Adapted from the Ask Pastor John podcast, with John Piper, at: http://www.desiringgod.org
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Zephaniah 1:12 — (The Lord says), “At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish those who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.’”
A nineteen-year-old college student asks Pastor John about this verse: “As a college student, it is easy to get caught up in focusing on my own plans. Sometimes it feels like God isn’t actively involved in the day to day of my life. Is that the warning in this verse? If so, how can I avoid becoming complacent in my faith?”
Yes, that is the warning. And not just for college students. I am learning how to be an old man, and oh, goodness, if complacency can threaten the life of a 19-year-old, it can even more so threaten the life of a 79-year-old. At this age, we can feel like we’ve done our share and can now take it easy. In some ways, we can and should take it easy; but not in our spiritual life. Retirement can easily become a time of complacency in our relationship with God.
But that’s not the way it’s supposed to be. God is not supposed to disappear into the background as we get consumed in the routines of this world. He’s not supposed to fade from our consciousness as we move through ordinary life and daily reality. And that’s not just a problem for students and old folks. It is a problem with human beings of all ages. It’s been a problem since the days of Zephaniah and the days of Jesus and Paul and Peter, all of whom address this dreadful threat of complacency.
In this verse from Zephaniah, God is just not a factor for those people anymore, and that serves as a warning for everyone. God can become of no consequence in our lives. We come to think he will not do ‘good or ill’ anyway; nothing; he is not involved. And things seem to go on without him just fine, at 19 or 79. God does not matter in our daily lives. That’s the meaning of complacent.
Those who are complacent are virtually inactive, as far as spiritual reality is concerned. They are happily embedded in the routines of this world, and God has fallen so far into the background that he is of no practical consequence at all. Complacent people might show up at church on some, or even most, Sunday mornings. But nothing happens there that affects the other 167 hours of their week.
And through Zephaniah God says: “I will punish those who are complacent.” In other words, they are going to be taken off guard someday. They are going to wake up when it’s too late and realize God is always and everywhere not only active, but the main actor. By ignoring God, they have treated Him with contempt, and you don’t want to do that. Amos 6:1 has the same warning: “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria.”
When we turn to the New Testament, we find even more urgent warnings about complacency. God is not only working in every detail of our lives, according to James 4:15 (“If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that”), but one day our life will end, and we will suffer if we are complacent as that day approaches. In Luke 21:34 Jesus says, “Watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and the cares of this life, and that day comes upon you suddenly like a trap.” Jesus warned of our spiritual life being choked by “the cares and riches and pleasures of life” (Luke 8:14). It’s just plain old ordinary life, but it chokes to death our spiritual life as we fit comfortably into the world and become complacent.
Jesus often says, “Stay awake; be alert!” The greatest danger for a college student (or anyone living in this fallen world) is not usually some terrible, life-destroying sin; but the insidious, gradual fitting into this world system, and losing any real sense that we are sojourners here whose citizenship is not of this world. The Biblical warnings about complacency are continuous and resounding:
Galatians 6:9 — Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up,
I Thessalonians 5:3-6 — While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them… and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief… So then let us not sleep, as others do, (that means to be spiritually indifferent) but let us keep awake and be sober. (In other words, do not become complacent.)
I Peter 5:8 — Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Ephesians 5:15-16– Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
What clear, resounding words to students and 79-year-olds and everybody in between. Use the time well, folks. Every minute is going by. You don’t ever get to live it again. It’s given to you as a free gift to multiply its significance for Christ and his kingdom. Don’t waste your life.
What shall we say? The Christian life is a life lived on a restful, high alert. We’re restful because Christ loved us, gave himself for us, so that by faith in him our sins are forgiven and we have peace with God and the hope for eternal life and joy. But we’re on high alert because we have a great enemy who wants to destroy our faith and make us useless in this world.
When Paul said in I Corinthians 9:27 that he ‘pummels his body’ lest he prove to be a castaway, I picture a person driving a car and about to fall asleep at the wheel, and smacking his own cheek to stay awake. Paul is saying “Wake up, Paul — come on, wake up! Don’t become complacent and fall asleep spiritually. Open the window and put your left elbow out into the freezing cold air in Minnesota. Stay awake. Keep the faith. Remember God.”
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Dear Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of laziness and complacency. Do not let this world and its brief glory lead me astray. Do not let the devil and his cunning overthrow my faith. Give me boldness in resisting, patience in enduring, and firmness in persevering. Lighten, if it be your will, the pressures of this world’s cares. Grant that though I live my life among things that are passing away, I may hold fast to those things that endure. Teach me to number my days, and so apply my heart to wisdom. Above all, reconcile me to your will, and give me a peace that this world cannot take away, through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. Amen.
–Petitions from several classic prayers
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