Battle Against Complacency

“Complacency is a tool formed in the pit of hell, used by the enemy to render us ineffective for the Kingdom of God.” ~ Tracy Keck


Several years ago, I had the incredible opportunity to attend Pastors and Leaders School, hosted by Phoenix First Assembly, a wonderful church in Phoenix that does outreach to poverty-ridden and crime-filled areas. It offers help and hope through ministry to gangs, prostitutes, substance abusers, runaway youth, the homeless, prisoners, etc, with phenomenal results. While there, I saw what a difference Christ makes in the lives of those who really encounter him. I saw living examples of the Scripture one who’s been forgiven much loves much (Luke 7:47). And I left there with an awareness of how crippling complacency can be. The above quote is one that was included in my testimony to my church, about my experience.


Since then, I have kept that statement near to my heart, to remind me to be vigilant against the lull of complacency. I have seen how I can apply it in many situations. We Christians can be good people who really make a difference in this world, if we choose to look beyond ourselves and our current situation. Not everyone is meant to be on the front lines of a cause (though certainly some of us are), but we can support others who are, through our gifts of money and prayer. Once again, this hit home to me, just this weekend.


We went to a prayer meeting at our church on Saturday evening. When we got there, we discovered it was to be a bit different than normal. They began by showing a video of people who face terrible persecution for being followers of Christ in Iran. I have to be honest here, I had no idea there were even Christians in Iran, and I certainly didn’t have a soft heart toward Iran. After all, the Muslim extremists there have made their feelings and intentions toward both the U.S. and Israel pretty clear. But there are Christians there. And in the face of intense persecution and martyrdom, the Christian movement there is growing in both numbers and strength. (Of course Iran is only one of the many nations where Christians face persecution.)


Through this sad but hopeful, eye-opening video, I remembered once again, that we American Christians are blessed. And in some ways, I think our blessing is also a curse. We have freedoms and liberties that many only dream of. We have tons of churches to choose from and hop between. Most of us have multiple Bibles that we might read, but then again we might not if our favorite TV show is on, or we have something else to do. Because we have so much freedom and so many options, I think we mostly tend to take them for granted, and can even be contemptuous about them. Because our churches and Bibles are so readily available to us, we simply don’t use and treasure them the way we should.


This is not true in countries that do not enjoy religious freedom. If you choose to have a Bible in a country where you could be killed simply for having it, you’re probably going to read it faithfully and treasure it as one of your most precious and important possessions. If you could be abducted, thrown into jail and tortured for merely going to a Christian church, you’re probably not going to be inclined to leave it just because Sister So-and-So hurt your feelings. If you speak out for Christ and righteousness in a regime that is intolerant of it and you face most certain execution, it is highly likely that you are living for far more than yourself.


The wonderful and amazing part of all this, is that God is moving mightily in persecuted regions. I’ve heard it said that a church that is not afraid of martyrdom and persecution knows what it is to live for Christ. When people understand the reality of dying for something they live for, death loses its hold on them. When the body of Christ sees the most powerful moves of God, following the tragic loss of its leaders and members to martyrdom, how can they not be encouraged by the Comforter Himself?


It is easy for us to be complacent about the body of Christ, here in America. After all, our problems here really aren’t all that significant. But if we look beyond ourselves and beyond our borders, we can see clearly what our brothers and sisters in Christ face just for following Him. We may think there is nothing we can do, so we just do nothing. But there is something we can do. We can refuse to live in complacency. There are organizations we can support with our finances and our prayers. And most importantly, we can pray for those who are being persecuted. Prayer really can make a difference.


If you would like to join in praying for the persecuted church, but don’t really know where to begin, there is a great organization that can help. The Voice of the Martyrs has a monthly newsletter, with stories of those around the world who suffer persecution. Simply visit the site and sign up for the newsletter and it will be delivered to your home free of charge. You may also donate, if you feel inclined. Is it informative? I think so. Will it break your heart? I hope so. In addition, if you would like more information specific to Iran and the Muslim world, please check out Elam Ministries. They are bringing the Light to a very dark part of the world.


And remember, “Complacency is a tool formed in the pit of hell, used by the enemy to render us ineffective for the Kingdom of God.” Battle against complacency and win with compassion.

