Complacency
Comfortable with an enormous lead over his opponent, the prideful hare decided to
rest for a while. Figuring he had nothing to worry about, he relaxed peacefully by a
tree and soon drifted off to sleep. You know how the story goes. Eventually his slow
and steady contender, the tortoise, who didn’t seem to be a threat, overtook him and
won the race. In this well-known fable, the hare is the epitome of complacency.
1) Complacency is Dangerous for Christians Because It Means You Are Not
Growing. The dictionary defines complacency as “a feeling of smug or uncritical
satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements; a feeling of being satisfied with how
things are and not wanting to try to make them better.” Complacency is often the root
of our failures, at work, in our relationships, and in our walk with Christ. When we
become complacent, it becomes about us alone, our needs, our desires.Complacency
is the perfect tool for the enemy to lure us into a false sense of entitlement. After listing
some of the qualities every Christian should have, Peter stated, “For if these qualities
are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8). In effect, if you are a Christian who
is complacent with your growth in God, you are in danger.
2) The Danger of Complacency can lead to a False Sense of Security.
Complacency tempts us to remember our past laurels while we should be looking
ahead to the next battle God wants us to win. So often we can experience the power
of God in our lives and then assume because he acted like that in the past, he will do
the same in the future. We may develop a false security and no longer seek God in
the present or the future. In Isaiah 32:9-11, “You who are so complacent, rise up and
listen to me; you who feel secure, hear what I have to say! In little more than a year
you who feel secure will tremble, tremble, you complacent ones…” God gave a strong
warning to those complacent and unaware of His sovereignty. In the midst of our
comfortable lives, we often forget who’s really in charge, the One who has all power in
His hands. Our hope must be in Him, not in the earthly things that make us feel safe.
3) Complacency can cause us to receive the Grace of God in Vain
The saying “use it or lose it” is described in Matthew 25:14-30. When a master returns
from a long journey and sees what his servants have done with the talents he left
them, he’s very unhappy with the servant who didn’t grow his gift. He’s so bothered by
his laziness that he takes away the gift and gives it to someone else who will use it
wisely. Sometimes busyness, fear, or procrastination will cause us to set aside gifts
God has given us, leaving them unused and undeveloped. This is a form of
complacency—when we become so comfortable with having a gift that we take it for
granted and do nothing with it. Whatever talents, gifts, or skills God has given us are
meant to be an investment into His kingdom. We get to express our gratitude by using
them to further His agenda on the earth.
4) Complacency Hinders the Christian’s Prayer Life
No matter who you are, no matter what God has done through you, no matter what
amazing ministry you have been a part of, you are only as powerful as your current
prayer life.
Jesus told them (the Pharisees), “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you
hypocrites in Scripture:
‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me is pointless, because their teachings are rules made by humans.’
“You abandon the commandments of God to follow human traditions.” He added, “You
have no trouble rejecting the commandments of God to keep your own traditions!”
It’s so easy to point fingers at the Pharisees. However, this could just as easily be any
one of us, our children included, that Jesus is chastising here. He is saying:
*When we are complacent, we “honor” Him with our lips, but our heart is far from Him.
*When we are complacent, our worship is pointless because it is self-serving.
*When we are complacent, we are running after our selfish desires; far away from
Him.We come to a point where it isn’t God’s word that guides our beliefs but the world.
“You abandon the commandments of God to follow human traditions.”
With that said, are we challenging our ways of thinking?
Are we holding up our traditions to the expectations of the Scriptures?
Are we willing to let God pull us out of our comfort zones?
Are we surrounded by people who tell us what we want to hear?
Are we avoiding individuals who force us to re-evaluate what we believe?
I find so much value in understanding other beliefs and being challenged, because it is
when they challenge me on my beliefs that I am strengthened in what I believe.
“Why do you believe in what you believe?”
It’s a simple question that we aren’t tasked with answering nearly enough — yet it is
the answer to that question that defines who we are. At times we come to a point
where it is much easier to be “satisfied with how things are, and not want to try to
make them better”. After all, it feels more comfortable that way.Yet, I find comfort in
the knowledge that Christ boldly challenged the people. Whether it was the
Pharisees or His disciples, He challenged them with absolute truth, to repent, to
run after God, and to be who they were created to be.
It has been said that spiritual drift (complacency) is a sign of our times and only
becomes worse as the days become uncertain and spiritual warfare increases. The
upheaval of the last days will tempt God’s people to take their eyes off of Jesus. The
book of Revelation gets its title from the opening phrase of the book, “the Revelation
of Jesus Christ,” with “revelation” literally meaning “unveiling.” The book, and hence
the last days, are intended to unveil Jesus to us. There has never been a better time
to focus on Jesus, to see Him clearly, to devote and lavish our time and attention on
Him, to see Him unveiled in all His glory. In these last days we have an
unprecedented opportunity to see Jesus in new, fresh, and glorious ways. Let’s not
drift away from staring at Him in wonder and in hope. We were not created to be
complacent. God desires us to passionately run after Him and to love Him with our
whole hearts. We were created to need Him and to be with Him.
There has never been a better time to be Jesus-centered, Bible-based, missions-
hearted, praise-propelled, faith-filled, Spirit-empowered, and heaven-bound.
COMPLACENCY is the antithesis of who we were created to be.