Complacency is all too easy of a trap to fall into. Being too comfortable can stop us from moving forward in our personal and spiritual growth. We'll explore scripture and debunk seven myths that make us complacent. It's time to break free from these shackles of mediocrity and discover the path towards becoming more and more like Jesus.
Trevor Lund is the founder of Live LIGHT Academy at https://livelight.ca and the Content Creator at https://revtrev.com Check out https://revtrev.com/tv for past videos and live casts and https://revtrev.com/radio to subscribe to his podcast wherever you listen.
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I’m going to start with a question you don’t need to respond to, but it’s good for us to think about.
Do you have some jiggle in your wiggle in your spiritual life?
All of us go through different season. All of us are on different parts of the path. I trust we’ve all had times that we felt so close, so loved, so precious to God. Times when .we knew what we were created for - to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If you haven’t had those times, you need to have those times. If you haven’t had those times in a while, you need to have them again and more often.
If we don’t take the time to examine our lives every now and again, it’s easy for us to become complacent.
Complacency robs your soul. You know that’s true. You’ve gone through the motions. You have felt fatigued, bored, in a rut, or no purpose.
There is hope for you today.
Can I pray?
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines complacency as, “self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies.”
Complacency is dangerous because it is easy. All you have to do is sit back and go with the flow.
To go against the flow requires work and conflict might be involved. To be complacent is to get along. Complacency doesn’t require discipline. It doesn’t require accountability. It doesn’t require action.
And because of that it is all too often our default mode. And we don’t see the danger it brings.
We can’t be complacent with spiritual life and godliness.
You either are growing closer to Christ and maturing in His ways or you are drifting away. This means we can’t be complacent in our devotional life or our spiritual disciplines. We have to work at them with all the strength He provides.
Here’s what happens…
If you don’t read your Bible, it’s hard to start reading your Bible. When you practice disciple of reading your Bible, it becomes easier and easier and more and more natural to do it.
If you don’t pray more than just for your meals, it’s hard to “pray always and never give up” (Luke 18:1). But when you start praying, and enter his gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise and you learn to exchange your problems for his peace…The more you do it, the more you want to do it. It’s what you’ve been created for.
If you’ve ever fasted from food for an extended period of time, after about 4 days you don’t feel like eating. When you break an extended fast like that, trust me, don’t break fast with greasy hamburger, don’t have steak for your first meal, bacon and eggs and pancakes don’t work well…this is all coming from my own personal experience. Experience tells me…start with soup.
My encouragement for you restarting all spiritual disciplines is the same. If you’ve fasted from reading the Bible or fasted from prayer or fasted from whatever Holy Spirit has put in your heart to do- don’t jump back in with an ambitious plan. You’ll have all kinds of hurt you can avoid.
Paul told Timothy:
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. 1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)
So that’s what we’re looking at today. Life that will come from our doctrine.
Why 7 Myths?
I came up with this title for a book I was thinking about writing for some time. But as I study for this message, I realized these aren’t 7 Myths that can lead us to Complacency. They are 7 strongholds that can lead us to and keep us in complacency. These are just the ones that come from my own experience.
Remember a stronghold is “a way of thinking that protects our thoughts and actions.” A stronghold can be a good thing:
The name of the Lord is a strong fortress;
the godly run to him and are safe. Proverbs 18:10
That’s a good “way of thinking that protects our thoughts and actions.” When our experience doesn’t line up with the promises of scripture, it’s good for us to return those promises and remember what happened when He cemented those promises into our soul. We can’t wish them into being. He has to fortify them in our heart. When he has, you can remember what was happening when you knew you would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, so you could be strong and not lose heart and you could wait for the Lord. Testimony affirms strongholds. If I’ve seen him turn THAT into good, I know he will turn THIS for the good… I don’t know how, but I know he will.
Strongholds can be very, very good.
But more often than not strongholds may have the appearance of truth but in fact they protect the thoughts and actions of the enemy who comes to kill, still and destroy. And hey, if he can make you complacent, that’ leads to the same result. Complacency robs your soul.
