Dear Church Week 5: Combatting Complacency: Rekindling Your Faith and Commitment to God | Revelation 3:1-6

Hi, it's Pastor Jonathan and thanks for downloading the FBC Elderado Sermon Podcast.

We hope today's message will challenge and help you take the next step as you follow Jesus.

Last week, while I was packing lunches and ironing clothes for the day, I turned on a podcast.

It was a college football preview podcast.

It was an interview with a guy named Phil Steele.

Phil has published for like the last 30 years the definitive preview guide for the college football season.

So it was an interview of Phil giving his projections for the upcoming season.

The Razor Act fans in the room.

Fifth in the SEC West.

That's all we got Another mediocre season that we've come to expect.

It's okay to be realistic.

I know we have a few LSU fans in the room yeah, I won't say it.

I can't say that but you guys a little bit better.

Second in the West, behind Alabama and in our church family, we have at least two churchmen who are fans of the University of Georgia Bulldogs Brian Trossel and Brandon Trossel.

And as a part of this interview, phil was asked who he thought would win the national championship.

Phil still said I'm going to pick the Georgia Bulldogs to win their third consecutive national championship and before the Trossels rub it in our face and strut around with their chest sticking out.

I need to remind them this season hasn't even begun yet.

Okay, there's still a lot of games to play, and those are still 18 to 23 year olds out on that field.

A lot of mistakes could happen.

Now here's the thing about football.

It's really hard to win one championship, but it's even harder to win two consecutive championships.

And it's even harder to win back to back to back championships.

And the coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs understands that fact.

His name's Kirby Smart.

A couple of weeks ago, at a press conference, he was asked the question how do you top an undefeated season?

In other words, how do you do it again?

And this is how he answered that question.

He said the threat for us is complacency.

I don't care about the three Pete, the two Pete or the one Pete, I care about complacency.

Kirby Smart expresses what every coach knows complacency crushes champions.

Complacency crushes champions.

Complacency has two components.

First component total satisfaction with the past On the playing field.

Total satisfaction with past achievement means that you've reached the goal that you set out to achieve.

You raised the trophy, you were elected captain, you made first team, you made the team in the first place, like that was, your only goal was to have a jersey and get to sit on the bench.

Whatever it is.

You accomplish that goal and now you're totally satisfied.

And there's nothing wrong with being satisfied.

But total satisfaction is when we reach that goal and then we automatically lose focus, we automatically dial back the effort because we're hanging everything on a past achievement.

We're living in the past.

Second component of complacency blindness.

Being blind to the reality of danger.

First, being blind to the fact on a sports team that your opponent is studying every second of film that they can find.

Being blind to the fact that the guy who's on second team on the depth chart wants to take your starting spot.

You're blind to the danger.

You think that if you just show up you'll win the game.

You think that because of the name on the back of your uniform, because of who you are and what you've already achieved in the past, well, that you will continue to have that starting spot.

But there's also a blindness to deficiencies.

You forget that you have areas of your game with which you need to improve.

You no longer will accept criticism or correction.

Instead, you believe that you've already arrived.

Complacency says that what I did in the past, I can do in the present.

I can do in the present without giving the same effort, without offering the same level of focus.

When complacency enters into the mind of an athlete or a team, this inevitably occurs.

The athlete or the team cannot accomplish their goal.

You see, when complacency enters into a locker room and walks out onto a field, complacency is undefeated.

See, like we said, crushes champions.

And this truth that we see illustrated on the field is a truth that connects directly to our faith.

Listen to what Proverbs, chapter one, verse 32, says.

It says fools are destroyed by their own complacency.

Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.

And just like complacency crushes champions, in the life of a believer, complacency crushes Christians in the life of a church, complacency crushes churches.

And in the realm of faith, complacency begins the same way that it begins on the field.

It begins with this total satisfaction.

We become so totally satisfied with what God miraculously did in our past.

It a story of our conversion and salvation, a story of when God spoke so clearly to us on a mission trip or when we were on a retreat or at a camp or in a especially difficult season in life, that we look and believe.

Yes, god acted in the past, but I'm gonna live totally based upon that.

That's all I need.

I don't need God to work or to move or to act in my life, in the present.

But there's also blindness.

There's a blindness to danger, blind to the fact that we have an adversary named the devil, who roams around like a roaring lion, a hungry roaring lion.

Blind to the fact that our adversary, the devil, shoots flaming arrows in our direction.

