“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” ― C. S. Lewis
Evangelist Ray Comfort points out that approaching someone with the line that Jesus will make your life better (he does, but in a different way than most people think) just doesn’t work out very well. He illustrates this with an interesting analogy. If you’re on a flight and someone tells you to put on a parachute because it will make the flight better, you’re eventually going to be disillusioned when you realize all it does is make you uncomfortable and the target of ridicule.
But if you’re given a parachute with the knowledge that the plane is crashing, you’ll gladly accept it and be saved.

Most would agree it’s ridiculous to believe wearing a parachute on a commercial airliner flying its daily route is going to make a passenger comfortable (especially on these long flights from Korea). Much the same when being told that Christ will make your life better when everything is already going great. “Why do I need this? My life is fine. Sure I’ve had a few bumps along the way, but I’m in a nice house, have good friends, my investments are doing well, and I’ve even booked a cruise for next week. What more is Jesus gonna give me?” And this is right. If you’re being told that Christ will make your life better, how is that going to square with the good life you’re already living right now? For you, a church might make a good social club, but really, when business is bad, it isn’t the church giving you the bailout.
But if you read the Bible, you’ll find out that Jesus isn’t coming to make your life “comfortable.” As a matter of fact, things could seem worse for those who follow him (like putting on a parachute only to have people laugh at you). You can see this in the 11th chapter of Hebrews, which starts with what people call the “hall of faith.” Encouraging words for people who believe…up to the first half of verse 35. You’ve got a list of winners who were commended and rewarded for standing firm – Abraham, Isaac, Noah, Moses – real heroes. You’ve got David and Samuel and the prophets, “33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. ”
Women even received back their dead by resurrection!
But then, this: “Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that they might rise again to a better life. 36 Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated— 38 of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
They lived their lives not receiving the promise, but they were expectant of something more from God. Paul says in his letter to the Roman church that Abraham was “fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised,” and that promise was to his offspring for generations to come – the savior himself. But this was not just for Abraham in his faith. It’s also “to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:24-25). It’s the great exchange: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21).
In this we find our comfort – that the life Jesus gives us is not the life of earthly wealth and ease, but the exchange of our sinfulness and condemnation in God’s eyes (no matter how wonderful our lives seem to us) for the perfect life that Jesus lived for us.
This thought came to mind as I read my Bible today. In challenging and uncomfortable times – times when anxiety and worry might overcome God’s assurances to us – I find peace in reading God’s Word, so much that I’m wanting more. And sometimes I make the mistake of thinking that others will find the same benefit, if only they’d just pick up the book and read. But they won’t. As I learned very early in my Christian life, the Gospel is the power of God to those who are being saved, but to those who are perishing, it’s foolishness (read 1 Corinthians 1:18 for that). If you’ve put on Christ for a comfortable life, hearing of how he suffered and died for your sins isn’t going to help. You’re going to want to know what he’s doing for you right now! “Why isn’t this thing working?” You can’t be wasting your time sitting around reading a book. You need action! You need results!
And yet what greater comfort and peace can one have than knowing of the free gift of eternal life God has given through the Lord Jesus Christ? He’s taken on the “wages” of your sin (death — read Romans 6:23 here) and gives the promise of something infinitely better in the end — life everlasting. But first you must believe. It’s only then that it will dawn on you that it really works…
As a bonus, here’s one of Ray Comfort’s best if you have the time to listen.