Spiritual complacency is relevant to all believers. No one is completely pure, holy, or righteous. (use your own terminology) We will never end the struggle of spiritual complacency until we’re in Heaven with Christ. The good news is as Christians we can significantly reduce our spiritual weariness, even though we can’t fully destroy it. One of my friends reminded me this week of the importance of growing out of this complacent prison. Ironically in a Christian environment, it’s easy to grow weary in our faith. Take an example from my own life. Instead of consistently obeying my convictions to read scripture daily, I often substitute it with “Christian culture.” Of course, “Christian culture” isn’t in of itself wrong, but replacing our true walk with Christ with a non-substitutable “Jesus” culture will not help us grow in our walk with him.
Understandably, it may not seem important to the average person to read scripture daily, but nothing could be further from the truth. Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruits of the spirit. I can’t tell you how many times after I read these verses or a parallel passage in another book convicted me to turning back to emulating Christ. My experience as counselor continually pushed me to care for all of my campers, no matter how exasperating they might have been. Jesus was persecuted relentlessly by the Pharisees (no my campers were not Pharisees), but he still loved them. The average evangelical Christian may never encounter as much persecution as Christ did, nonetheless, we can still learn from his experience. Scripture reminds us over and over again about these principles. Why repeatedly reread scripture you know? God’s word is not an ordinary textbook or novel; rather, it’s heavily applicable to our well-being as Christians and ambassadors of Jesus Christ. A simple mathematical equation may not be necessary to read a billion times, but a book that influences us in every way should be.
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Scripture, of course, is not the only way of breaking the habits of spiritual complacency. Christian accountability works well with scripture reading. As a complementary precursor to alleviating spiritual complacency, spiritual accountability helps us mitigate the sins inhibiting our faith in Jesus Christ. Have a verbal problem that you don’t want to let go, but feel you need to? Accountability is the answer! Indeed, God is our ultimate accountability partner, but having a physical accountability partner helps too. That’s why Paul was God’s complementary assistance for Timothy’s well-being. In fact, if God was supposed to be our only accountability partner, why did Paul send letters complaining and advising churches about their sins? Thus, we need our brothers and sisters in Christ to help us fight against the daily temptations, struggles, and adversities we all encounter.
What other tools exist to assist us in our walk with Christ? Bible studies, prayer gatherings, biblical and secular dialogue, and experience. Regularly attending a Bible study opens you up to God’s infallible word on a regular basis. Prayer is a powerful tool for helping us through hardships. Who is more capable of empowering you to overcome adversity other than the creator of the universe, the one whom all creation was created by, the resurrected savior of all humankind, and the all-powerful God? If anything, God is the professional of all professions; he is the highest of all counselors, mediators, and healers.
The Christian journey is a spiritual oscillation, meaning a rollercoaster. We all go through ups and downs, but with God as our all-sustaining King who conquered sin and death makes life a whole lot better. As one famous preacher said, “we all face the furnace,” but as believers, we have the almighty God as our Lord. Take a step forward off combating spiritual complacency in your life. Turn off Netflix, open up your Bible and READ!
