Step up and Step Out!

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

The Parable of the Talents Matthew 22:36-39

¹⁴ “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. ¹⁵ And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. ¹⁶ Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. ¹⁷ And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. ¹⁸ But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. ¹⁹ After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
²⁰ “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ ²¹ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ ²² He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ ²³ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
²⁴ “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. ²⁵ And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
²⁶ “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. ²⁷ So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
²⁹ ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Matthew 22:36-39 ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” ³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 

There was a tiny woman in a white sari peered over a podium across a sea of influential leaders who had come to the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.

“It is not enough for us to say, ‘I love God,’ but I also have to love my neighbor. Jesus says that you are a liar if you say you love God and you don't love your neighbor. How can you love God whom you do not see, if you do not love your neighbor whom you do see, whom you touch, with whom you live? It is also very important for us to realize that love, to be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give whatever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to them. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is no true love in me and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.”

In these few words, spoken in 1994, Mother Teresa preached what she had spent a lifetime living and stepping out of her own comfort zone.

Like any celebrity, Mother Teresa’s public image was shaped by the media for mass consumption: peacemaker, servant, saint. She was worthy of these titles, but there was more to her that did not make headlines. Many world leaders who met her came expecting to be blessed, but they received a lecture instead. In her passionate love for God’s children, she stepped up and spoke boldly against policies that persecute his children—violence, oppression, abortion. This judgmental side of her seemed out of character to some. On the contrary, it was evidence of her integrity. Deep love fosters deep conviction, righteous actions are the prerequisite to true authority. Mother Teresa could say what she said because she had lived her words first. She boldly stepped outside of her comfort zone.

She comforted the dying. She didn’t seek power, fortune or fame, but in her meekness, she received the prayers of the world and the respect of its most powerful leaders. She counted the cost of following Jesus, and then followed him wholeheartedly, leading thousands of men and women to do the same. To be able to boldly step outside of their own comfortable world.

Above all, Mother Teresa loved God. We don’t have to read her own words to know that. There are pictures to prove it—photographs of this remarkable servant of God as she held dying children, hugged lepers, caressed tired and weary faces with broken teeth and wrinkled cheeks, greeting everyone in God’s name. The world caught Mother Teresa in the act of loving God: loving in action, loving till it hurt. She was bold in the Lord, and she proved it by stepping out of her comfort zone to serve others.

It was asked of those that surrounded Jesus to die to themselves and to take up their cross and follow after Him (Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me”). It is not a comfortable action to take up a cross and die to self. And for those that are Christian, when God places you in a situation, should always be willing to step outside of your comfort zone to do His will.
Just the very act of becoming a Christian can put you in an unfamiliar territory that will make you feel uncomfortable. 

It can be uncomfortable not having all the financial resources you need. But Christ tells His followers to stop seeking earthly riches (Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;”), He told them to not worry about the future (Luke 12:22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on”), and He encourages them to live sacrificially to seek the good of others (Matthew 22:39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’), all of this runs contrary to the values of the world. These teachings instruct Christians that were accustomed to living a certain lifestyle, before their conversion, should now radically live differently from what they were used to. Now it is a case in point of living outside of their comfort zone of relying on their earthly riches. This is the walking in faith teaching.

Being bold, and stepping outside of our comfort zone, means placing our faith in Christ Jesus for salvation. This requires a big step on our part. Inside of our very nature we are naturally alienated away from God, and in some way to be saved, in our natural inclination, we rely on ourselves: some think we can just be good people or that by performing certain deeds we can “cancel out” our sins. But this is not sufficient. What is required is that we totally surrender ourselves completely to God, to exclusively place our faith in Jesus to save us. And that requires us to deny our natural inclination to save ourselves. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” In essence, all Christians step outside their comfort zones simply by becoming followers of Christ.

How should we be boldly stepping outside our comfort zones? Especially in our day-to-day lives? Having given ourselves over to Christ it may mean helping the homeless at a soup kitchen or taking part in a prison ministry, or associating with people we may have seen as uncomfortably different or even threatening. It may mean being seen in places or with people that society looks down on—working at a halfway house or discussing Christ outside a bar with those that come and go. 

The point is that we should not stop serving Christ merely because of our discomfort. We should be willing to place ourselves in new situations, even uncomfortable ones, for the sake of Kingdom building.

Throughout the New Testament, we see the apostles boldly stepping outside of their comfort zones and sacrificing everything in order to serve God willing to go into situations where they could be threatened, arrested, and possibly killed: Matthew 19:27 Then Peter answered and said to Him, “See, we have left all and followed You. Therefore what shall we have?” 

• Peter and John Arrested: Acts 4:1–3; Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
• Stephen Martyred: Acts 7:54–60; When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” 57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
• Paul willing to be bound and to die: Acts 21:13 Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Without a doubt, the apostles put themselves well outside their normal routine and did things far beyond their comfort zones. It will not be easy but as Christians, we, too, should be willing to go into radically uncomfortable circumstances if that’s what is required to serve God the way He desires for us to serve Him. In our foundational scripture, the last person in the parable of the talents, did not use what was given to him in a way that required him to boldly step out of his comfort zone. And use his gifts and talents to increase what he was blessed with and as a result of his unfaithfulness, it was taken from him and given to someone else. My husband mentioned that it would be a shame to lose our blessing, and calling, to someone else because we were too afraid to move out of one, our comfort zone and two, into our God given purpose.

This doesn’t mean that every action we take as Christians should make us uncomfortable. What it does mean is that we are called to serve God regardless of our comfort level, and we should never digress from a chance to serve God merely because it is “outside” our normal routine.

In closing, in being bold in the Lord, and stepping out of our comfort zone, through our gifts and talents, we should consider how we can best serve God, even if that means serving Him is in a new or uncomfortable situation. If you are gifted to teach then you should not seek to only teach those you are comfortable with, neglecting those that may seem to be a more “undesirable” students. If you are blessed with the gift of evangelism, you should not avoid speaking to prison inmates simply because you are uncomfortable in that environment. It may not be your calling, but if the opportunity arises should you not go? 

Our trust should be that God will see to it that things work out for our good and for His plan (Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose). 

All Christians, those that are followers of Christ, then, should be willing and ready to boldly step outside of their comfort zones, and from person to person that might mean a variety of things. Whether we are called to work as a missionary in an underdeveloped country or simply stirring up the courage to talk to our fellow co-workers about Christ, we can have confidence to know that God will neither leave us nor forsake us. Why? Because His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me).

Life's Word Ministry