CHAPTER 37: COMPLACENCY 2026
Complacency, easy button, I just don’t write this chapter today. I’ll use last year’s version, I mean who cares really? The world won’t change, my day will stay the same, I got other stuff I need to do. No biggie.” That is a lie, it is incorrect, disobedient and stupid. The question is, what mechanism gets a person to the point that today’s chores don’t matter? It didn’t just happen this morning, it’s been coming for some time. Yes, for some time, short cuts, self importance, deleting inconvenient responsibilities, and finally ignoring the opportunity to grow, learn and be responsible. To fight against complacency and become better. Whatever gets me to complacency, is my enemy. How much time do I have left, how many seconds, really? What will I do with it, what will you do with it, if you knew, if you really knew.
Psalm 39:4 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
How does something that is absolutely necessary become “not so necessary?” I don’t have any examples of complacency paying off, quite the opposite. This is not a new problem, it’s been around for thousands of years, destroying lives and whole countries.
Zephaniah 1:12 “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.’
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.”
Complacency is an example of giving up. Trying hard enough to know I need to try, but giving up when the results don’t seem to pan out to my expectations. As Gurnell has stated, “disguised as that of a lying spirit, to abuse your tender heart with the worst news he can deliver.”
And perhaps there it begins. Complacency. “Why bother trying, nothing better will happen anyway.” 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.”
Complacency saps energy, dulls attitudes, and causes a drain on the brain. The first symptom is satisfaction with things as they are. The second is rejection of things as they might be. “Good enough” becomes today’s watchword and tomorrow’s standard. Complacency makes people fear the unknown, mistrust the untried, and abhor the new. Like water, complacent people follow the easiest course — downhill. They draw false strength from looking back. It invades areas once occupied by our passion, interest, desire, and focus. When complacent, the valued things that had captivated our thoughts, hearts and energies tend to fade from priority — even mundane or boring. Burnout in our work life, loss of fire in relationships, lack of zeal for things we once held important are common experiences in complacency. The shame is not in complacency but in the failure to recognize it and take corrective measures to regain our footing.
Proverbs 1:31-33 they will eat the fruit of their way and be glutted with their own schemes. For the turning away of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them. But whoever listens to me will live securely and be free from the fear of danger.”
Consistency in the Lord is important, even vital. Without it, I lose track of myself and the world at large. My witness becomes weak.
Romans 7:19-20 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.
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? Mediocre is the mother of failure in everything, period. All or nothing you might ask? Yes, all or nothing.
Revelation 3:16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither [a]cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Luke 16:9-11 “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, giving away responsibilities a little at a time, all in the name of good, when in truth the actions taken are not good.
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.
Stagnant is another word for complacent? Well, yes. We all know that treading water is temporary until you get out of the water or drown from physical exhaustion. Don’t need to learn anything new, don’t need to listen to anybody new, don’t need to change anything. I’m comfortable until I drown.
Spiritual Blindness: 2 Peter 1:8-9 links lacking spiritual growth to being “nearsighted and blind” and ineffective in knowing Christ.
Unproductive Faith: A stagnant faith doesn’t bear fruit, risking being cut off from the vine (Christ).
The Bible addresses spiritual stagnation as a serious condition, warning against complacency, spiritual inactivity, and living as if God is irrelevant, His people are irrelevant, His church, your life. Stop, before it is too late. Grow in grace, seek renewal, and use God-given talents to achieve Kingdom work, ministry, Glory to God, the great commission given to us by Jesus to spread the actual Word of God.
Loss of First Love: Revelation 2:4-5 calls the church in Ephesus to remember its first love and repent from losing passion for Christ.
This complacency problem is with believers and non-believers alike! A believer, in complacency, is 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 will infect whole lives, even generations. Take heart! There is correctness standing by to be deployed, to help a traveler get with it, throw away nonsense and in prayer unleash the power of the Holy Spirit.
Ezra 10:4 Arise, for it is your task, and we are with you; be strong and do it.”
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.”
Complacency is like being drunk. Under the influence of spirits that blocks the way to prayer, reading, working, anything good really. What do I do?
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 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 context. How dangerous is this thing, Complacency is, in a basic day to day failure found in the following list. Failure to fix the brakes on your car, take vitamins everyday, eat good food, pay payroll tax, income tax, sales tax, lock your car doors, your house, failure to tend to relationships, failure to acknowledge The Holy God Almighty is a big one. And the one that causes the most effortless catastrophic failure? Busy, busy, busy — in one area, an area that one prefers rather than the inconvenient things that need to be done. Work hard in one or two areas, and it looks good, feels good, but in other areas one stays complacent to the end of all that has been accomplished, all that God has given. Being busy over here, excusing oneself from what should be done “over there.”
The appearance of movement while going nowhere or worse backwards at an alarming rate.
Chapter 37 – Complacency 2026 – Dumb, numb or stupid, it’s a choice. However, keep this in mind.
Luke 12:47-49 And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.
All of us know better than to accept complacency, all of us know better than to accept stupid, all of us know better than to pretend importance in the face of ignorance. All of us have been given possibly a last chance with our current opportunities. All of us have a set of instruction given by the Holy Spirit. Will I take them all? Will I take a few? Will I just bury my head in the sand. Not a good idea to be a ten talent guy and act like a five talent guy or a no talent guy, or just an entitled guy. As they say, God will find a job for those who look, but they do need to get up off of their butt and look.
Amen.
