Complacency and Catastrophe

The title of the second sermon today is, Complacency and Catastrophe.

Complacency and Catastrophe.

On April the 10th, 1912, the RMS Titanic departed from Southampton, England, on her maiden voyage to New York City. At the time, she was the largest, most luxurious ship ever built. An engineering marvel of the modern world, she was outfitted with grand staircases, opulent dining salons, the latest communication technology. But what truly set the Titanic apart in the minds of many was the belief that she was virtually unsinkable.

The builders, white star line, and even the press shared in this dangerous confidence.

A popular publication at the time called The Shipbuilder described the Titanic's design as, quote, practically unsinkable, end quote, due to her 16 watertight compartments.

Captain Edward Smith, a respected veteran of the sea, reportedly said before the voyage, quote, I cannot imagine any condition which would cause the ship to founder. I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel, end quote. That was in the Christian monitor of April 1912, the month the Titanic sailed.

This sense of invincibility influenced key decisions, decisions that would prove fatal.

Though the Titanic could carry over 2,200 passengers and crew, she carried lifeboats for only 1,178.

This was actually in compliance with maritime law at the time, which hadn't yet caught up with the size of modern ships. So what was the rationale for having so few lifeboats? Lifeboats were seen more of a means of ferrying people and passengers to safety, not a lifeline for everybody on board.

They just needed to get out a means to get people off the boat and onto another boat, because the boat's not going to sink.

Warnings about icebergs began coming in from other ships in the area. On April the 14th, the Californian and the Masaba both sent warnings via wireless telegraph.

However, Titanic's radio operators, busy transmitting passengers' personal messages, either ignored or downplayed the alerts. Some of the messages never even reached the bridge.

That night, the Titanic steamed ahead at over 22 knots through the icy waters of the North Atlantic. 22 knots is booking. That is fast for a vessel of that size.

At 11.40 p.m., she struck an iceberg on her starboard side. The impact ripped open five of the ship's watertight compartments. One too many for the ship to remain afloat. She was doomed.

So the design actually worked. Only the other compartments worked. Only it ripped open one too many. Despite the gravity of the situation, despite how desperately they were in trouble, the early response was marked by denial and delay.

Obviously, there's going to be a spiritual lesson here, so pay attention, please. Passengers were told there was nothing to worry about. Some even returned to their cabins. A first-class passenger later recalled of being assured by an officer that it was, quote, nothing serious.

Philip Franklin, who was the vice president of White Star in New York City, he was nowhere near the ship at the time. He was on land in New York. He decided to calm the world by giving updates to the press. He gave this statement when the news of the accident first broke. Here's the vice president of White Star in New York City. This is his comment to everybody on the boat and in the world.

This is according to the New York Times, April 15. Quote, there is no cause for excitement. All of you get what you can in the way of clothes and come to the deck as soon as you can. She is torn to bits below, but she will not sink if her after-bulk heads hold. That was absolutely untrue. Reality was far worse. The lifeboats were launched poorly. Get this, brethren. They were launched often half full. As passengers hesitated to leave, what still appeared to be a safe and solid ship. The crew had not been fully trained on evacuation procedures and lifeboat drills were actually cancelled during the voyage.

Confusion rained on the deck of the Titanic as it sank. How was this happening to us? Out of the 2,200 people the Titanic could hold, over 1,500 people died. Men, women, and children. That leaves only about 700 left. Many of them perished in freezing waters due to inadequate lifeboat capacity and poor emergency management. In the wake of the tragedy, critics were swift to condemn, as critics always are, but what did they condemn this time?

The culture of arrogance and neglect that had led to this disaster. One scathing commentary came from Thomas Russell, a British naval architect. He publicly criticized the overconfidence of the ship's designers in the Daily Telegraph on April 18, just three days after she sank. This is what Thomas Russell said, quote, What was wanted was not confidence but precaution, not heedlessness but vigilance, not hasty pride but humble responsibility. The builders of the Titanic gave her size but not safety, end quote. Russell's words captured the heart of the failure. The tragedy wasn't simply a mechanical or navigational error.

It was a failure of judgment, rooted in human pride. And what I want to focus on the sermon today is institutional complacency. It wasn't just one man's complacency. They were all complacent. Willful ignorance of warnings. So let's turn this on us and draw a lesson from it. Do you ever get tired of learning new things? When is enough enough? At what point do you say, the church is boring? I get it. I've learned what I need to learn. This goes very well with the first sermon, by the way.

We hear questions like that and we tend to get pious. We tend to get very religious in our attitude towards them. And we answer, well, of course, never is the right answer. You never learn enough. I would never think the church is boring. I would never say enough is enough. Really. That doesn't always hold true in our actions. Oh, that's our answer on our tongue. But that's not how we behave. Our Christianity, sometimes either by accident or simply by being overwhelmed by life, becomes dull.

Do we study the Bible every day? Do we pray earnestly like we used to when we were first baptized? Do we attend church as regular as possible? Do we take advice? Or have we become complacent? It's easy to become complacent in your spiritual walk. What is complacency? Webster's dictionary defines complacency as self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers and deficiencies.

You are satisfied with yourself. I'm good. That's complacency. Here's our key scripture for today, Proverbs 1, verse 32. I'm going to read from the English Standard Version. The English Standard Version does the Proverbs a little bit more justice than the New King James. Proverbs 1, verse 32. For the simple are killed by their turning away, by not paying attention, in other words. And complacency of fools destroys them. Self-confidence, no need to change, leads to disastrous results. Let's look at a few biblical examples of complacency and how they led to disaster. How about Lot's sons-in-law? I say son-in-laws, which is grammatically totally incorrect. It's sons-in-law. What about them?

