“The gospel comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.”
I’ve heard this expression numerous times and did some research to find out its origin.
“Finley Peter Dunne…wrote under the pseudonym of an Irishman named Mr. Dooley. The full quotation goes like this:
“Th newspaper does ivrything f’r us.
It runs th’ polis foorce an’ th’ banks,
commands th’ milishy,
controls th’ ligislachure,
baptizes th’ young,
marries th’ foolish,
comforts th’ afflicted,
afflicts th’ comfortable,
buries th’ dead
an’ roasts thim aftherward.”
Preachers were quick to apply Dooley’s words to the Christian faith, that the nature of the gospel is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable – that the preacher’s job – and the job of every Christian, for that matter – is to offer hope and consolation to those who are hurting while standing strong against the evils of injustice and oppression and selfish pursuit.”
Finley Peter Dunne in “Newspaper Publicity” in Observations by Mr. Dooley (1902) as explained by Dr. Philip L. McLarty in his sermon, “Comfort the Afflicted, Afflict the Comfortable” (2007).