CS Lewis wrote the Screwtapes Letter during World War 2. The full book was published in 1942. Written in defence of the Christian faith, this popular satire consists of a series of 31 letters in which Screwtape, an experienced devil, instructs his young charge, Wormwood, on effective strategies for tempting the human being assigned to him and making sure he continues on a steady path toward damnation.
Screwtapes write in Chapter 7…
I had not forgotten my promise to consider whether we should make the patient an extreme patriot or an extreme pacifist. All extremes, except extreme devotion to the Enemy, are to be encouraged. Not always, of course, but at this period. Some ages are lukewarm and complacent, and then it is our business to soothe them yet faster asleep. Other ages, of which the present is one, are unbalanced and prone to faction, and it is our business to inflame them.
WW II - Factions
Post Covid 2023 - Factions AND complacency.
The enemy uses strongholds and often they are based in Scripture. Satan quoted scripture to tempt Jesus. Here’s a few strongholds that may look like truth, and even originate in truth, but in fact they lead to complacency. Good news is strongholds are upheld or broken with truth.
7 Myths (Strongholds) that lead to Complacency
1. God brings about revival in His sovereignty.
Truth:
God is sovereign (Ephesians 1:11) meaning He can anything he wants to do, whenever he wants to do it. That hardly ever means we don’t have a role to play (Isaiah 30:15).
If we believe God is going to do it all, we can easily become complacent.
2. I need to wait for God’s perfect timing.
Truth:
The timing of God is real (Acts 3:2). But there are also times we receive as child (Mathew 6:5-6) and there is time we need to war for breakthrough (Mathew 7:7).
If you don’t know what season you’re in, try to receive like a child sitting on His Father’s lap. If that doesn’t work, start asking and keep asking, start seeking and keep seeking, start knocking and keep knocking.
If we believe we need to wait for God, regardless of the season, we can become complacent.
3. I am the way God made me.
Truth:
He knit you together in your mother’s womb and ordained all the days of your life before any of them came to be (Psalm 139:16) but He was come so you can be born again and finishes the good work He’s started in you so you can become more and more like Jesus.
If we believe we don’t have to change…that’s kind of the definition of complacent.
4. God’s love is unconditional.
I’ve looked it up…unconditional love is not in the book.
Truth:
God chooses to love us all with a love that is patient and kind and not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.(1 Cor 13:4-5). But he favours us differently (Romans 9:13)
So assume you’re His favourite.
If we believe we don’t have to live up to what we’ve already attained, we can become complacent.
5. Being busy is just who I am
Truth:
You were created to walk with God in the garden in the cool of the day and in all you do, to work as unto the Lord. Busy-ness came in after the fall.
If we believe being busy is a good thing, we easily slip into complacency.
6. God is creating a new earth, so I don’t need to care for this one.
Truth:
God gave us dominion to steward (Genesis 1:28), not subjugate His creation.
If we believe this world is immaterial, we aren’t helping anything to change. We stay complacent.
7. I am not enough
Truth:
God takes delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He rejoices over you with joyful songs. (Zephaniah 3:17) You are who He says you are and He gave His life for you (Romans 5:8-9).
If we have an ungodly self image, we wallow in complacency.
Complacency kills your soul.
So how do you get out of complacency?
That’s a great question. I’m so glad you asked. I had to fight for this answer this week.
Break off the Complacency Tool
REKINDLE def: relight (a fire). revive (something that has been lost).
R - Remove Strongholds - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
E - Examine everything - Proverbs 25:2
K - Know God’s vision for your life - Amos 9:11
I - Ignite a passion for God - Amos 5:4-6
N - Notice comparison hurts- 2 Corinthians 10:12
D - Delight in refreshing others - Proverbs 11:25
L - Learn to be content - Philippians 4:12-13
E - Enjoy work without celebrating being busy - Colossians 3:23-24
What does that mean? Let’s unpack it now.
R - Remove Strongholds
We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Starts with Confession and Repentance. When God shows you a stronghold…when you think about not only what you think about but also HOW you think about what you think about…he’ll show you what strongholds need to come down.
