Avoiding Spiritual Complacency

Spiritual warnings alert us to guard against spiritual complacency. They are like highway warning signs alerting us to unseen dangers before us. Spiritual warnings can also help us monitor the condition of our heart. Perhaps we are assuming all is well when it’s not. As disciples, we accept responsibility for our own spiritual health and well-being. Our faith is not expressed as passive acceptance of biblical truth, but as wholehearted love and obedience as we follow Jesus every moment of every day. Growing into spiritual maturity requires that we heed biblical warnings. Part C consists of four biblical warnings.

Warning #1: Do Not Forget

The Christian faith is rooted in history. Every time we open a Bible, we remember the past, particularly Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We believe those events are still shaping our future. This is a counter-cultural perspective in our increasingly post-Christian culture. 

Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we remember what Jesus did in the past, but we also celebrate his presence with us in the here and now. If we fail to remember, we will quickly become spiritually impoverished. 

²³ For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread ²⁴ and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” ²⁶ For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
1 Corinthians 11:23:26

Faithfulness is impossible without remembering, The Bible continually calls us to remember and so connect with our heritage. The Apostle Paul urged the disciples at Galatia to remember the gospel that Paul first preached to them. Their joy and gratitude had once known no bounds, but their memories of those experiences had apparently grown dim. 

¹⁵ Where is that joyful and grateful spirit you felt then? I am sure you would have taken out your own eyes and given them to me if it had been possible.
Galatians 4:15

If we forget the ways God has been faithful to us in the past as well as the ways God has been faithful to his people throughout history, we are essentially cutting off our own spiritual roots. A healthy faith requires that we draw encouragement from events in the past to live faithfully in the present and to strengthen an enduring hope for the future.

The Old Testament narrative speaks directly to our situation. Time and again believers built altars (or memorials) to God at places where God had revealed himself to them. Abraham built an altar to the LORD where God told him his descendants would inherit all the land he could see (Genesis 12:7). He built another altar at Hebron when God confirmed his promises to him (Genesis 13:18). Abraham’s son, Isaac, built an altar at Beersheba when God revealed himself to him there (Genesis 26:25). Under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites built a stone memorial at the location where they had miraculously crossed the flooded Jordan River to enter the land God had promised to Abraham (Joshua 4:1-11). He explained why in the following verses: 

⁶ “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ ⁷ Then you can tell them, they remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant went across. These stones will be a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”
Joshua 4:6-7

People need reminders. Our memories of God’s love and faithfulness need to be rekindled from time to time. Recognizing this need, the saints of old built stone altars and memorials. Those stones were reminders and spoke eloquently of God’s promises and their fulfillment. Your journal can become a memorial that reminds you of God’s faithfulness, his answers to prayers, ways he has spoken to you, directed you, and provided for you. Those words can help prevent you from falling into complacency.

The entire Bible is filled with reminders. The more we are reminded of it, the more it becomes part of our personal history. The ancient stories become our stories. We passed through the Red Sea on dry ground along with Moses and the people of Israel. We saw the walls of Jericho crumble before our eyes. We discover our heritage in its pages.

If we fail to remember, we lose not only our heritage, but also our identity and hope for the future. We quickly become lost and isolated. This is why it can be an important spiritual discipline to keep a personal journal, both for you and your children.

Warning #2: Listen 

In Challenge 4, “Listen,” we considered the importance of listening. This is both a reminder and a warning. Jesus repeatedly warned his disciples to listen, to really hear what he was saying. He also linked listening to obedience. Disciples cannot follow Jesus unless they learn to listen and hear what he is saying. Listening to Jesus is a covenant responsibility, hearing him is a joyous and life-enhancing privilege. “Remember,” Jesus (the Good Shepherd) “calls his own sheep by name” and “they follow him because they know his voice” (John 10: 3-4). Disciples are his sheep and sheep who do not listen cannot follow him. They quickly lose their way.

His warnings are clear to those who “have ears to hear”:

²⁴ “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. ²⁵ Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. ²⁶ But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. ²⁷ When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

¹² To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.
Matthew 13:12

¹¹ There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.
Hebrews 5:11

Complacent disciples do not listen. Sadly, they are distracted, too busy, or have forgotten the joy that comes from hearing the voice of Jesus and following him. 

Warning # 3: The Love of Money

Over the years I’ve noticed a recurring pattern in the New Testament: whenever Jesus or the Apostles spoke about money there was always either an explicit or implicit warning. Jesus never denounces money as evil. But there is a subtle undercurrent of concern or warning. Jesus might support a mandatory warning on currency, much as there is on cigarettes:

“WARNING: Money is addictive and can undermine your spiritual health.”

