How do we live the proper balance between being content with God’s plan and our progress within His will and plan for us while at the same time, not falling into an attitude of complacency? Complacency I believe is literally a mental illness for many Christians and not Christians. As I define complacency in Christendom or ministry it is the smug and at times, unwarranted arrogance regarding one’s achievements. Further, it’s thinking of oneself in a much more higher fashion than they should, which ultimately will lead to stagnation and stunted growth and development.

Complacent Christians stop growing, and complacent churches will eventually die. To rest on one’s laurels as if there is no more room for growth, maturity and development is really a stewardship issue. Shouldn’t a Christian man or woman of God strive to be all that God wants them to become? Isn’t our journey incomplete until we become fully conformed into the image of His Son? (Romans 8:29) Literally we can answer that question with this answer: “ our work on this side of heaven, is never done”. Since individual Christians should never stop moving forward, nor should the Body or the local which simply is  the collective group of those individuals.

Denominations are dying because of complacency. Marriages grow stale because of complacency. Employees stop getting promoted because of complacency. Businesses get swallowed up and lose market share because of their complacency. Churches often do well in reaching one generation only to see the children of the next generation flee because of the church’s irrelevance and being out of touch. Complacency will cause you to lose site of your changing customer. If Toys R Us tries to reach today's’ children with toys that were popular in the 1970’s they would go out of business.  If churches keep trying to reach today’s generation by employing methods from the 1970’s they are simply irrelevant and out of touch.

Certainly I am not making the case that complacency is the only reason why marriages, businesses, and churches fail, but I am making the case that any person or any entity that fails to look forward and that fails to look at the changing cultural dynamics , will be relevant in one season and irrelevant in the season to come. I am also not making the case for reckless, or zealous change for the sake of thrill and fun. Being reckless and thrill seeking is not the anecdote to complacency either. Rather the anecdote to complacency is to constantly seek the face of God and to constantly seek to walk in the Center of His will!

From my perspective, the biblical synonym for complacency is “lukewarm” which would equate to someone so proudly satisfied with yesterdays accomplishments that they become oblivious to the Holy Spirit’s leading them into new territory.  The biblical antonym for complacent would be zealous (highly energetic or enthusiastic in the pursuit of God’s Kingdom Agenda)

7 signs of Complacency individually and Corporately:

1. A constant disdain for training or wanting to learn something new or beyond your normal realm
2. A belief that no one will ever build a better mousetrap than you. The moment you believe this your competition has already surpassed you
3. An unwillingness to study best practices of others who are higher than you or visit like individuals or organizations that are pushing the envelope
4. A refusal to engage in changing and innovative technology
5. Making statements like “I’ve learned all I am going to learn, I have done all I am going to do, I am at my peak and I refuse to go any further, don’t ask me to do anything else
6. Statements like: Why are we always changing? What’s wrong with the old way?
7. Liking comfort so much, that change and progress actually irritates you
   

Bonus:
The last time you thought, acted or did something innovative or stepped out of your comfort zone was “you can’t even remember”