Revelation 2:1-7

Editor’s Note: If you haven’t read it already, you’ll probably want to start with Part 1.

The battle plan

Whenever we come up against complacency, before we do anything, it is important to recognize two things. The first of these is that Jesus’ plan for dealing with complacency is simple. That is not to say that it is easy. Indeed, we shall see that it can be quite challenging, even harrowing. Rather, the plan is simple in the sense that it is not convoluted. You need not be a rocket scientist, an IRS agent, or an übersaint to implement it. In fact, I would submit that one of the greatest challenges to overcoming complacency is that we tend to overthink it! In this case, the KISS method is truly best: Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Second, Jesus’ plan is decisive. That is, it is effective only when it is executed quickly. Too often, when we recognize complacency, we move slowly. We lay out a plan of action and give ourselves six months or a year to implement it. That is, we plan to wait six months or a year before we will actually do anything, let alone see results. We fail to recognize that such an approach is itself symptomatic of complacency! It is imperative, therefore, that we act quickly whenever we discover complacency in our churches and in our lives!

That said, starting in Revelation 2:5, Jesus did outline a three-step battle plan for defeating complacency in the Ephesian church, and I believe this plan remains the most effective strategy for dealing with complacency today. Let us consider the strategy step-by-step.

Step 1: Remember

The first of these steps is to “remember… how far you have fallen.” In other words, think back to when you first believed. Remember what you did and why, and compare that to your actions and motivations now. Indeed, Matthew Henry observes that we “must compare [our] present with [our] former state, and consider how much better it was with [us] then than now, how much peace, strength, purity, and pleasure [we] have lost, by leaving [our] first love, how much more comfortably [we] could lie down and sleep at night, how much more cheerfully [we] could awake in the morning, how much better [we] could bear afflictions, and how much more becomingly [we] could enjoy the favours of Providence, how much easier the thoughts of death were to [us], and how much stronger [our] desires and hopes of heaven.”

In other words, we need to remember the hope; the excitement; and the all-encompassing, never-yielding love that we once had but now lack because, when we do that, we will begin to miss those things!

This first step seems simple, but as we take it, we must beware! Just as military strongholds are typically heavily fortified and defended, spiritual strongholds will not go down without a fight. As we embark on this first step of the plan, our enemy the devil will take note, and more often than not, he will launch a counterattack! Namely, while we are remembering how things once were, he will remind us also of the mistakes that we made along the way. “It is not that we have lost our passion,” he will whisper. “Rather, we are simply working that much smarter than we were before.” Indeed, our enemy, sly and conniving as he is, will try to convince us that we have not lost anything at all, but that we have grown in “wisdom” and “maturity.” When, he will ask, was the last time you saw a wise person go hungry or thirsty, work to exhaustion, or endure a beating? When did you see a mature person do something ridiculous? And so on and so forth.

Because Satan will counterattack with these things, we must be discriminating in what we remember. We need to remember the actions and attitudes – particularly, the love and zeal – which we had at first. Yes, these may have led us to make some mistakes from time to time, but they are the very essence of the pulse-pounding, breath-skipping “first love” that we have lost. And our objective in this first step is to remember – and crave – these things.

Step 2: Repent!

The second step of Jesus’ plan for overcoming complacency is wrapped up in a single word: Repent! If you have been around the church for any length of time, it is quite likely that you have heard this word thrown around. Most of us, however, are not overly fond of repentance. Why? Because real, biblical repentance involves two things.

The first component of repentance is grief and shame over the way things are and the direction they are going. In other words, as distasteful as it is, we must recognize that we were wrong. Our complacency is our fault. We did not simply fall out of love, but rather, our decisions and actions have, one by one, allowed this stronghold to become established. And it is absolutely not okay.

Grief and shame alone, however, do not constitute repentance. Indeed, if this is all we do, we will only continue to spiral into complacency. The whole point of repentance, though, is to stop going the way we have been going, to turn around, and to set out again in the opposite direction.

This is particularly important because, just as he tried to use our act of remembering against us in the first step of Jesus’ battle plan, when we take this second step, our enemy will not hesitate to take advantage of grief and shame.

Generally speaking, the Maginot Line was between twelve and sixteen miles deep. As enemy forces grew nearer to the main fortifications, the defenses grew thicker and stronger. The second line of defense was a network of virtually impenetrable obstacles. Tank and personnel barricades incapacitated men and equipment, and low-lying areas were flooded, creating swamps that would bog down any attack.

