When it’s hot, people turn on the air conditioner, if they have one. When we go out to eat, we usually get something familiar. When someone asks for our honest opinion, we try to be polite and not say what’s on our heart (positive or negative). I’m here sure there are more examples. Here I stand. Am I a fan or a follower? Are you a fan or a follower? I’d like to think I’m a follower although after reading a book that made me feel so uncomfortable, it makes a person think!
As an experiment, using social media (Facebook, Twitter). I’m encouraging others to do something “uncomfortable on purpose for 90 days”, including myself. What does the challenge have to be? It really is up to the person taking the challenge, it can be spiritual, it can be something in your everyday life. I’m still trying to figure out the exact meaning, all I know it’s meant to do something “uncomfortable on-purpose”. I’ll try to document as I go along with updates to the blog. We’ll see where God takes this. Here is my list so far.
Day 1 – Creating an open group on Facebook and typing up my review
Day 2 – Driving home with my windows down although it was near 100 degrees (35 minute commute)
Day 3 – Parking cars at 4h fair while it was hot, inquiring about others.
Day 4 – Parking cars at 4h fair while it’s hot, typing up this review.
Here are a few misc notes. The sermon series our Pastor is doing is on the 10 commandments, the particular one he covered this week was honor the Sabbath. (Day of Rest), a person can rest on Sunday. Maybe even do something REALLY uncomfortable to help the fellow man that isn’t something you do in your normal day. Report back your “uncomfortable on purpose challenges”
God Bless,
Steve
Pondering Thought 