CHAPTER 37: COMPLACENCY 2024
Complacency is a problem. Scripture talks about it, certainly not in a good light. Up front none of us would ever admit to being complacent. We might say, “I need to get back to the gym, or the diet,” or mid-week bible study or the “something.” Is that complacent or is it just lazy, or are they the same thing? Complacent, for me, is not lazy, it’s actually a verb for me, a decision to do a “non-action/action,” an option chosen if you will. In the context of 37 I think something is okay not to do. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Does that mean if the car is running right, why change the oil and filter as directed by the manufacturer? You can see, there could be problems. In complacency, priorities generally have to do with what I’m forced to do. If I don’t want to pay taxes, I can just not pay taxes, “I’ll catch up later”, as the saying goes, until it does with penalties and interest. If I want a successful business, or a healthy body — am I willing to commit or just wait until none of my clothes fit and then “better tailoring” could be an option rather than correct physical habits. Perceptions, perspectives, opinions, and a whole lot of complacency. Sometimes, complacency even comes with a little extra twist. It might sound like this; “I deserve…, bla, bla,” complete the sentence with something dumb. I might even relabel it “rest, enjoy life, you only live once, everybody does it, who says it ain’t right, I don’t agree with the rules.” (that’s the most dangerous). At the end of the day, complacency yields nothing good. “If the enemy can’t make you sin, he’ll stagnate you..” Is stagnant a sin?
Zephaniah 1:12 Amplified Bible
“It will come about at that time
That I will search Jerusalem with lamps
And I will punish the men
Who [like old wine] are stagnant in spirit,
Who say in their hearts,
‘The Lord will not do good, nor will He do evil.’
Kind of looks like stagnant is not a good thing in the amplified bible, in New King James, complacency is in the place of stagnant. It would appear that complacency and stagnant are the same. What is this thing, complacency, where does it come from? It doesn’t come from God, that’s for sure. That leaves a no brainer as to where it does come from. William Gurnall is known by his book, Christian in Complete Armour, published in three volumes, dated 1655, 1658 and 1662. It is a writing for the Christian spiritual battle. I quote Gurnell:
“The devil has more temptations than an actor has costumes for the stage. And one of his all-time favorite disguises is that of a lying spirit, to abuse your tender heart with the worst news he can deliver-that you do not really love Jesus Christ and that you are only pretending, you are only deceiving yourself.”
That temptation would inspire Complacency, why do anything now that I’ve been presented with that lie. Billy Graham in his film, “an extraordinary journey”, spoke clearly on the topic.
“Don’t think of Satan as a harmless cartoon character with a red suit and a pitchfork. He is very clever and powerful, and his unchanging purpose is to defeat God’s plans at every turn – including His plans for your life.”
What do I do to stop complacency in me? First, I see the signs. If I don’t pay attention to my business, I start losing ground. If I don’t pay attention to my health, I get sick. If I don’t pay attention to my taxes, I eventually get popped and surely at an inconvenient time. If I don’t pay attention to common sense, I’ll get stupid and stupid is very, very expensive. As soon as I see any area where I have been remiss, it’s best to act quickly and shore it up. However in complacency, I don’t feel like it, so I probably won’t. Why? Complacency always has a good excuse, or reason for being dumb. Sometimes a very twisted phrase could sneak up in my head. “Maybe it was meant to be this way.” Dumb.
Twisting up your head that wrong is right can’t be good. God gives us scripture to move forward, not backwards, to grow not destroy, to complete – not to leave undone.
Revelation 3:7-8 New International Version 7 “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.
In 37 the devil seeks to destroy all of it by utilizing Complacency: ceasing to care, stagnant, willfully irresponsible, completely dead and yet still conscious.
Proverbs 21 New International Version
The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.
The more I try to behave the more options to misbehave present themselves. I get very busy with everything except what I should be doing. Unfortunately, when complacency wins .. “What could have been, may never be.” My born-again opportunities set-aside to instead focus on useless matters.
Romans 7:19-20 New International Version
19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Great, so what do I do, when I’m doing what I know I shouldn’t do, or I’m not doing what I know I should? It’s an age old problem, been happening for a long time. It’s called temptation. Solution?
