{"id":5300,"date":"2014-01-30T00:09:54","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T06:09:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=5300"},"modified":"2020-09-10T15:10:40","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T21:10:40","slug":"comfortable-christianity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/30\/comfortable-christianity\/","title":{"rendered":"Night Flying and the Perils of Comfortable Christianity"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Comfortable<\/a><\/p>\n

It was dark outside.<\/p>\n

Really dark, a moonless night.<\/p>\n

I could hear the hum of the engine. It\u2019s turns rhythmically vibrated up through the seat and all through my body.<\/p>\n

The cockpit was illuminated with a dim red light from the instrument panel. It was just enough to see the approach map strapped to my knee, but not enough to obscure the lights from the city below.<\/p>\n

It felt warm, cozy, comfortable. The plane was like a little protective cocoon moving me through black sky seemingly insulated from harm. Every now and then the air traffic controller came on the radio and gave us another heading to fly.<\/p>\n

It was the coolest feeling. I felt safe.
\n<\/p>\n

What’s wrong with comfortable?<\/h2>\n

I was in flight school doing night instrument approaches at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Instrument flying was one of the most difficult parts of flight training. At least it was for me.<\/p>\n

When you can\u2019t see the airport, like at night, you have to navigate by instruments that show your position relative to a radio beacon. If you read the instrument right, you can follow that beacon to the runway and hopefully a safe landing. Of course, reading it right is the tricky part.<\/p>\n

The instructor came on the internal radio breaking my little moment of euphoria.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeels nice doesn\u2019t it?\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got the cabin heat going, the bird is running great, and you know you\u2019re not lost because the controller is talking to you. It\u2019s really comfortable. Bet you could get used to flying like this, couldn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yeah, it is\u2026and yes I could! How did he know what I was thinking?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell don\u2019t!\u201d he exclaimed sharply into the mic. \u201cWhen everything\u2019s going right and you feel all cozy and safe, that\u2019s when you get killed. Never let yourself get comfortable up here.\u00a0You get complacent, you get dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

When\u00a0Christians get comfortable<\/h2>\n

I\u2019ve been feeling kind of comfortable in my Christianity lately.<\/p>\n

Things were humming along. No major crisis of faith. No huge sins wracking my conscience. Everything seemed fine…or so I thought.<\/p>\n

I got complacent. And, apparently, in flying and in the spiritual life, you get complacent\u2026you get dead.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit, one of the things I liked the least about flying was always having to \u201cstay frosty.\u201d You have to be constantly aware because danger is always there.<\/p>\n

That was continually drummed into our brains in training. You\u2019d be flying along to that day\u2019s training mission and the instructor pilot would suddenly pull the throttle back. \u201cSimulated engine failure,\u201d he\u2019d say, and then you were in emergency mode.<\/p>\n

React or die\u2026well, in this case, fail the flight. But you know what I mean. That\u2019s the disadvantage of not being able to pull over to the curb when the curb is 3,000 feet below. And honestly, the danger was real.<\/p>\n

Always had to be aware.<\/p>\n

I was usually more of a \u201clet\u2019s fly around and enjoy the view\u201d kind of guy. Except when it meant doing aerobatics. I loved flying upside down!<\/p>\n

Spiritual awareness<\/h2>\n

The spiritual life requires constant awareness too. You can’t just cruise along and look at the view. Unfortunately, I kind of naturally fall into that.<\/p>\n

It needs attention because engine failure is always close at hand. By that I mean our human nature is fallen and weak. If you’re not vigilant and constantly working to improve by praying, fasting, practicing virtues, and fighting vices, \u00a0you’re going to fall into sin. If you do nothing, vice is the default.<\/p>\n

That old saying is absolutely true. If you\u2019re not moving forward you\u2019re not just standing still\u2026you\u2019re going backwards.<\/p>\n

And, that’s not even mentioning spiritual warfare\u00a0(demons are absolutely real and trying to trip you up) and a world that constantly pulls us away from Christ through temptation and societal pressure.<\/p>\n

So, this post is a wakeup call\u2026for me! And you if you need it (and who doesn\u2019t). Stay aware! You have to be constantly testing, improving, watching for trouble, or it will find you.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get comfortable spiritually. If you get complacent, you get dead.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Fly For Fun<\/a> via Compfight<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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