Do you think he has a point? There is an old story of the man-in-the-street interviewer who was asking people, "Do you think that ignorance or apathy is our biggest problem today?" And of course the answer he kept getting was, "I don't know and I don't care." Are complacency and apathy the big problems that the church faces today? Do we assume that we have it so all together that we don’t take our commitments to church or to God as seriously as we should? Listen to these warning from the Old Testament—
- "Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you noble men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!" (Amos 6:1).
- "At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, 'The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad' " (Zephaniah 1:12).
Can we become so satisfied with what we know about God that we fail to study more? Can we become so complacent with how we have served God that we fail to seek to serve Him more?
Can we become so smug with who we are before God that we fail to seek Him in prayer or mourn our imperfections or worship Him with all our hearts? Maybe we need to start all over in focusing on God and our need for Him. The twelve steps of AA begin like this— (1) We are powerless over our sin, (2) we believe in a power that is greater than ourselves and (3) We make the decision to turn our lives over to the care of God. Not a bad way for us to begin each day, huh?
2 comments:
As an active member of AA, I can attest to your posting. While his opinion is a little extreme on both ends, most people in AA do know they are messed up, and there is an general complacency in we who attend Church regularly. It is a sobering thing (no pun intended) to deal with a sin that is perceived to be "minor" in our minds, but as we deal with it we realize it is only the tip of the iceberg. I believe the complacency is perpetuated because we have admitted to step two, but have not admitted step one and, therefore, not accomplished step three. After all, we are basically "good people" and there is a certain satisfaction to that. My experience is that truly admitting powerlessness over sin opens the door for us to examine all of the sins we commit on a daily basis. This can not only be humbling, but it can be depressing as we come to grips with our own unworthiness. But then it opens our eyes to the awesomeness of grace. God knows how unworthy we are, but loves us so much that he extended his Grace to us. Jesus knows how unworthy we are, but he still offered himself and shed his blood as a perfect sacrifice for us. I can't understand that; that's why it is so awesome! 1) We are powerless over our sin, (2) we believe in a power that is greater than ourselves and (3) We make the decision to turn our lives over to the care of God.It is something we should do daily.
Clifford, you said it about as well as it could be said. It is much less painful to put up a facade of "just fine" than to struggle with our brokenness and need for God.
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