Matthew 4:10-11 New King James Version
10 Then Jesus said to him, [a]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Albert Einstein said, “The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” Becoming cozy with complacency and compromise is one of the mindsets and attitudes that we must resist and overcome.”
Complacent has never been accused of creating anything beautiful. The result? Failure in everything, period. All or nothing you might ask? Yes, all or nothing. What does God think about that?
Revelation 3:16 New King James Version
16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither [a]cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Luke 16:9-11
New International Version
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
Complacency is a process. I don’t wake up with it one day. It requires commitment. Like an idiot, I work at, cultivate it, pathetically giving away my responsibilities a little at a time, all in the name of good of whatever ridiculousness I’ve come up with.
Movies and television recently depict Lucifer as a hero. Don’t be fooled. Lucifer, “Satan” is a very evil thing, not to be confused with anything other than catastrophic horror who comes to kill, steal and destroy. It starts with complacency.
Matthew 7:26
Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
This complacency problem is with believers and non-believers alike. As a believer, in complacency, I’m as guilty as any atheist, antagonist, altruist, agnostic, goofball, martian, whacko, republican gone bad, democrat gone bad, independent gone bad, you name it, all of us susceptible to this awful thing in 37. It’s not a virus, but it can infect your whole life. And as a believer I can incorrectly verify this thing as “waiting on God” and even in a disastrous head space, testify that I’ve prayed about it. What if the scripture doesn’t work for me all the time? Answer, it does work. Quit acting like it didn’t, quit acting like God supports you in your “extremely wrong option.” There is correctness standing by for you to deploy, get with it, get on it, throw away this nonsense.
Ezra 10:4 English Standard Version (ESV) 4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.”
So I should just do what I don’t want to do? What happens if I do what I want to do in complacency?
Proverbs 1:31-33 New International Version
they will eat the fruit of their way and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
Winston Churchill once said: “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”
Listen, learn and then get up and do. Having said that, can you get up? Generally, that’s the problem. Like being drunk. Under the influence of alcohol, one thinks they can drink. That leads to debauchery. Same thing here. Under the influence of Complacency, one thinks — all kinds of stupid.
So what do I do in the face of complacency? How do I interrupt this terrible task master. How do I overcome when it happens or when I think it’s happening? Could I pray? Yes. Read the book? Okay, good. Does it work? Not all the time. Why? Complacency blocks the way to prayer, reading, working, anything good really. What do I do?
Give me an answer, Patrick! What have you done? Did it work? Yes, I have learned from this awful chapter. And when smitten with it, the challenge is huge. This is what I have for you. It’ll be a bit challenging to embrace, but try I must.
I, Patrick, have to want, more than anything in the world, to give to God what is His and if I belong to Him, I want to give Him the very best me that is humanly possible. I gotta want me, as he made me, more than I want complacency. I gotta want God more than complacency. I gotta force myself to want what God wants for me more than complacency. I can only do all of that or any of that with Him standing by me. However, that means I gotta get out of my “dead head” and get up — stand up by Him. My only insurance, as stated in 36, I better know the God in the Bible because that’s the only one that can help. God the Father, the Son and risen King, Holy Spirit, as written in New King James, here on my desk. There is no room here for an imposter, a false representative, an incomplete concept, a borrowed, one dimensional nothing belonging to whisper I heard, or something I’ve seen in the media.
Definitely not one I made up, or one I sold short, or one somebody else gave me. For the promises to work it has to be the God in the Bible, who actually made the promise to save me and you. That God, the One True God, promised to keep me, for all eternity. There is no room for Complacency in that relationship.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 New International Version
5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Fight it, revolution/evolution, revolt against yourself and evolve. Make the choice. Remember how dangerous this thing is; let’s put it in day to day context. Be complacent about fixing the brakes on your car, not good. Be complacent about taking vitamins everyday and eating good food, not good. Be complacent about paying payroll tax, income tax, sales tax — not good. Be complacent about locking your car, or your house, not good. Be complacent about your good relationships, or the life you have been given, not good. Be complacent about the Holy God Almighty. Stupid.
“In His Holy Name we pray, Lord send strong angels to light the path and keep us safe and strong. In Jesus name we humbly request to continue what the Lord Jesus has begun, a new creation in Christ. Chapter 37 – Complacency 2024
John 8:36 New King James “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” “So be it” — Amen.