We are blind to the fact that he has one goal in mind to steal and to kill and to destroy.

And we're blind to our deficiencies.

We failed to admit or realize that the work God began in our life he wants to continue, he wants to complete.

Or some of us think to ourselves this is all that I'm ever going to be.

Dear friend, don't believe that lie.

God desires so much more for you.

He sees so much more potential in you.

He still has work he wants to accomplish in your life, in faith as on the field.

We fall into the trap of complacency because it's just really easy to do it.

You see, complacency.

All it requires of us is to live, Just to allow life to happen to us.

Complacency requires no action or accountability.

It requires zero drive or determination or discipline on our part.

And complacency in the life of a Christian and complacency in the life of a church, well, it's even more disastrous than when it infiltrates a team.

Listen to how AW Tozer puts it.

He writes this complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth.

We could have put all in all caps bolded, underlined, italicized all spiritual growth.

I don't know about you, but personal experience has taught me the truth of that statement, and maybe you know that complacency is the reason why you've seen such minimal spiritual growth in your life, or your faith so often teeters on the trap of complacency.

When it comes to complacency, you know that you are too close for comfort.

So, whether you're in the trap and you want to get out of the trap, or you're close to the trap and you just want to know how to avoid the trap, complacency is a temptation that we all face almost every single day.

Lucky for us, this isn't a new trap that was just set for us.

It's a trap that Satan has been setting for ages, for millennia, and one of the churches that Satan set this trap for is this church of Sardis, and the church of Sardis that we're going to read Jesus' message to this morning.

The church of Sardis saw many of its members fall into the trap of complacency.

So today we're continuing this series, dear Church, hearing another letter that Jesus wrote to one of these seven ancient churches of Asia Minor Today, the church at Sardis, the church that fell into the trap of complacency when it comes to their faith and their following of Jesus Christ.

And it's my hope that if we're willing to hear the message of Jesus and learn from the mistakes of the church at Sardis, that we will understand this about our life, and it should give us a little bit of hope.

Christ calls the complacent to become the committed.

Hear that again.

Christ calls the complacent to become the committed, and that's a word of good news for us, because it means this Jesus doesn't give up on the complacent.

He wants them to become the committed because he sees so much potential in their life and he wants them to be a part of seeing his kingdom expand into the world.

Jesus, like I don't want to leave them where they are right now, I want to call them up and call them higher to something greater.

If you consider yourself in a state of spiritual complacency this morning, christ is calling you, through a message written thousands of years ago, to become the committed.

If you're teetering on the edge of complacency, christ is calling you to become the committed.

If you are a member of the committed and some of you are you need to be aware of the trap that complacency is an ever present trap and temptation for all of us.

So listen closely to what Jesus writes to the church at Sardis.

He says to the angel of the church in Sardis right, these are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

I know your deeds.

You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.

Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard, hold it fast and repent, but if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

We'll read the remainder of the letter later on.

I first want to point out to you that, to the church at Sardis, jesus introduces himself by pointing them to the palm of his hand, to what he holds in his hand.

Resting in Jesus hand first, are the seven spirits of God.

That phrase is found throughout the book of Revelation, and it's a phrase that refers to the full presence of the Holy Spirit, to the power of the Holy Spirit, specifically the Spirit's presence and its power to give life.

Also in Jesus hand are seven stars.

Again in Revelation, these seven stars refer to seven angels.

Each of these angels is assigned to one of these churches in Asia Minor.

They are to look over it, they are to care for it, they are to be God's messenger and presence.

Now, these angels, though, are so closely identified with each of the churches, the church they are responsible for, that, when the angel returns to the throne room of God, they represent to God that specific congregation.

It's easy to pass over those words of introduction, but if we want to heed the call of Christ, to leave behind complacency and answer this call upward towards commitment, the way Jesus introduces himself deserves some careful consideration.

Again, jesus holds the power of the Holy Spirit in his hand, and in that same hand he holds the seven churches.

He holds them in the same hand because Jesus desires to connect the life giving power of the Holy Spirit to the life of the local church.

We fail to realize that complacency puts us on life support.

We're struggling to breathe.

We need someone to shock us back from death.

That's why Jesus wants us to be connected to the power of the Holy Spirit, because only the Holy Spirit connecting with our lives, connecting with this church, can allow what the complacent to become the committed.

One reason I think we often find ourselves stuck in complacency is because we think we can fix the problem all on our own, with our own strength, our own strategy, our own ingenuity.

