August, 2026 – Faithful Living® ~
The treachery of complacency
From the biblical perspective, complacency is described as a self-satisfied or indifferent state of mind. Examples, people become lazy, prideful, or way too comfortable in their spiritual walk. They cease growing closer to God and push aside His active role in the affairs of the world. Additionally, they will unabashedly ignore any thought of approaching moral or spiritual disaster. They might exclaim, “I don’t know about you, but I’m good.”
Have you ever adopted an easy satisfaction with your life and have purposefully set aside any effort to obey God or make positive strides by growing in your faith? If you have, by default, you have become a member of the Complacent Christian Society. Lackadaisical attitudes in this regard are treacherous to be sure.
Spiritual lethargy and apathy grieve God’s heart. By assuming this passive mindset, we literally push God to the outer rim of our daily life. Becoming flabby and not firm in our faith is extremely dangerous. Have you ever told God, “I don’t need you any longer, I’ve got this!”
The Bible provides warnings directed toward those who are comfortable in complacency. However, to be certain, one of the tenants of membership in the CCS, is the self-awareness and arrogance that God will withhold punishment for adopting prideful thinking and inaction.
Proverbs 1:32 ESV “For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them.”
Amos 6:1 ESV “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes!” Here, the Prophet Amos denounces those of Israel who ignore the state of their impenitent hearts including the blatant disregard of the affairs in their community. Does any of this sound familiar today?
One of the most strident examples of complacency is found in the book of Revelation. The following warning is recorded in chapter 3, verses 15-17 ESV “I know your works: you are neither cold or hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot or cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ “Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”
The words of the Risen Christ given to the Apostle John on the Island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, where he was exiled for the remainder of his life, does not mince words. I believe some translations have replaced the word ‘spit’ with vomit…more like projectile vomiting. The members of the church of Laodicea that remain on the fence by their idleness, will be forcefully rejected by a just and wrathful God. Not pleasant! It is also written, that our Lord will take no pleasure in the destruction of these CINO’s (Christians In Name Only).
The church in Laodicea will be rebuked for being “lukewarm.” They truly believe that they are rich and strongly refuse the source of God’s provision…while being totally unaware of their abject spiritual poverty. Does your faith community right now resemble the Laodicean church, memorialized in the final book in the Bible?
The word treachery in the Bible, means a profound, calculated betrayal of trust resulting in a total abandonment of loyalty. It describes acting deceitfully or unfaithfully toward someone who relies on you, whether that relationship is between friends, family members, a nation and its leaders, or humanity itself.
Has anyone betrayed your trust or confidence? Did a supposed friend post something harmful and untrue pointed at you on social media? Have you ever been the brunt of hurtful, baseless gossip, or have fallen victim to slanderous or libelous defamation? Let’s take it up to the highest level: How do you think God has felt for millennia when His Name, His works and His followers have been cursed, rejected, debased and even killed? Does the word ‘traitor,’ ring a bell?
There are countless people around the world who believe that the accumulation of their wealth was a direct result of their effort and hard work. They have become ‘fat and sleek’ and have forgotten and rejected that their God was the One who granted them the ability to gain any of the wealth they enjoy.
Deuteronomy 8:18 ESV “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is to this day.”
What do you think the final judgement will be toward those who blatantly break their covenantal relationship with God; those who with bold face are proudly exultant and have defied the offer of true peace, contentment and acceptance? Those, whose focus in this life, has been bound up in the accumulation of riches; those who and have purposefully turned their back on the ‘least of these’ that Christ describes in Matthew 25:40… Will they not ultimately stumble and fall? Will they not be devoured by the vengeance and wrath of a just and holy God on that day?
To my fellow Christ followers: Let us daily strive to pursue that which is imperishable and focus our attention and resources toward those honorable things that will last for eternity’s sake.