Complacent Christianity in the Last Days of the Church
by Joel Krooswyk
Chapter Four
- How Do I Eliminate Complacency? -
By now, you may have identified many areas of complacency in your life. You may be asking how to break out of a complacent lifestyle. Hopefully, the previous chapters have opened your eyes somewhat. Complacency is by no means limited to the items I mentioned, although a typical complacent lifestyle will include most or all of the items I listed. At any rate, your first step needs to be acknowledgement, but there is a disclaimer first.
If you have any doubts at all about the superiority of God or about Jesus being the Son of God and the Savior of the world, you need to overcome this hurdle first. James tells us in chapter 1 verses 6-8:
"...he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double- minded man, unstable in all he does."
This verse states very clearly that no matter what we ask the Lord for, unless we believe and eliminate all doubts, we will not receive anything from the Lord. God knows your heart. He knows if you doubt Him, His promises, or your very own salvation. Surrender your life completely before God. That is the first step for any fully devoted Christian. Let nothing get in your way of believing in everything He has said and everything you read in His Word.
I once had a problem here. I believed everything in the Bible, and I believed in God, but I had doubts about Jesus being the Son of God. My small mind couldn't understand how God could be a triune God. I asked God for enlightenment and understanding so that I could eliminate this spot of doubt from my mind. The very next Sunday, in church, the pastor identified how if you doubt Jesus, your faith is worthless, as Jesus claimed to be God in the gospels many times. I had been doubting the Bible without realizing it, and I was questioning my Savior! First and foremost, have God cleanse your soul and believe wholly on Him!
Once you have identified complacent areas of your life, acknowledge your sin before God. Drop to your knees before a holy and almighty God, perhaps for the first time in your life, and confess your complacent living before Him. Spell it out, whether it be sins of commission (things you have done), sins of omission (things you should have done), or both. Tell God what you know you have done wrong, and ask Him to open your eyes further to any other sins of complacency in your life. The Psalmist in Psalm 139:1-2 said:
"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me, you know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar."
A couple verses later, in verse 4, we read:
"Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord."
God indeed knows all things, so why be anything less than completely honest with Him? Confess before God that you know you are not the man or woman God wants you to be. That is step one once you have eliminated all doubts - acknowledgement.
The second step is to make a conscious decision to work at being more devoted to God in everything. What you start God will finish, but first you must start it. Make a conscious decision to pray more often. Make the decision to spend more time in the Word, meditating on what you read throughout the day. Make a real decision to never again use the name of God in a way that doesn't honor Him. Set up your lifestyle so that you don't desecrate the Sabbath with work, shopping, and other mundane weekly activities (have you read Exodus 20 yet?).
The Sabbath observance is one thing that many Christians disagree on. A recent Federal Express advertisement said that they have now added Sunday delivery, because "the world works seven days." That's too bad! God only worked six. He explicitly told us to do the same. He did it for our own good. Stress abounds today, and stress-related disorders are becoming common. People are often too tired and worn out. We need that day off each week for a recharge, physically and spiritually!
Let me put it another way. This commandment says that we are not to work, nor anyone else in our household. If we are out shopping or otherwise changing money on the Sabbath, doesn't it require someone else to be working for us to be able to do that? We can't buy something unless the cashier is there to take our money. We may pride ourselves in not working on Sunday, but we don't worry about other people doing it for us. This is not in keeping with God's commandment regarding the Sabbath!
Once you make these decisions, be sure to ask God's help every day. You cannot do it alone. By nature, you are sinful. You do not have the power to overcome that sin without the Father. You do not have the will to do all those things alone. You will lapse back into your old lifestyle of complacency rapidly unless you rely on the Lord for your strength and renewal. The process of becoming a fully devoted follower of Christ is not an overnight process, but it is a process of time and intense dedication.
I encourage you to read the New Testament book of James. Although it is a short book, it has so many items extremely relevant to the topic of complacent living. James tells us over and over that we cannot be in Christ if we doubt, if we disobey God's commands, or if we don't give God complete control. He talks about how faith without works is dead, and that could be considered another definition of complacency - faith without works. I've made several references to the book of James throughout this book, simply because it is so applicable to this topic.
The Bible tells us that once we are in Him, if we even look back to our sinful lifestyle, we are not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. Luke 9:62 says:
"...No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
This is a scary thought! Thank God for the saving blood of Jesus Christ. When you make a decision to abandon your complacent lifestyle and go all out for God, make sure that you take that step whole-heartedly. God has warned us that if we take the step half-heartedly, we are not fit for His kingdom.
Make the decision for God in true repentance and desire and you will see God begin to work in you. You will catch fire spiritually, but you won't lapse and fall back into a "cold" Christian. That is when you know that you've definitely made the right decision. You will know that you have become a fully devoted follower of God through Jesus Christ.
Christians who never catch fire for the Lord don't exist, because they aren't true Christians. Once you become a true believer, you will catch fire, but your fire will never go out. Your deeds will reflect your faith, and you will reach out to others with your faith. In Matthew 7, Jesus refers to Christians who never catch fire as "evildoers"! In verses 21-23, Jesus says that even though we may do good and even miraculous works, if we don't first abide by the perfect will of our Father in heaven, we will not be allowed to enter the kingdom of God!
Before you can get to this point though, you must first be able to identify your sin and realize your complacency. Without realization of that sin, you will seek change in vain.
The rewards of a Christian walk free of complacency are immeasurable. There is no guilt, since you are living as God requires, giving of your tithe and abiding by His Law and the 10 Commandments. There is increased joy and fulfillment in your life, since God is alive in you and reigning as King of your life.
You will begin to realize that all the work you have done and will do on this earth pales in comparison to that which God calls you to do. Working for God to increase His kingdom becomes a reward, not a chore. You may even find yourself wishing to do His work as you work at your daily job. This is common with those who are on fire for God!
Perhaps the greatest reward is that God speaks to you directly. Many people I hear say that God has never spoken to them. I can almost guarantee that they have never given God the chance. They have not dedicated their lives to God and asked for His absolute guidance over their lives. Earlier, we read that God will give us absolutely nothing unless we remove all doubt and then approach him in repentance and belief. Unfortunately, many of us aren't dedicated enough to God for Him to speak to us. We wonder why God doesn't speak to His followers anymore like He did in the Old Testament. Well, He does, but unless we are committed to Him in everything, we will not be able to open that direct channel of communication.
When God speaks to you directly, you no longer need to sense a "prompting" from God or wonder about a decision you present before the Lord. God will speak to you. Your mind will be perfectly clear on what God's will for your life is. I have personally experienced this. It was not a booming voice from the heavens or a blinding light, it was simply in a quiet moment where I allowed myself to be open to what God desired of me.
It is truly a humbling experience when you think that the Creator of the Universe took the time to speak directly to you! In fact, the reason I wrote this book is because the Lord told me to write about my experience where I "awakened" from my complacency. I pray that you will be able to experience the same thrilling life-awakening that I have, and that you will be able to allow God to open that channel of direct communication with you.
Go on to Chapter 5
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