Overcoming Spiritual Complacency (sermon)

Overcoming Spiritual Complacency Sometimes Christians fall into a rut. They seem to be going through the motions of being a Christian without genuine feeling. I admit thatI’ve caught myself in that situation before. In suchtimes, we are not really excited about God, but we are not rejecting Him either. We are very comfortable being in-between, not wholly with the world but not totally in love with God either. Today, I want to preach about overcoming spiritual complacency. This may not be your problem right now, but sometime in your Christian life, it probably will be. All of us have a tendency to slip into a lukewarm spiritual state. Instead of being the thermostat, we are the thermometer. When everything is going well and we don’t need anything, it’s very tempting to just take it easy and let the days go by. In Revelations 3, Jesus wrote a letter to the church in Laodicea, which was in the middle of Turkey. He told them they were spiritually complacent: Revelation 3:14-22 14 "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." What does lukewarm mean? Indifferent and undecided. You haven’t resolved to do something. You are not passionately invested in a cause. There is nothing to motivate you to exert yourself. How can you tell when you are lukewarm spiritually? 1. When we are lukewarm spiritually, the progress of God’s work is not important tous. We aren’t too concerned about our own salvation or the salvation of other people. 2. Outwardly, we seem to be doing quite well. We are happy and satisfied, and we are committed to our routine of Christian ministry. We dislike anything that “rocks the boat.” We like the way things are—comfortable and within our control. But God says, “How pitiful! You don’t realize your true situation. You have no spiritual strength to withstand trials, nothing credited to your name in heaven, nothing that brings true beauty or glory—and you don’t even realize your horrible state! You think you are doing well, but in fact you are in tremendous danger!” Does this describe you today, or can you imagine yourself like this? I can imagine myself like that because I am like that many times. In fact, it is very likely that every Christian will face at least the threat of becoming indifferent. However, the good news is that God loves us dearly and will always be ready to embrace us when we wake up from our spiritual slumber. Let’s look over the scripture again to see what God has to say …

Can I hear an “Amen?!”

“14To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation.” In verse 14, Jesus tells us why He is able to pronounce judgment. He is the Amen, which means “Let it be so.” When God says something, it is so. Just as God created the universe at a word, so He is able to tell us the true state of our hearts.

No such thing as a complacent Christian “15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” In verses 15 and 16, Jesus tells the Laodiceans their actions indicate their spiritual complacency. When people are truly moved by something, they take action. If a man loves his family, he will work hard to support them. If a man has ambition for power, he will be ruthless in putting himself ahead of others. If a soldier is defending his homeland, he will fight courageously. If a daughter is trapped in a burning building, the mother will do everything she can to save her. If the Seahawks want to make it to the Super Bowl, they have to play their best this afternoon. Jesus said the Laodiceans’ actions showed they weren’t really interested in having a relationship with God. In their hearts, they were undecided concerning God. They were not rejecting God, but they were not committing their hearts to Him either. Because of this, they were in danger of losing their salvation. It is not enough to be aware of God and acknowledge Him mentally. Real Christianity is not just an idea or set of moral principles to abide by. It is an intimate relationshipwith Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Many people have a misunderstanding about what means to be a Christian. Being a Christian is not something you can be complacent about. A complacent Christian is an oxymoron. Was Jesus complacent? Was He indifferent to our fate? No! He loved us so much that He paid for our sin with His own life. How then can we be lukewarm in our relationship with God? How can our hearts be undecided?

Open your eyes “17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” In verse 17, Jesus explains the Laodiceans’ situation in more detail. The main reason the Laodiceans were lukewarm was because they were spiritually blind. They were headed for disaster because they looked at things from a worldly viewpoint. Many people have made this mistake. Even Peter made this same mistake: Matthew 16:21-26 21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"

23Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." 24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life[h] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Peter did not “have in mind the things of God.” Instead of recognizing the value of Jesus’ crucifixion as God did, Peter saw things only froma worldly viewpoint. He had good intentions, but he was totally wrong. Likewise, I believe the Laodiceanshad convinced themselves that they knew what was best, when actually they did not “have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” Whenever people start ignoring what God says and do things their own way, disaster happens. We may think we are saving ourselves, but we are actually putting ourselves in danger. We need to ask God to open our eyes to see things the way He does. We need to realize when we are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Imagine what your lifewould be like if we were like Jesus, who lived to do only the will of God. I think our lives would be far more dynamic, challenging, and rewarding. This is type of powerful life is the antithesis of lukewarm Christianity.

An offer you can’t refuse “18I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” God told the Laodiceans to seek real success, which is something we are not able to see from a worldly viewpoint. 1. For God, refined gold is a working, active faith. 2. White clothes is a pure and holy life. 3. Salve for our eyes is wisdom from the Holy Spirit, which allows us to understand spiritual truths. God really had the Laodiceans’ best interests in mind. He wanted them to be truly prosperous and successful. More importantly, He wanted to save them from the danger of spiritual complacency. God alwayscares for you and loves you. He is never out to play you short. God wants to give you the absolute best. And the best part? It’s for free! Even hundreds of years before the Laodiceans, God made the same offer in the book of Isaiah: Isaiah 55:1-2 1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Why would you choose the temporary and deceiving things of this world, which are here one day and gone the next, when God offers to give you the bread of life? “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” The gift of God is incomparable to anything you can keep here on earth. It’s an offer you can’t refuse.

Fire “19Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” I hope by now you have been disabused of any desire to be lukewarm. (Disabuse means to free from wrong belief.) It’s not just a matter of Christian ministry—I’mnot trying to make you more active in church. This is a matter of life and death. God loves you enough to warn and discipline you. You cannot be undecided concerning God. Make a decision today. The word translated “earnest” in the NIV, but the Greek word is ZELEUO, and is translated as “zealous” in the King James Version. God asked the Laodiceans to have zealous conviction—the kind of conviction we would expect from people who have an intimate relationship with the God, the Almighty Creator. However, being earnest in our relationship with God does not always mean we will feel superspiritual, or “on fire.” God is not asking you to feel an emotion; He is asking you to make a decision. Our earnestness or sincerity toward God should not be dependent on whether we feel good or not. In fact, I believe God allows us to go through difficult times so that we are more dependent on Him. During the times when we feel spiritually hungry or we are undergoing hardship—these are the times when we are more likely to seek God earnestly. A real Christian is one who is earnest in their relationship with God, not compromised in the smallest way. We are not to be complacent people with wishy-washy commitment. But wholehearted, zealous commitment is exactly what lukewarm Christians do not want! Even now, some of you may be thinking, “This is too much.” But God’s telling you, “Be zealous, and turn to Me.” This is one reason why I think the church needs the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It jolts people, and forces them to make a decision. Either you become “hot” or “cold,” but you can’t stay lukewarm. When the Spirit of God manifests Himself in the congregation, there is a natural, carnal desire to shrink away. This is the same natural, carnal desire that enjoys being lukewarm in your everyday life. Therefore, I appreciate the free ministry of the Holy Spirit in the church because it challenges people to make that life-saving decision to say “no” to their carnal desire and say “yes” to God. If we allow our natural, carnal desires to dictate our relationship with God in the church service, how much more would we be yielding to natural desires in our everyday lives?

An invitation “20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Jesus asked the Laodiceansto make a firm decision not to be lukewarm. He is not satisfied with knowing you on a superficial level, but wants to become intimate with you. He doesn’t want your relationship to be lukewarm, because the nature of the relationship does not allow for that. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” God is telling you the way it is. Don’t deceive yourself. He loves you and wants to give you true life.