5-15-2017 COMPLACENCY, Our Biggest Enemy
Revelation 3:15-17 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot.
But because you are
lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spit you out of my mouth.
Because you say I am
rich, increased with goods and don’t need anything and don’t realize that you
are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.
Exactly what
is complacency? Webster’s says:
self-satisfaction being totally unaware of any dangers or deficiencies.
I think that
sums it up pretty good. We have become
happy, wherever we are at in our lives and don’t care to move forward any
farther than where we currently are.
I’ve got a great spouse, a couple of good kids, a job that pays my
bills, puts food on the table, provides transportation! Heck! I can even take a two-week vacation
every year! What more could I want? That IS the American dream, right?
Only problem
is, because we think have ‘arrived’, we take less and less interest in what’s
actually going on around us until it has an impact on our lives. We drift more and more into our own little
world, that circle of friends in our own little world and the rest of the world
can take care of itself. After all, we
did. Didn’t we?
It makes no
difference whether we are living in the world or if we are church going, bible
believing Christians, once we become ‘comfortable’ where we are, not caring
about what’s going on around us, complacent, we become ineffective – especially
for the kingdom of God!
There have
been times in my life where I’ve become complacent. I wouldn’t have admitted it at the time, but
looking back I can see more than one time (ugh!).
When we are
hungry, we can’t be complacent because we need to eat to survive so we do what
we have to do to eat, feed our hunger.
We need something to eat, we find food or a place to stay or live so we
search for that place so we can have shelter from the elements. When we need to get somewhere and have no
car, what do we do? Find a car we can
afford or take a bus or walk! If we have
a dream, we work like crazy (at least until) to reach it. Nonetheless, we are not being complacent. We aren’t just sitting back and saying “Oh,
well.” We recognize our need to get
somewhere so we do something about it.
We are not complacent. We don’t
just sit around waiting for the ravens or an angel to bring us what we need or
take us to where we want to be. Think
about it. People look up into the sky
and say “What is that?” And someone says
“Oh, it’s just Buck. He had to wait for some
birds to come by, pick him up and bring him here.” I think not!
My wife and
I struggled much of our life together, largely due to poor decision I had made
in my youth. By the grace of God, I
started making some right decisions and the latter years of our time together
in this world went a whole lot better than those earlier times. Our needs were met and our financial budget
came into balance (PTL!). Unfortunately
(for me) her health started to decline, the last few years we had together,
until Father took her home to be with Him.
And yet, I thank Father for the time I did have with her.
Yet, with
her departure, I was devastated! I had
lost the love of my life (in this world) but then I was in ‘perfect’ health so
I had to continue on with my life. Father
has given me the ability to accept whatever happens to me, deal with it, then
press on in life. I haven’t yet figured
out if this is bad or good because the danger is that ‘just accepting
something’ it could lead to complacency.
Father had
already been working with me for years (my relationship with Him), so I wasn’t
about to ‘give up the ship’ and sink.
Besides, I couldn’t! HE wouldn’t let me for that’s when He
started putting my life into second gear.
It’s like a car, each time you shift gears, you go a little faster. I haven’t yet figured out how many gears this
transmission has because every time I go into the next gear, there seems to
always be one more waiting to be shifted up into.
I’ve just
recently shifted gears again with two book Father has prompted me to purchase and
as of this time am currently reading, “A Time to Advance” co-authored by Chuck
Pierce and Robert & Linda Heidler and “Discovering the Supernatural” by
Doug Addison. So I’m anticipating what
Father has to show me in these.
However, I
have to admit, I have been in and out of the valley of complacency. Things would be rough and I’d work like a dog
to press forward, but things would settle down – and so would I.
The enemy
(Satan) would try to discourage me and I might even start to “buy into it”, but
then, the Holy Ghost comes to the rescue and reminds me of what Father has
already brought me through. And He
wouldn’t have done that if he wanted me to just up and quit. I may get confused and discouraged sometimes,
but quitting is not an option (amen?)
All my life,
I’ve wrestled with self-confidence, even though I’ve frequently had the
encouragement “You’re a child of God!
Hang in there!” I’ve always
appreciated that encouragement, but I’ve always wondered why Father might use
the likes of me. We did a blog entry,
3/18/2017, based on a song by Elvis Presley, ‘The Wonder of You’. Father has shown me that even secular songs
can have significant spiritual implications, such as this one. And yes, sometimes, I still wonder why He
plans on using the likes of me, in spite of all my faults. Especially as I am in a growth period and it
seems like I ‘mess up’ more than I advance.
Got more growin’ to do before He can turn me loose and even though I see
some of ‘what’ He has in store, I still don’t fully understand ‘how’ I’m going
to get there. The more He shows me, the
more it seems I need to grow in order to be effective. Yet, the more, then, I realize, He is growing
me.
Yes, I’ve
been discouraged in recent years, even after Father gave me (What He called)
the ‘Watchman prophecy’ (9/2014). Things
didn’t look like they were headed in the direction that I thought they should,
leading me to wonder if I had even actually heard from Father. That may not have been complacency, but it
was leading me into it, quickly. I
wasn’t getting confirmation from the sources I thought I should and I was
getting ready to shut down. That would have been complacency
because even though I wouldn’t have walked away from my Lord, I would have
stopped pursuing that to which I ‘knew’ He had called me. An “Oh, well” attitude. Know what I mean?
