Follow“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” Revelation 3:17.
This text in Revelation clearly lays out for us that the lukewarm hearts of the Laodicean church caused them to lose sight of their need for the Lord. They were complacent in their faith. They had wealth and they had provision; therefore, they did not see that they had need for anything. Is this true of us at Elim? Is this true of you?
As a believer, I am constantly battling against my own complacency. I like the way that John Piper puts it in the article “How to Fight Lukewarmness”: “Most of us in the prosperous West live in modern day Laodiceas (Revelation 3:14-22). Our faith is not endangered by persecution but by the constant temptations of worldly compromise.” Because of their wealth and riches, the Laodicean church became complacent in their faith and need of a Savior. It’s easy to forget our constant need for Jesus when virtually every need—and, at times, every want—is met with supply.
Take the Garden of Eden for example. God provided every want and need for Adam and Eve. In return, they were asked to be good stewards of what God had given them. However, when the serpent came in all of his tempting ways, Adam’s heart, previously content with all he had been given, turned to a heart of complacency when he stood by and watched Eve, his helpmate, eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam’s complacency is tied into the first sin recorded in the Bible.
This sin robbed Adam and Eve of all the blessings and good God had in store for them. All because Adam became complacent. How much easier is it in this modern world to stand by, like Adam, and watch as our blessings from the Lord are robbed from us and the good that we are called to do slips away because of our own complacency? This week, I challenge myself and my church family to reexamine our lives and Identify areas of complacency and weed them out. Then as a church, we can move forward in the good works that Christ has called us to.
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