What does God want me to confess and repent from?
E - Examine everything
It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them. Proverbs 25:2
Stay curious.
1. Curiosity keeps the brain active and reduces the risk of cognitive decline.
2. Curious people are happier.
3. Curiosity boosts achievement.
4. Curiosity can expand our empathy.
5. Curiosity helps strengthen relationships.
6. Curiosity improves our ability to cope with difficult situations, such as rejection
7. Curiosity can help to relieve boredom.
8. Being curious can increase positivity.
9. Curiosity can improve problem solving skills.
10. Being curious can increase knowledge and work performance.
11. Being curious may reduce anxiety.
Stay curious.
How can I spark my curiosity?
K - Know God’s vision for your life
Amos 9:11 “In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory.
God tends to give big pictures like this…. Read to the end of the book. He wins. We may not understand it, but we know we can trust Him to make it right.
The Bible doesn’t suggest we change the world. Paul tells wives to not divorce unbelieving husbands. He tell slaves to get free if the can; but if they can’t be the best slave you can be. He tells us to make it our ambition to lead the quiet life; to work with our hands so that we’re not reliant on anyone.
Jesus called his 12 apostles- using the name of a Roman General sent in to change the culture. Apostle change culture. Our church culture has us believing that we should all change culture. I don’t see that in the Hebrew Scriptures or the New Testament. If we respected true apostles as true apostles; they would be better situated to change culture.
God’s vision for your life isn’t a calling or a position or a skill or a gift. It can be all those things or none of those things. All of those things make it possible, with what He works through you, to fulfill God’s vision for you. What is that?
His vision for you is for you to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31 whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Can I glorify God and enjoy Him today?
I - Ignite a passion for God
Amos 5:4-6 NIV This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live; do not seek Bethel, do not go to Gilgal, do not journey to Beersheba, For Gilgal will surely go into exile and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.”Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it.
Jesus told the church in Ephesus that they had forgotten their first love and that they needed to repent and to do the things the did at first. He told his disciples to seek first the kingdom of God and everything else will be added.
Am I seeking the Lord to live?
N - Notice Comparison hurts
2 Corinthians 10:12 NIV We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
Comparison can lead to complacency. Cut out comparison. It’s a spiral. When you start going down…. stop it with gratitude.
Giving thanks for what you have and who you are cuts out the power comparison has to lead us to complacency.
Am I comparing myself to anyone?
D - Delight in refreshing others
Proverbs 11:25 The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.
When we cut ourselves off from others, it’s moves us towards complacency. The wounds from a friend should be something that grows us.
When we want to get out of a funk; the fastest way to is to consider others ahead of ourselves. When you put others ahead of yourself, perspective change.
Who can I refresh?
L - Learn to be content
Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV) I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Sometime we lose our contentment when we refuse to obey something Holy Spirit has told us to do. We slip into complacency because we’re not willing to take that next step of faith. Contentment is by faith. Complacency gets destroyed by faith.
Am I content in any and every situation?
E - Enjoy work without celebrating being busy
Colossians 3:23-24 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.
Complacency can come in when you’re too busy OR when you’re not being busy enough. Basically, when you’re not about your Father’s business…when you’re not working as unto the Lord…it’s easy to slip into being complacency.
Am I working as unto the Lord?
Break off the Complacency Tool
REKINDLE def: relight (a fire). revive (something that has been lost).
R - Remove Strongholds
What does God want me to confess and repent from?
E - Examine everything
How can I spark my curiosity?
K - Know God’s vision for your life
Can I glorify God and enjoy Him today?
I - Ignite a passion for God
Am I seeking the Lord to live?
N - Notice comparison hurts
Am I comparing myself to anyone?
D - Delight in refreshing others
Who can I refresh?
L - Learn to be content
Am I content in any and every situation?
E - Enjoy work without celebrating being busy
Am I working as unto the Lord?
Make space for Holy Spirit to speak.
1) Do I enjoy time with God? Why or why not?
2) Am I actively listening for God’s direction in my life?
3) Am I afraid to take that next step of obedience?
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