Download PDF version: The Diabolical Dynamics of Spiritual Complacency
Complacency that sets into the heart and mind of a Christian is similar to any insidious disease that ravages the body of a human being; if left unchecked it will kill a person. It begins in a small way and normally is undetectable to its host, ultimately destroying the ability of a person to see or hear; the toxic environment it creates renders the host spiritually blind and deaf, unable to believe that anything more remains to be seen or heard in their relationship with Jesus Christ.
While setting up multiple symptoms, a new “reality” for the host begins; one of which includes a feeling of comfort in their surroundings, both internally and externally. One result is the host’s faltering ability to critically evaluate their situation, which left unchecked, brings a sense of pride in all that has been accomplished. To say it another way, they begin to drift without any sense of direction not realizing they are sailing without a set of charts, a reliable compass or a rudder. Any sailor would realize they were in trouble without one of these essential items, but this simple realization is lost to the host of the complacent infection.
As if losing one’s spiritual sight and hearing weren’t enough, a hardening of the heart begins to set in. Slowly, cynically and methodically, complacency wraps itself around the victim’s most important spiritual and vital organ. Like the keyed instrument, the heart drifts imperceptibly out of tune, losing its grasp of true reality. Confirming the false, if not dead, information sent by eyes that no longer see and ears that no longer hear, it too becomes dull to the lifeless senses engulfed in the false conclusion that, “All is well.” Once the victim’s eyes, ears and heart have been wrapped in the spiritual python bent on death, all may be lost.
Only the riveting power and truth of the Holy Spirit ministered either directly or through His ministers can the path to spiritual health be found. However, the diagnosis must be accepted however painful it may be, for the first step to wholeness and vitality in the Spirit is to believe what He says about the infected patient’s condition (John 9:41; Revelation 3:14-22). The Great Physician is not one to be trifled with; He alone knows the depth of wickedness that is bound up in the heart far beneath the python that has now been revealed by the fire of His eyes. Once the diagnosis is accepted and repentance embraced, then and there, Heaven’s mercy falls like rain in a parched desert where wild flowers begin to grow almost immediately. Life, joy and peace begin to reign and the pressure of Heaven’s attack causes scales from the eyes to fall, spiritual ears are unstopped and, finally, joy floods into a heart turned from stone to flesh, which begins pumping life back into the soul of a saint again reborn.
Mark Biteler