If I just work hard enough, I'll see the change happen in my life.

We have that belief because we don't understand the gravity of the problem.

Complacency isn't the common cold.

Hear that again.

Complacency isn't the common cold.

It's not something that is just going to go away over time.

It's not something that's going to get better if you drink some orange juice, take your vitamins and sip on chicanotle soup.

Complacency is more akin to catastrophic cardiac arrest.

It's a massive heart attack.

I mean notice the words of Jesus.

I'm not overstating it.

Jesus makes this diagnosis like he walks into the OR.

He looks at this church and he says you're dead, you're gone, not breathing, no signs of life, like that's how Jesus just walks into the world Like.

That's how Jesus judges complacency, how he evaluates it, what he sees from his perspective.

And the only way to be brought back from death is to be shocked back to life.

And the only power that can shock a Christian and shock a church back to life is the power of the seven spirits of God, the power of the Holy Spirit connected to your life and the life of this church.

So, to climb out of the trap of complacency, the first thing you have to recognize is the gravity of the situation.

You are dead and to tell God that you need help.

God, I'm dead, you know it.

I know it.

I'm complacent.

Can your spirit bring me back to life?

I can't do it on my own.

I've tried it all.

I've tried every Bible study, I've tried every prayer journal.

I've tried reading my Bible four times a day, two times a day, once a day.

I don't know.

I've just tried it all.

God, I've served, I've worshiped, I've done it all, but I've never looked to the power of the Holy Spirit.

I've never said that my life and my heart getting restarted is dependent upon your power being connected to my heart, and it's my belief that God will answer your prayer.

Why?

Because Christ calls the complacent to become the committed, and Christ knows this.

He knows I'm the only one who can send the Holy Spirit into their life.

I'm the only one who's gonna say Holy Spirit, shock that church back to life.

Holy Spirit, shock that disciple back to life.

But others of us don't even know that we're caught in complacency's trap.

We're just gonna be bopped in the long through life.

So, according to Jesus, the members of this church have fooled everyone.

They've fooled everyone in the city of Sardis and they're even fooling themselves.

It says this that the church at Sardis and its members in the public sphere, in the public domain, that these Christians have a good reputation.

The community at large likes them, and it's all because they are measuring them up against the standard of culture.

They have a good reputation because you look like us, you think like us and you act like us.

Yes, you say that Jesus is Lord, but you'll wander off into the temple and worship an idol.

Yes, you say that Jesus is Savior, but occasionally we find you praying to one of the false gods the church, because of the evaluation of culture, and it saying yeah, you've got a good reputation.

Like you like, pay your taxes to Caesar.

You participate in pagan worship.

You have a fair business.

You don't try to deceive people.

You're alive, but remember that's not Jesus' opinion, is it?

Jesus said you're alive, but remember that's not Jesus' opinion.

Is it?

Jesus says you are dead?

You know, we too can fool ourselves when we let culture decide the standard for our faith.

Right, we will fool ourselves when we let culture determine the standard of what it means to follow Jesus Christ.

I mean culture says this culture's like you're a churchgoer so long as you go on Christmas and Easter and find a couple other times during the year to show up and gather with God's people, like in Elberato, arkansas.

That's the criteria for being a churchgoer.

I said it, you know it's true.

Like that's the criteria.

They're a churchgoer, they're names on a church roll.

That's not God's standard, that's the culture's standard, right, when God's standard says let us not neglect our meeting together from Hebrews, chapter 10, or culture sets this standard of a Christian of so long as you live a moral life, you're a Christian, you've got a good reputation.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Christianity is really just kind of checking a list of boxes, of doing the right thing and not the wrong thing, discerning right from wrong, and so that's why Baptists don't dance.

I won't tell them.

I have seen some of you dance.

It's a little embarrassing.

I mean, we have other moral checklists.

You know that saying you've heard it before Don't drink, don't smoke, don't chew and don't go with girls who do.

My college roommate, his grandmother actually had a spittoon because she liked chewing tobacco.

They're from North Louisiana.

Well, listen, a moral checklist isn't commitment.

Being good in the eyes of the world is not commitment to Jesus, because it's not God's standard.

1 Peter 1, verse 15,.

1 Peter 1:15

You must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy Our culture might say this.

So long as you share an encouraging Bible verse on Facebook, so long as you listen to K love on your drive to work, so long as you go to an FCA meeting at the high school, so long as you do those things, you have a good reputation.