Satan will use grief and shame in the same way. After all, his name does mean “accuser.” He, then, is more than happy to let us feel the guilt and shame. He is more than willing to remind us that we are inept, inadequate, and incapable of change. In short, Satan will do whatever he must to trap us in the first part of repentance and ensure that we never make it through the turn, and if we allow him to succeed, then we will never defeat the stronghold of complacency.

In fact, we will end up worse than when we began.

Step 3: Do

Which leads us, necessarily, to the third step of Jesus’ battle plan for defeating this stronghold of complacency: “do the works you did at first.” It is interesting that Jesus does not suggest praying that our passion would be rekindled. Neither does he recommend a six- or twelve-month program for implementing new actions or improving existing ones. Instead, he commands immediately doing the things that we did when we were first saved. Not the dumb things, of course. Rather, do the things that made a positive kingdom impact but were later scratched because they were a hassle, drew ridicule, or demanded sacrifice.

What sort of things did you do when you were first saved? If you were anything like me, you probably devoured Scripture. You told people about Jesus often, regardless of how much you knew or did not know. You started seeking out and destroying anything about your life that you knew was sinful. Did you enthusiastically seize every opportunity to serve? Did you hear a biblical promise and immediately act on blind faith?

Similarly, what will church plants do that your church will not? No, this is not a reference to a particular music style. The church plants I have seen are committed to serving, both in church and in the community. They don silly costumes for parades and those big cartoon hands to make people feel welcome. They do not hesitate to spend whatever resources they have to minister effectively. Does your church exude enthusiasm at the offering plate? Does it see needs in the community and do everything in its power to meet them? Does it pray as though everything depends on it?

Overcoming the stronghold of complacency does not require new programs or methods. Rather, it involves old actions and attitudes. As Matthew Henry explains, we “must endeavour to revive and recover [our] first zeal, tenderness, and seriousness, and must pray as earnestly, and watch as diligently, as [we] did when [we] first set out in the ways of God.” This is key! We must do the things we did when we were first saved, with the same gusto as when we were first saved, for the same reasons as when we were first saved!

Once again, though, we must beware Satan’s counterattack. In fact, it is here that our enemy pulls out the big guns by attempting to convince us that simply doing the things we did at first, before the passion is rekindled, is disingenuous, and he has a point. Jesus’ plan sounds an awful lot like a “fake it ‘til you make it” approach, and there are few things that our culture resents more than something fake! Moreover, Satan suggests that passion is like the fuel which drives our actions, and we all know that we cannot act on an empty tank.

Here is the thing, though: Satan is a liar. The truth is that passion is not the fuel, but the exhaust. That is, contrary to what our enemy would have us believe, acting passionately produces passion rather than burns it!

The Alternative

If the enemy’s defenses do not frighten you, they should. Everyone should have a healthy respect for their enemy, especially when they wield such formidable defenses. However, this should not deter us from pressing on to victory. Indeed, as scary as the enemy and his defenses may be, the alternative is even worse. Consider the second half of verse 5: “Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

The lampstand, of course, is a reference to chapter 1, where John observed Jesus walking amongst seven such stands. In Revelation 1:20, Jesus revealed that “the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” Now, Jesus threatens that, if they do not repent, the lampstand representing Ephesus will be removed. That is, the church would cease to be a church.

This should not surprise us. Countless churches today have ceased to be churches. Some of these have closed their doors, but many others have not. Instead of endeavoring to rescue people mired in sin, they aim to entertain good people. Instead of building bridges to the surrounding community, they sit around a table playing bridge and gossiping about the community. Instead of picking up their crosses daily and boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus regardless of the cost, they focus on extending physical life as long and as comfortably as possible. Oh, these entities’ signs still read “Church.” Some of them are even celebrated for their growth and strength, but they have in fact become little more than resorts, country clubs, and nursing homes.

Equally grave are the implications for individuals who fail to overcome complacency. Indeed, one could argue that, when St. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, the root of the problem in the church at Corinth was complacency. In 1 Corinthians 3, he did not warn them against doing nothing. Rather, he warned them of building stuff with wood, hay, or straw. With wood, hay, and straw, one could build a much larger and more impressive structure, but it was still just good enough. Is that not the essence of complacency? And what was the end of that which was just good enough? Consider 1 Corinthians 3:13-15: “Each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved – but only as through fire.” That is, the best case scenario when shooting for good enough is that one is saved as through fire, with just the clothes on his or her back. The worst case is that one misses, and “good enough” is not really good enough at all.