A writer in Christianity Today, looking at some of the challenges confronting the Christian Church as it heads into the twenty-first century, speaks of a "rampant selfishness" in contemporary society, where people "tend to give highest priority to the kind of worship that yields personal comfort."
The article continues with this hard-hitting analysis of what the writer considers to be typical of today's church life in Western culture: "Granted, God's Word encourages the sorely afflicted to seek solace; however, many of us are content to remain in the comfort zone. The vast majority of the hymns we sing, sermons we hear, and prayers we pray are focused on this solitary goal [of personal comfort]." Jon Johnston, "Growing Me-ism and Materialism," Christianity Today, January 17, 1986, p. 16-1.
Yet perhaps this has always been a challenge for the Christian. Don't the Gospels themselves speak both of the need to leave all for Christ and of the promise that God rewards the faithful and the righteous—the promise that "all these things shall be added unto you"? Matt. 6:33.