'Tis Still the Season

This Christmas Season is not typical of Christmas’ past. As Jeff mentioned in his last post, we are doing something different this year. Instead of showering each other in gifts, we’ve decided to give our budgeted amount to charity. More specifically, we’re giving to our church and to World Vision. And we feel really good about it!

For me, this is a really big thing. I grew up in poverty and still remember very meager Christmas’, wondering when I was little, why Santa didn’t like me as much as he did other kids (my childish mind equated gifts with care), and when I was older, understanding that there were many times we would have had few gifts, if not for local charities like the Salvation Army. I grew up determined that when I was married and had a family of my own, there would be a ton of gifts under the tree. And there were.

But this year is different. This year I’m different. There’ll still be gifts under the tree, but they’ll be for Sweet Pea. Our gift this year is in the giving. Previously for me, it was like I had to have lots of gifts under the tree, to prove that I’m not that same little poor girl that I was. It was evidence of sort that I had risen above the social status of my family. It was validation that I was indeed of worth. Of course, as a Christian, I knew this, but deep down the little girl inside of me, needed the affirmation of that.

Something happened though, to change that. Of course it was God, ultimately, who broke off that misconception and gave me freedom from that bondage. And it really was bondage. But what is surprising to me is how He did it. He used the broken-down U.S. economy and all of the doom and gloom media reports. As I watched the news, and Wall Street, I realized I was witnessing what greed had done. I further realized how good we Americans have it, even when we don’t have it all that good by our own standards. One of the great casualties of this distressed economy is that charitable giving has really gone down, while the need for it has risen significantly.

Like most American’s, we are worse off financially right now than we were at the beginning of the year. Consequently, we were scaling back our Christmas budget, but that didn’t seem like enough. Something was just – missing. So we talked about it and we remembered that Christmas isn’t supposed to be about getting, but rather it’s about giving. After all, God gave Jesus to us and that is why we even have Christmas to celebrate.

We then had a sort of epiphany. We understood that we could give each other gifts that would be nice and appreciated, but honestly not really significant or we could give in a way that would make a real and lasting difference in the lives of others. Once we thought of it that way, it was easy to decide what to do. By choosing to give to others and really make a difference in their lives, instead of collecting more stuff, has given me a freedom that I didn’t even know I was lacking. Praise God!

I don’t know if we’ll do this again next year. I certainly don’t think it is wrong to exchange gifts. But for us, this year, the gift we’re receiving is the sense that we've done something that truly matters and our Father will be saying to us, “Well done, my good and faithful children.” Merry Christmas!

Giving, part 2

This Christmas season Tracy and I decided to do something a little different. I’m actually quite proud of Tracy. With all that is going on in the world and its effect on our situation, we had already decided to give less this Christmas season. But what I’m proud of is hearing that Tracy would rather give to ministries that give to others this Christmas season rather than give so much to each other. We’ll still do some things for our daughter and close family but our best gifts were to our church and World Vision.

Our church, Life Link, is one that God planted us in just as they were starting a building fund drive this fall. It’s a fairly young, vibrant, stable church and is making a difference in our local community. They have been around for just about three years, have grown to two regular Sunday morning services and are seeking to move into a permanent facility in order to better serve the community (they’ve been renting part of a school during their startup phase). They have a great vision to give back to the local communities and draw people into the message that Christ has for them.

World Vision reaches people virtually in all parts of the world. For what amounts to very little to most Americans, you can give a gift that will change a family for generations. From basic necessities like providing a source for clean drinking water to living farm animals that can produce milk and eggs or reproduce and increase their herds, to providing life saving medical supplies and immunizations to school supplies, World Vision touches thousands of lives, many in third world countries, with a gift as small as $30. It doesn’t take much, just a willing heart to be part of something bigger that can make a difference.

I think many of us get focused on “what can I do with my little part” but God is saying I’ll take your small part and mix it in with the small pieces others bring and make something magnificent out of it. It shouldn’t be about us getting to see the family that receives the gift we sent to World Vision but about being a conduit that God can use, free and willing to receive what God has in store for us to give away next.

I hope that you will join us in giving the way that God would lead you to and enjoy observing this great season and what God is doing in your life and those around you. May God bless you and have a wonderful Christmas this year!