Complacency

What Is It?

Complacency, or indifference, is a real problem in today's religious world. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines "complacency" as:

1. complacence: esp: self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies 2. an instance of complacency. (p. 268).

Am I Complacent?

Complacency or indifference is not always recognized by those who are engaged in it. We have built a wall around our feelings and have learned to be content with what we are and where we are. If we are in the right place and engaged in doing the right thing, contentment is not wrong, but if we have settled for something less than what God requires and find ourselves content, we have indeed become complacent.

Don't Be Complacent About Sin

A. The First Psalm Warns... Psalm One declares that the truly happy (Blessed) man is one who "walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful" (Psalm 1:1).

1. We are to remove ourselves from "ungodly counsel" (that counsel or advice which does not reverence or revere God), and to replace it with God's counsel (His law).
2. We are not to be counted among the sinners. Yes, we may live in the midst of such (see I Corinthians 5:9-10), and like Jesus, we may try to influence them for good (Luke 15:1-32); but we are not to be counted among them by our deeds (cf. I Corinthians 9:21).
3. We ought not to be found "sitting in the seat of the scornful". When there is so much criticism and put-down associated with faith in God, it may be easy to grow complacent about this. No Christian would want to intentionally join in with the applause of those who ridicule God, His Son, or His Will, yet by long exposure we can be conditioned to put up with a lot of adverse statements, and may even allow such to be part of our normal fare through T.V.; music, or movies. The Psalmist warns that happiness is not found there.

B. Ephesians 5 Reminds and Admonishes... Paul wrote: "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (5:15-16). Any time spent in opposition to God is too much time given to that pursuit. Paul appeals to the Christian to "walk circumspectly" (looking around, being cautious, "careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences" [Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 242]). In simple words, "don't be complacent about what you do, where you go, or what you say". He calls upon us to redeem the time, use it to accomplish the greatest good, value it, appreciate it. We had wasted enough of our time when we were "once darkness" (Ephesians 5:8). His instruction is forthright: "Walk as children of light" (5:8).

The inspired apostle adds: "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them" (Ephesians 5:11). Complacency does nothing about sinful action. Faithfulness to God demands that we confront sin and "expose" it, warning people of its end and offering God's remedy for it through Christ (Romans 6:23; 16-18; 3-4; Acts 2:22-42). One cannot think about Christ dying on the cross and be complacent about sin (Romans 8:3), can you?