You even give to the K love fundraisers, but you still think it's okay to be snarky and sarcastic, to cut people down and to be crude.

Because you know God's standard is something higher than listen to K love and sharing a Bible verse on social media.

God's standard is to live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ, to let love pour out of every pore of your body, no matter where you are and no matter what you're doing.

Or it could just be that your standard is like well, at least I'm not as bad as that guy over there.

At least I haven't done that, at least I would never do that Again.

The wrong standard Follow God's example.

Ephesians, chapter five, verse one, says follow God's example.

Hear that again.

Follow God's example, not his example.

Don't let that be the point of comparison.

Let God be your point of comparison.

Therefore, as dearly loved children, you're his child.

Look like him, act like him, think like him, behave like him in the world.

That's your standard.

You know to be roused out of complacency.

We have to be reminded that there is only one standard.

There's a standard revealed to us, the perfect standard revealed to us in the life, in the ministry, in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ God's standard.

It's a standard passed down to us through the Bible.

But hearing about God's standard, I can only talk about myself right now.

I can't talk about you and what's going on in your life.

I know what goes on in my life, in my heart, hearing about God's standard also just reminds me how I fall short of God's standard, that there are going to be weeks in life just to admit I avoid people sometimes Like I'm like I don't want to walk down that aisle at Walmart and I go the other way.

You do it too sometimes.

There will be moments in life when, instead of speaking words filled with love, there's hatred and amosity and anger.

There'll be days when I make a decision that isn't holy.

You're going to get the picture, don't you?

And on those days when I'm aware of my failings and on those days when you are aware of your failings and your inability to live up to God's standard, you have to lean into the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Remember what you have received and heard.

Jesus' rights to the church at Sardis.

Remember what you have received and heard.

Remember that I died on a cross for the sins of the world.

I paid the debt of your sin.

Remember what you've received and heard that I rose again on the third day.

Remember what you've received and heard that I am victorious over sin and death and destruction.

Remember the truth of the gospel.

You don't become the committed because of what you do.

You can become the committed because of what Christ has done for you, that he died on your place on the cross, that he rose again on the third day.

Again, we can so easily, in these sorts of sermons that focus on kind of growing in our faith, we can so easily like, think of it as I'm just gonna do more again, I'm gonna read my Bible more, I'm gonna pray more, I'm gonna serve more.

It's like you're making a rededication to go to health works because you need to lose a few pounds.

Okay, like I'm gonna be more dedicated, more, more, more and really the more part only comes in.

Like you just need more of the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and to claim that power and to cling to that power and to lean into the truth of the gospel and we hold fast to it.

Jesus says Hold fast to the fact that while you and I fail, jesus never failed.

Lean into the truth that Jesus was holy in everything that he did and everything that he did he perfectly fulfilled the will of His heavenly Father.

On days when your commitment wanes and you don't meet God's standard, run to Jesus.

Look to Jesus and trust that His grace is sufficient for you, for His power is made perfect in weakness.

And if you find yourself slipping into the trap of complacency, what do you have to do?

Cry out to Jesus and ask for His help, and when any offers it receive, it Cling to it.

It's in these moments, when we're keenly aware of our sin and our tendency towards complacency, that we can come to rest more and more in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, because only the gospel can set us free from the trap of complacency.

Only the gospel can empower us through the Holy Spirit for the commitment that Jesus desires to see in each and every one of our lives.

So, dear friend, do you see why there is hope for you?

If you're caught in the trap of complacency, your rescue doesn't depend upon you.

It depends upon Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Christ, the one who died on the cross and was raised by the Spirit on the third day.

Those, the Christ and the Spirit, want to lift you out of complacency so you can become the committed.

And hear this Commitment culminates in a championship.

Hear it again Commitment, commitment to Christ, culminates in a championship.

Listen to what Jesus writes next, verses four through six.

He says Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.

They will walk with me dressed in white, for they are worthy.

The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white.

I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Residents of Sardis would have heard reports from the city of Rome of these immaculate victory parades that the emperor would hold After his army had won a victory on the battlefield.

The emperor would lead a procession through the main city streets.

The emperor would stand at the front of the processional and behind him would be his followers, close behind throngs of people, each and every one of them wearing a glistening white toga Toga, toga, toga, like they were having a big toga parade to celebrate the victory.

Listen, jesus uses that image because he promises to his followers an even grander parade that celebrates an even greater victory.