Surveys have asked,” How much money is enough?” Interestingly, both rich and poor alike respond, “Just a little bit more.” We never seem to have enough. The topic of money surfaces frequently in both the OT and the NT. It is not a taboo subject. In fact, Jesus suggested that our attitude about money accurately reflects our hearts:

¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Matthew 6:19-21

Did you hear the warning? Money can’t bring genuine security. That’s why we usually want a little bit more. We think a little bit more will bring security, but it never does, according to Jesus. Instead, it shows what we value and where we place our trust (matters of the heart).

Money can easily become an idol if we believe money brings security and happiness. But wealth can’t do that. A trusted friend, the late Dr. Al Green, a former missionary to China, once told me a story about an event he witnessed in Honan province of China during a terrible drought in the 1930’s. The people were experiencing intense suffering because of the resulting famine. One day he watched the villagers take the idol out of their small temple and place it outside where there was no shade. They wanted the idol to feel the direct heat of the sun thinking his discomfort would cause him to show compassion and bring rain to end the drought. He then stated the moral of his story: “The problem with idols is they never keep their promises.”

No one can say Jesus did not warn us. If money becomes an idol, we will be disappointed. We associate money with security, happiness and meaning, but money lies. Just like other idols, money is powerless, regardless of the faith we place in it. Al Green was right, money can never keep the promises we think it makes. Money will break your heart.

⁵ Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.
Colossians 3:5

⁶ Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. ⁷ After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. ⁸ So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

⁹ But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
1 Timothy 6:6-10

Did you listen to Jesus and hear his warnings: temptations, trapped, foolish, harmful, plunge them into ruin and destruction, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, craving money, wandered from the faith, pierced themselves, and many sorrows? You make money into an idol by loving it and giving it supreme importance in your life. But money is powerless to keep the promises you attribute to it no matter how much you have. You have been warned. 

Warning # 4: Avoid Hypocrisy 

The fourth and final warning we will consider is a very stern warning to avoid all hypocrisy. If you study the gospels carefully, you will see a consistent pattern: Jesus had little or no tolerance for hypocrisy. This is especially true if the hypocrisy is related to faith and our relationship with God. Jesus’ most passionate and persistent enemies were the religious leaders of his day: biblical scholars, teachers, priests, and elders. They were the official guardians of the faith, the gatekeepers who determined who was included among the faithful and who was excluded. They were the religious experts and professionals. That same pattern continues to this very day, turning countless numbers of people away from the Way.

Jesus’ teaching and miracles threatened the religious leaders and eventually they came to hate him. They were the ones who convicted Jesus of blasphemy and requested Pilate to crucify him. What a paradox: the most religious people were the people who became the primary accomplices in the murder of the Messiah, the Son of God! The various factions, Sadducees, Pharisees, the High Priest, and the elders disagreed on multiple theological issues, but they were united in their opposition to Jesus. 

The Pharisees were Jesus’ most consistent and visible opponents. They opposed him at every turn. Yet there were exceptions. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were Pharisees and secret disciples of Jesus. There were multiple Pharisees in the first church in Jerusalem. The majority of Pharisees, however, considered Jesus to be public enemy number one. 

In his interactions with the Pharisees, Jesus often declared they were hypocrites. He repeatedly warned them and others of the consequences of hypocrisy. Jesus refused to excuse or even tolerate hypocrisy. He consistently exposed and condemned it and those who practiced it.

Almost the entire twenty-third chapter of Matthew is a lengthy message by Jesus about the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. His words are critical, harsh, and blunt. A few excerpts follow but I urge you to read the entire chapter to hear and feel the intensity of Jesus’ words.

¹ Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ² “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. ³ So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. ⁴ They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.

⁵ “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels. ⁶ And they love to sit at the head table at banquets and in the seats of honor in the synagogues. 

¹⁶ “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ ¹⁷ Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. ¹⁹ How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. ²² And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.
Matthew 23:1-6; 16-22

Hypocrites say one thing and do another. Their words and their actions are inconsistent. Hypocrites misrepresent the truth of who they are. They are liars. Instead of living before an audience of one, they are seeking to impress people. While humility is one of the chief virtues Jesus taught and modeled, hypocrisy and humility cannot coexist.

Disciples represent Jesus to everyone they meet. If we fail to heed Jesus’ warning about hypocrisy and consistently misrepresent Jesus by pretending to be something we’re not, we are hypocrites. Faking faith is hypocrisy, something that Jesus vigorously opposes. Hypocrisy seeks to impress others by our spirituality, commitment, or piety. I believe that hypocrisy is banned in the Kingdom of God because Kingdom living and hypocrisy are completely incompatible. 

