The Sin of Complacency –
From the heart of Pastor Calvin Cook
October 9, 2025
Scripture focus – “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.” 1 Peter 1:5-9
I along with over 100 clergy have returned from a time of retreat, refreshment, deep teaching, and conversation. Being part of these types of gatherings through my life have become essential to my spiritual formation, purpose, answering call, and living into the righteousness and holiness of God. It is basically about going deeper in our faith and staying there. The problem is we don’t always stay there; we return to the old and fall once again into our old selves and our old ways.
One of the focuses of the retreat reminded me of the need to listen and then respond. Going deep with God and experiencing forgiveness that leads to redemption. One of those sins that I often find myself returning to is the sin of complacency.
The scripture from James continues to speak “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” — James 4:17 (NIV) I know with all my heart, receive vision, share vision, struggle through trying to find energy for the right purpose but most importantly living up to the expectations that God has for me to answer His call.
Realizing that we live life through seasons, I also have concluded that we can’t live in the winter like we live in the summer. This season of life has led me and called me to become more grounded in the faith and perseverance that built the church. The early church had very little physically, yet they had the power and authority given to them by Jesus, and guided by the Holy Spirit, the world was rocked, and the church continues to rock the world in the name of Jesus, where faithfulness and commitment exist.
In this season of life, I have felt a profound call to the small church, the rural church, those who have been overlooked, misunderstood, for those who are seeking so much more, yet are not seeking religion but relationship with God. I also realize that from the beginning of the church that it was this group of people that tirelessly set the foundation of the church for us to stand on.
Whether it was the rebel fisherman Peter who was considered the rock on which the church was built, or the traveling circuit rider who took the gospel into the remotest of areas and the most forgotten of people that really shaped the world and especially in the areas many of us now call home.
This morning, I am journaling into knowing my calling from the God, mixing in my passions and even a bit of encouragement or lack of encouragement to focus on in this season of life and God’s calling. I feel encouraged this morning in how I feel the Holy Spirit in how this can and will be done – but I also know of this sin of complacency and what drives me to that.
Whether it be through discouragement of what is happening in the world that causes us to think there is no hope, or the one who says, “this can’t happen – be content with what you have”. Mostly it is me talking myself in and out of this call a hundred times a day – I must embrace what it means to be a follower of Jesus making a decision in what I will be devoted to.
There are so many thoughts I desire to share in this devotional, but because of time and space, I will with these verses 10 and 11 from 2 Peter 1 — “Therefore, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. 11For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
This should be a powerful reminder against procrastination but more importantly in not becoming complacent in appointment and call as sons and daughters of our loving heavenly Father, who rescued our souls at a cost. It means that we will not become complacent in drawing nearer to the heart of God, experiencing forgiveness, embracing redemption and living into that power and authority we have inherited.
Pray with me – This morning I am praying against the complacency of (insert the areas of your life where you are being complacent). I want to leave that which has consumed me and kept me from a genuine relationship with You where you are my everything. I pray this morning for the awareness of your Holy Spirit at work within me, your people, and the church. Cleanse me and renew me from all unrighteousness.
To God be the glory for ever and ever.
Thoughts from the Edges 
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