Did you hear that Jesus promises to his followers an even greater parade that celebrates an even grander victory?

The victory he won at the cross and the empty tomb.

Jesus won the championship on his own.

Okay, he was more than the MVP.

He just did it all by himself.

But he offers us, his church, an opportunity to have a share in the championship.

He says you get to hold the trophy and take a picture with it, you get a championship ring.

What I won is yours, and we know our share in the championship is guaranteed.

You know it's guaranteed if your name is written in the book of life.

The book of life lists the names of all those who have trusted in Jesus Christ, who have been born again, and only if your name is in the book of life will you be welcomed into the presence of the Father and live for all eternity in the kingdom of God.

In this world we talk about how our names are written and all sorts of things like the honor roll.

Your name can be written across a diploma, your name can be on the outside of the door of the CEO's office, your name can be at the top of the list of quarterly performers and your name can even be on a church roll.

But there's only one role that matters for eternity the role of names recorded in the Lamb's book of life.

And if your name's not in that book of life, listen carefully.

You are neither complacent nor committed.

You are condemned Condemned to spend eternity separated from God.

But here's a word of good news Christ, just like he calls the complacent to become the committed.

Christ calls the condemned to become the committed.

Jesus offers salvation to all those who would believe.

All those who put their faith in him can be his follower.

You don't have to stay condemned, you don't have to be separated from God if you put your faith in Jesus Christ, a free gift of salvation for all who trust him.

A couple weeks ago, the US women's soccer team made an unexpected early exit from the women's World Cup.

I follow a lot of sports.

It was an unexpected exit because they entered the World Cup as the two-time defending champions.

Georgia better keep this in mind as they look forward to college football.

They were the two-time defending champions.

They were the number one ranked team in the world.

They had some of the best players in the world on their team, but their performance on the pitch like never lined up to the hype that they had received.

They're always kind of half a step behind the entire tournament.

They looked out of sorts for most of their matches.

So when they lose and they're eliminated and no one thought they're going to be eliminated.

At that point in the tournament, kind of words.

And you know those unnamed sources begin to say things about what was going on in the locker room, and one of the comments that came out from someone close to the team was this the undefeated opponent had entered the athlete's mind.

The undefeated opponent had entered their locker room.

Complacency they become complacent and once again, complacency proves that when it enters the mind of an athlete or it enters the heart of a team, complacency will always crush a champion.

Likewise, even to this day, complacency continues to crush Christians and crush churches.

So, child of God, are you spiritually complacent?

Have you become totally satisfied with what God did in your past and you no longer look for him and expect him and ask him to do something powerful and miraculous in the present, to use you in the present for his kingdom?

Are you blind to the danger that Satan is lurking?

Are you blind to the deficiency that you still have room to grow, that God's not finished with you?

But if complacency describes your faith, if you're in the trap or you feel like you're teetering on the trap again, take heart by the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ, by the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit.

Christ, to this day, still calls the complacent to become the committed.

Not what you do, not the effort you give, but letting the life giving power of the Holy Spirit be connected to your life and your faith.

That is dead.

That's how you make the transformation by the power of Jesus at work in your life.

Let's stand together and pray Right now.

If you, as you bow your heads and close your eyes, imagine that there is a great pit, a great trap, the pit, the trap of complacency when are you in relation to that pit and that trap?

Are you deep inside?

Are you teetering on the edge?

Are you miles away?

If you're in the trap, if you're teetering on the edge, cry out to Jesus right now that you need his help and, jesus, we ask that your Holy Spirit would fall on that person as they cry out, that your Holy Spirit would lift them up and give them life.

If you see yourself being far away from that trap, ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to stay away from complacency, to run away from it, to flee it.

Jesus, by your power, we know we can become the committed you're committed in the world, those who live for you and bring glory to your name with everything that we do, but we can only do that through the hope of your gospel and the power of your Holy Spirit.

Connect your spirit to my life and the life of this church.

Eliminate complacency, elevate our commitment.

And, jesus, I pray for the person who is far from you.

They've never made a decision to follow you.

I just pray they would hear this morning that you stand ready and waiting to save them from eternal condemnation and separation from God.

They understand that they are loved by you and that you want to save them today, to bring them into a relationship, to know the God who gave them life, to experience his love and joy and hope and peace every single day.

Jesus, this morning, move by your spirit both those who are a replacement towards commitment and those who are condemned towards commitment, putting a first time commitment in you, in your name, we pray, jesus amen.