“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will He do ill.’ Their goods shall be plundered, and their houses laid waste. Though they build houses, they shall not inhabit them; though they plant vineyards, they shall not drink wine from them.” Zeph. 1:12,13
Devotional Thought For The Day
When it comes to spiritual matters and our life within the church, we tend not to consider complacency to be a very evil thing, but rather a kind of balanced, mature, enlightened, and comfortable thing. The continuum we like to use has antipathy and opposition and hatred of God on one end, and religious zealotry on the other end. Complacency, mild approval and moderate participation seems to be the middle road. We certainly are not among the wicked who hate and oppose Christ and His mission in the world. At the same time, we feel that there is almost nothing worse than a rabid religious zealot, including Jesus freaks. We know how the world around us views such eager and committed Christians and do not want to be lumped into that fanatical category and judged the same. However, if we are talking about the context of the church, the actual continuum is quite different. Those who are negative toward Christianity are on their own continuum and not that of the church. Within the church the continuum consists of zeal and fervor for Christ on the one end and complacency or “lukewarmness” on the other. Hence the warning to the church at Laodicea in regard to being neither hot nor cold, but “lukewarm.” [Rev. 3:15,16]
It is not the actual behavior that is horribly problematic, but rather the “faith” or beliefs that underlie such ambivalence. These beliefs, or assumptions, are clearly stated in this prophetic condemnation – “they say in their hearts ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will He do ill.'” That is, they believe that God doesn’t really care all that much about matters of evil and good, that He doesn’t really love that fervently, and that He has no real interest in rewarding and blessing those who are similarly fervent for love and good nor the stomach for punishing those who are engaging in evil, including those involved in the evil of being complacent in the face of evil and lazy when it comes to doing good. This involves false teaching, misrepresenting God, denying Who He really is, and encouraging others to join in this “false good” of being moderate and complacent when it comes to matters of good and evil. So it discourages genuine repentance and minimizes Christ’s sacrifice and God’s gracious forgiveness and mercy, and ultimately destroys faith. It is a form of unbelief! So it incurs the judgment of God and threat of His dire punishment. Lord, have mercy!
The danger of this is evident all around us. Those who are complacent in their life within the church frequently end up dropping out of the church altogether. It is exactly as Jesus observed and warned: “What was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” [Matt. 13:22] If we are complacent toward the Word of God, toward God, and toward issues of good and evil, we will soon find that our devotion to other things chokes out all commitment to God, and we become unfruitful – a term that denotes spiritual death, as Jesus warns: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” [Matt. 7:19] And how many people do you know who were at one time moderately and comfortably part of the life of the church who now have little or absolutely no relationship with the church? My list is quite lengthy – and virtually all of these people are quite happy and pleased with themselves and their lives, and have no fear whatsoever for their eternal welfare. They are unaware and unbelieving of the threat of punishment that is poised over them. In fact, if and when you warn them, they view you as the damnable one, the fanatical zealot who is trying to disturb their peace. Lord, have mercy!
It is the very nature of God’s love, and the faith which grasps it and rejoices in it, that such believers cannot remain complacent and lukewarm, but are rather growing in love, fervor, zeal, and ardor for God and for the ways of God. It is like a normal child – if it is alive it is growing. If it stops growing, something is dreadfully wrong. It is no different in our life of faith; if we are truly alive we are moving along the continuum toward greater zeal and fervor for Christ, and increasing in the good fruit God produces in us, but if we are dying we are moving along the continuum toward complacency, and our fruit is decreasing until there is none left at all. In that these dynamics, our desire for moderation and complacency, are part and parcel of our fallen sinful nature, all have need to repent and confess this sin to our Father. When we do, He will assure us of His gracious love and forgiveness, which will move us along the continuum to greater love for Him. This increases our zeal and fervor, and moves us away from complacency. It is this life of repentance and faith which powers greater love for God, and this is the life of the church – preaching the Word that carries this power, and managing the fruits which it produces. God grant that we be active and alive participants in this new life which He produces in us, and that we never take up permanent residence among the complacent.
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, spiritual sloth and laziness which leads to complacency, moderation in good, and weak resignation to evil, is a powerful dynamic of our sinful nature. Likewise, our sinful nature always disguises, hides, explains, and justifies its evils. Cause Your Word to destroy this deadly dynamic within us that destroys spiritual life and productivity. Forbid that we come to reject all such admonition and cement ourselves in spiritual death. Grant repentance to us whenever we drift toward complacency and keep us in new life and salvation. Amen.