We must be honest with ourselves and others, which is integrity. Our attitudes, actions, and words are one. Hypocrisy is to live a lie, to pretend to be something you’re not. Hypocrisy is completely incompatible with covenantal promises. Honesty is a cherished virtue for apprentices learning to live by kingdom values. We will make mistakes, but we will be honest about them. 

Rick Warren clarifies the original meaning of “Hypocrite” (OPEN DOORS, A Year of Daily Devotions”, Rick Warren, p. 344, 2019, Purpose Driven Publishers): 

In ancient Greek theater, just a few actors would often perform the entire play by repeatedly changing parts. They would hold masks in front of their faces for each part, so one person could play five or six different parts. The actor was called a hypocrite. Their real identities were hidden by several different false personas.

Disciples avoid hypocrisy like a deadly plague because it is just as deadly as a plague. Disciples represent Jesus, which hypocrites cannot do. We refuse to live a lie (i.e., see challenge 7 B. “Life in a Fishbowl”).

THINKING IT THROUGH

Lead me in the right path, O LORD…. Make your way plain for me to follow.  Psalm 5:8

THE TRUTH: Becoming like Jesus is a life-long process of growth and change. 

THE CHALLENGE: Disciples continually nurture a growth mentality. 

The Scriptures and questions are for group discussion and personal reflection. Our goal in Tier II is character transformation which requires sustained effort and growing faith.

Related Scriptures

Warning #1: Do Not Forget

Deuteronomy 8:11-20 ¹¹ “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. ¹² For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, ¹³ and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! ¹⁴ Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. ¹⁵ Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! ¹⁶ He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. ¹⁷ He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ ¹⁸ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

¹⁹ “But I assure you of this: if you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. ²⁰ Just as the Lord has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the Lord your God.”

Hebrews 12:25 ²⁵ Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!

Hebrews 5:11 ¹¹ There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 

2 Kings 17:38 ³⁸ Do not forget the covenant I made with you, and do not worship other gods.

Warning #2: Listen

Matthew 17:5 ⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

John 10:3 ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

Jeremiah 5:21 ²¹ Listen, you foolish and senseless people,
with eyes that do not see
and ears that do not hear.

Warning #3: The Love of Money

Luke 12:21-23 ²¹ “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
²² Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing.

Luke 16:13-15 ¹³ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
¹⁴ The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. ¹⁵ Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.

John 2:15 ¹⁵ Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables.

Acts 2:44-45 ⁴⁴ And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. ⁴⁵ They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need.

Warning #4: Avoid Hypocrisy

Psalm 26:4 ⁴ I do not spend time with liars
or go along with hypocrites.

1 Timothy 4:1-2 ¹ Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. ² These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead.

Mark 7:6 ⁶ Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’ ”

Matthew 6:2, 5, 16
² When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! 

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them.”

¹⁶ “And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting.”

Questions

These questions are designed to help you understand part 8 C at a deeper level. You are encouraged to focus on the questions that you find most interesting or helpful. This is not a test, but a tool to help you work the content of the part. It is useful for both group discussion and personal reflection. (Please write your responses in a journal or notebook.)

1. Do you have a personal experience of failing to heed a warning and then suffering unpleasant consequences? Share your story (unless it is too embarrassing). 

2. Which of the warnings (Do not Forget, Listen, Love of Money, Hypocrisy) is hardest for you to heed? Which is the easiest to obey?

3. Challenge 8 C described four scriptural warnings. There are many more warnings that were not included. Name at least one additional scripture warning (not included in Part C) and cite a passage that contains the warning you found.

4. How can you build memorials that will help you, along with family and friends, to remember the things God has done in your life or your lives together?

5. How can you become a more consistent and obedient listener who hears God more clearly?

6. Write a brief paragraph on the danger of money becoming a personal idol for you and how you can keep that from happening.

7. Jesus’ loudest and most overt and urgent warning was to avoid hypocrisy above all else. Explain why hypocrisy is so tempting and why you think Jesus opposed it so vehemently.

8. After quoting Rick Warren, I finished the commentary on hypocrisy by saying, “We [disciples] refuse to live a lie” Explain why hypocrisy could be described as “living a lie.”

9. Part C of the eighth challenge argues that Jesus’ clearest and most passionate warning was against hypocrisy. If you were compiling a list of your own personal warnings, what would be your strongest and most urgent warning? 

10. One could conclude that in the Old Testament, the most frequent and urgent warning was against idolatry. As you reflect upon our current cultural context, what is the greatest danger to disciples, idolatry or hypocrisy? Which would be the greatest danger to atheists and secularists?

Copyright © 2024 Don Waite

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