The Slow Fade

It’s an exciting time of year with many students graduating from high school and college and stepping into their futures. So much of life is still ahead of them, so much to look forward to, and so many decisions to make. Decisions that will shape the course of their lives.

As someone who has worked with teenagers for years, I find that high school graduation can be the most challenging for students. Far too many times, I’ve seen students go off to college and fall into complacency and compromise. In fact, I had a similar experience as an undergraduate student.

In this fourth and final installment of the mini-series on trust, we are going to unpack some truths around the slow fade that can happen in our faith overtime.

A while back, while reading the book of Amos, I was compelled to write some notes regarding complacency, based on Amos 6:1-7. In some Bible translations, this passage of scripture is titled “woe to the complacent.” But for context, Amos was a prophet in the Old Testament who was given a word of warning, calling the Israelites to repentance, to return to their covenant with God, to true worship, and to righteous living.

Woe to you that are complacent in Zion and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria… Amos 6:1a (NIV)

Those words stopped me in my tracks. As I pondered the deeper meaning, I began thinking about complacency and false security (or putting your trust in earthly things instead of in Heavenly treasures). This got me thinking about the idea of checking the “religious boxes,” or being someone who goes to church for the sake of going to church, doing so without a heart posture that desires more of God and to become like Jesus. The kind of heart posture that produces complacency.

The word complacency used in Amos 6:1 is Strong’s Hebrew 7600, meaning at ease (in a bad sense), secure, complacent, arrogant, and haughty.

In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word complacent means self-satisfied or unconcerned [synonym = nonchalant].

Complacency results from arrogance, which is rooted in pride. Not the kind of pride that is associated with self-esteem, confidence, or satisfaction in a job well done, but the kind of pride that is rooted in an attitude of superiority. You see, arrogance and complacency are negative by-products of success.

So, if the people in Amos 6:1 were complacent, then they had been allowing pride (hubris) and, therefore, arrogance to play out in their lives. And while we need Jesus to keep us humble so we don’t become proud, arrogant, and complacent, we also need to recognize that complacency doesn’t always look like stereotypical pride (it doesn’t always look “cocky”). Complacency can sneak into the areas of our hearts that we haven’t yet surrendered to God. It can be subversive, sneaking in when you aren’t looking and don’t expect it. You see, if we don’t recognize complacency and we allow it to linger (unchecked by God), it will grow and become harder to remove (a deeper, more established root).

In the absence of trust, we begin to compromise in our relationship with God and are more likely to compromise in our actions and beliefs.

It’s a trust issue!

In 2 Samuel 11, King David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), didn’t go to battle and fell into idleness that led to adultery and the murder of an innocent man. King David became comfortable in palace living and grew complacent, which led him to compromise.

Comfort → Complacency → Compromise

I don’t think anyone intends to become complacent or to compromise in their faith. It’s comfort that lulls us to sleep, if we let it. This progression of comfort that leads to complacency and to compromise, if left unchecked, is a slow fade. It’s a gradual, passive withdrawal that leads to lingering ambiguity, leaving information and situations open to multiple interpretations without a clear path forward.

The “slow fade” is rooted in relationship – relationship is built on trust. It’s a trust issue!

The 3 C’s of the “slow fade” move a person from fire (burning for Jesus) to frozen (stuck or firmly positioned and difficult to dislodge).

Comfort: Feeling security in your life and what you can do (apart from God).
Complacency: Lukewarm; spiritual laziness. Being self- centered instead of God-centered; trusting in your self-sufficiency over trusting in God. Growing comfortable in your walk with God or in this life.
Compromise: Allowing non-Biblical values to influence you – believing they are an easier path. This can result in spiritual apathy.

In Revelation 3:15-16, we are warned about the lukewarm or indifferent church. In this passage of scripture, we are told that God will spit the lukewarm believer out of His mouth. Although our God is good, gracious, loving, merciful, and kind, He is also just. He wants our all, He wants our very best. And in response to giving Him our very best, He promises that we will produce good fruit; that He will cause us to become the very best versions of ourselves. But being lukewarm. Having one foot in the church and one foot in the world. That is something that He just cannot tolerate.

It seems that the Laodician church, in Revelation 3, was struggling with problems similar to those of the Israelites in Amos 6. In fact, I find it interesting that Laodicea means “self-righteousness.”

…Their lying around while enjoying the good life will come to an end. Amos 6:7b (TPT)

We need a Godly (Biblical) understanding of, and vision for, the TRUE good life. The ideologies of this world may promise the good life, but they present a false vision of it. The true good life is the one that God intended for us from the beginning of time.

It’s time to return to Eden.

In the Garden of Eden, all was provided for mankind by God. It was a God-centered life and NOT a me-centered life. We were created to be in a close, constant relationship with God, walking with Him in the garden that He created for us. In a place of beauty, peace, and rest, where we neither toiled nor strived to provide for ourselves. While we can’t literally return to Eden in a physical sense, God is calling us back to Eden in our souls. To find our rest, peace, provision, joy, and true life fulfillment in a close, personal, consistent relationship with Him. One where we take on His perspective (a supernatural/Heavenly perspective) instead of a natural human perspective. One where we take God at His Word and trust Him with ALL.

The “slow fade” leads to destruction.

In Proverbs 1:32, we are warned that turning away from the faith and the careless ease, or complacency, of the self-righteous will destroy them. And in Proverbs 1:23, we are compelled to come back to our senses and to be restored to the true reality.

Repentance is a turning back to your senses. It’s a turning away from our sin (complacency/compromise) and a turning towards God.

We are made in God’s image; therefore, on an intrinsic level, we all know (and can sense) right from wrong. Foolishness, as the Bible calls it in Proverbs 1, leads to a numbing of the senses. That’s why we are admonished in 1 Peter 5:8-9 to be alert and sober-minded, and to stand firm in the faith. How do we do that?

Read the Word daily AND seek to understand it. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what you are reading.
Pray throughout each day. Prayer is how you communicate with God. To build a trusting relationship, there must be regular communication, both talking and listening.
Discipleship. Find believers who are a little further along in their faith journey and ask them to mentor/disciple you. Build a relationship with them and allow them to speak into your life, knowing their advice and admonishment comes from a place of love.
Community. Find a good, Christian community. Go beyond church attendance to building relationships with people with whom you can grow in faith.

There doesn’t have to be a slow fade in the early college years, or at any point in our adult lives. We can choose the narrow path that leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14) by applying the steps listed above. And, if we make a mistake, as we all do from time to time, we can trust that our God is goos, that He loves us and that when we come to Him in repentance, He forgives us and helps us correct our course.

Remember King David. While he wasn’t perfect, he was repentant and was still listed as a man after God’s own heart despite his shortcomings. God is more concerned with our heart posture than with anything we could ever do for Him.