We get
comfortable in our walk with the Lord, or maybe even discouraged, at whatever
level that may be. In the 9/16/2016
entry into the blog (Herod’s Temple, Our
Walk with the Lord), I talked about how we enter into God’s kingdom (His
church in this world), we enter into the “Women’s Courtyard”. New Christians, not knowing much but ready
and willing to learn about our relationship with our Creator (hopefully) and
ready to move forward. I say ‘hopefully’
under my breath because for many souls, once they’ve confessed Jesus and been
baptized with water, they think they’ve arrived. That’s all they need to receive and/or
do. They settle in and attend church (at
least for a while), becoming content with their current status. But, there is no desire to move forward with
life. Unfortunately, in this state,
people become bored, disenchanted, even doubtful (of their own faith).
Now
understand, Paul was ‘content’ with whatever stage of life he was in (Phil.
4:11-13). He accepted his current
conditions and didn’t complain. BUT,
that didn’t mean he never tried to change those current conditions. Or should I say he was always hungry for more
of Jesus (Phil. 1:21-23). Paul did not
live, stay, in that condition. Staying
is saying “this is what life has dealt me, oh well.” Or “I’ve got all that I need, I’m a happy
camper from now on!” Paul was always
looking and striving for a better relationship with Jesus.
Back to
Herod’s temple. Too many Christians, as
I said, think that once saved, they have arrived. There’s nothing more for them to do but to
sit back and enjoy. The five foolish
virgins became complacent (Matt. 25:1-13) and letting their ‘oil’ run out, they
missed out on being with the ‘Bridegroom’ (making that plainer – ‘salvation’). Letting their oil run out meant that they
were not doing what was necessary to keep their relationship (with God) alive
and well. Not continuing to pursue that
relationship, they slacked off from moving forward and became complacent. Not JUST content with their current
situation, they became comfortable (and lazy) right where they were at – and it
cost them, dearly (eternal life). They
knew where the bridegroom lived and when they came knockin’ on His door, Jesus
said “I don’t know you.” For them, the
door was NOT opened!
Paul was
content with any situation he found himself, but his eyes were always focused
on a closer walk with the Lord. The five
foolish virgins were not only content with their current situation, but cared
less about taking care of the relationship they had. Had they cared, they would have bought oil
long before it ran out. But take note
that in that passage, they hadn’t even realized that their lamps had gone out
until the call came that the bridegroom was coming. We don’t know the ‘hour’ of our departure
from this world (Mat. 24:36), whether by trump (1 Thess. 4:16-18) or by
‘natural death.
Complacency
results in death because in its midst, we don’t cultivate our relationship with
the Father through Jesus Christ. And we
have no real excuse because Father and Son give us the Holy Ghost to help us. He resides in us (John 16:13), guiding and
directing us. All we have to do is hear His
voice and yield ourselves to the Father (Luke 11:28).
God is
calling us to “always” be prepared, ready (Matt. 24:42) because we don’t know
when the Lord will require our eternal presence.
Complacency
is falling into a ‘comfort zone’ where we have convinced ourselves that we are
“OK” and need nothing more. The Lord
tells us to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:33). Seeking God’s kingdom, His relationship with
us, is not a “one time” event. It
becomes like a past progressive continuum, once done, its impact is
ongoing. Like the blood of Jesus on the
cross. Jesus shed His blood on the cross
once to cleanse us from our sins but
the impact of that act is ongoing. If it
were a one-time event, only those who witnessed the crucifixion and physically
walked with Jesus could be ‘saved’, but the impact of His shed blood has
reached all the way to today and will continue on until He calls us home so
that anyone and everyone who believes on the name of Jesus can enter in to His
kingdom (Romans 10:9). So, our
relationship with the Father, through Jesus Christ our lord and by the power of
the Holy Ghost He has given to and dwells within us, is an ongoing
situation. Not a once done deal, thank
you very much, but an ongoing relationship which grows forever. I say forever because I suspect that even
though we may have ‘arrived’ when we’re with Jesus in eternity, there is still
more growing experience. Do you really
think that just standing before Jesus for a moment, all of our lifelong
questions will be answered? I suspect
that may take a day or five (LOL).
We also have
to remember that Jesus tells us “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John
14:15). Again, this is an ongoing
activity. And Jesus reminds us that He
is one with the Father and He desires us to be one with Him and the Father
(John 17:21). Again this is not just a
one-time event but an ongoing reality.
We overcome complacency by living for Jesus, by the power of the Holy
Ghost within us, day by day, drawing closer and closer in our relationship with
Him. And as I said, I don’t think it
will stop with this life.
How does the song go? Just
a closer walk with Thee
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea
Daily walking close to Thee
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be
Let’s not
fall into complacency, but be overcomers through the blood of Jesus (Rev.
12:11), growing closer to our Lord, day by day!