Ep.1198: Am I Passionate or Complacent About Jesus?
Understanding passion’s role and complacency’s danger in Christianity
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: Philippians 3:13
Every Christian loves Jesus and every Christian wants to be acceptable to him. None of us ever wants to take his sacrifice on our behalf for granted. We don’t want to fall into a pattern of complacency where we don’t appreciate the blessings he gives us. While these are all well-stated intentions, we need to dig in much deeper to see how to make them well-lived principles. How do we actually live our love for Jesus, and what role does passion play in that life? Where do the dangers of complacency lurk? Is all passion positive? Is feeling content really expressing a lack of appreciation for what God does for us? Fortunately, the Scriptures give us very clear answers to all of this!
Are I spiritually complacent?
To be complacent is to be in a self-satisfied state with little or no awareness of deficiencies or danger. This is a really easy and appealing state of mind, as it focuses on everything being just the way we want it to be. The lack of awareness issues that come with it can be easily ignored by simply smothering them with our feelings of satisfaction. Out of sight, out of mind.
This is obviously a dangerous place to live if we are Christians. The very idea of self-satisfaction is in direct contradiction to our stated focus of following Jesus. The Pharisees reminded us of how blinding complacency can be. Of all the people in Israel, they had the best education and the best access to their Holy Scriptures regarding the coming of their Messiah. When Jesus arrived they rejected him, choosing to rely on their power and position instead of the prophecies in God’s Word. They were just too comfortable to see the error of their ways. That comfort caused them to lose God’s favor.
Can I be too passionate?
Passion is the other side of the story. Passion is a strong feeling, be it positive or negative that can drive us to action. We all have experienced our own passion. We have also seen it in others. One obvious observation that needs to be clearly stated is that all passion is not good. As a matter of fact, most of our passions tend to bring us down dark roads that often dead-end at regret. Why? Most passion is emotion-driven, and many of our emotions are self-centered and riddled with sin.
So, how are we supposed to be passionate about Jesus if passion can be just as bad as complacency? Check out our October 4, 2021 podcast, “Am I Passionate or Complacent About Jesus?” to expose the pitfalls of complacency. We break down and discuss how passion works. How can we find godly and compelling motivation to put Christ-centered passion in place? Managing the passions in our lives can be just as challenging as avoiding the complacency traps that surround us. Join us for this enlightening journey towards true discipleship and true passion for Jesus!
Who is Jesus? He is currently the Divinely authorized director of the entire 1000 yr Millenial Day, since AD1874. Rejoicingly.