They received a warning, but they ignored it. Genesis 19, verse 14. So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters. Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city. But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. So what happened the next morning? The angels rushed. Lot and his family out. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. The sons-in-law remained and were destroyed. Complacency? We're good. When they weren't. When they were about to die, they had no need to take advice.

Here's another example of complacency. Ancient Israel themselves. They were more satisfied with slavery in Egypt than walking to the Promised Land. Oh, I know you get tired walking, but it's not that complicated of a job. You walk, you pick up manna, you sleep. Next day, repeat. And you will have a wonderful life protected and provided by God. Not complicated, but human nature doesn't do that. Numbers 14, verse 1.

Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. Why were they weeping? Spies that just spied out the land, and there were giants in the land. The giants weren't bigger than God, just bigger than the people, but the people were afraid anyway. They had one job. One job. Walk towards the kingdom of God. That's our job. One job. Verse 2. All the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. Moses and Aaron didn't bring them in the desert. God did. The whole congregation said to them, would that we had died in the land of Egypt, or would that we had died in the wilderness. Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to fall by the sword? What an attitude. What a lack of gratitude. What a lack of faith. Our wives and our little ones will become prey. What an insult to God. And they said to one another, let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt. Like we heard in the first sermon today, let's leave Jesus. So they were destroyed. Their journey in the wilderness led to only the wilderness. Their bones were buried along the way, and only the children of those complacent grumblers entered the Promised Land. They had one job. And what about the people of the world before Noah's flood? In Genesis 6 and 7. What about those people? What complacency they had. They were eating and drinking and marrying and ignoring Noah's warnings. Noah preached to them for decades. He warned them. Oh, that crazy Noah, a guy who was building a boat nowhere near water. What a crazy man! They had more than enough warning. They had the lives to live complacently. They ignored the warnings. In favor of routine. In favor of routine. While judgment loomed. We're warned of a complacent church at the end times. We're warned not to be like those on the Titanic. Like Lot's sons-in-law. Like ancient Israel. Like the people before the flood. We're warned that the church, not might, will become complacent. We're warned that we could become complacent. We don't have to be. There are apparently two different groups at the end time. The Philadelphian group and the Laodicean group. We don't have to be complacent. But complacency will be in the church in the end time. And you know what? The only person you can change is yourself. Keep this warning, and don't let this ever be said of you. Revelation 3, verse 14. Revelation 3, verse 14. And the angel of the church of Laodicea write, The words of the Amen, the faithful and the true witness, of the beginning of God's creation. Jesus Christ, in other words. Verse 15. I know your works, Jesus says. You are neither cold nor hot. You're good where you are.

You don't need to be cold or hot. You don't need to improve. I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you either would be cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, here's the attitude. Here's the complacency. You say, I am rich, spiritually speaking. This is a spiritual warning to a spiritual church. You could be dirt poor, physically, and this still apply to you. Listen to the complacency. It has nothing to do with physical wealth. I am rich. I have prospered. I am in need of nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Spiritually. You know what that word naked represents in the Bible? Shame. Jesus Christ is saying, and I'm ashamed of you. I did so much for you. He didn't just take a beating and die, but he guided you. And you said, nah, I'm good. I don't want your guidance. I'm good. Complacency. And he said, I am ashamed of you. Spiritual lukewarmness is self-satisfaction. It is seeing no deficiency, no need to change, in need of nothing. The following verse is, Jesus instructs all of them who have drifted into complacency to be zealous and repent. There is a solution. And the solution is a decision. It's a simple decision. You know what? My Savior is correct. I need to change. That's it. We're going to go through a couple of points on how to do it, on what it looks like. But it literally is a decision in your mind. It's like saying, be determined to change and then do it. That's the solution. So I have two points to help us do just that. I was actually going to make it just one point in order to keep this sermon very simple today, but I would be neglectful to mention the second point. So there are two points today in the sermon. Two things to battle complacency, that self-assurance, that you are in need of nothing when you're actually headed towards disaster. Two things that will help you have security, knowing you're actually going to be safe and secure spiritually.

The first lesson is, pay closer attention. Pay closer attention to your daily Christian duties.

Pay closer attention to your daily duties. Hebrews 2, verse 1. Hebrews 2, verse 1. Therefore, when Paul says, therefore, he is making a conclusion statement. Paul is very wordy, sometimes hard to get through, so you look for the therefore. It's like the flag in the golf hole, right? It's there to give you hope. Here's my goal. Therefore, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard.

Listen to this key phrase he ends this with. Lest we drift away from it. In a world filled with noise and distraction and shifting values, it's easy. I would say it's even unnoticeable at first to begin drifting from the truth we once held firm. But the Scripture warns us that spiritual drift doesn't happen all at once.

Pay closer attention, he said. Lest we drift away, not run away, not quickly abandoned. It happens gradually when we stop listening carefully, we stop examining ourselves. We let routine take place of genuine commitment. Are you in a rut? Do you feel like you're in a rut? This verse calls us to renew our focus on the words of the Bible, the things we had heard. He's talking about Scripture, the teachings that have grounded our faith, on the hope that gives us life and direction. He's saying, stay anchored to God's Word and remain steadfast in prayer. So here's what you can do to battle complacency.

Don't assume that yesterday's understanding is enough for today's challenges.

Don't think that what you've already learned is going to get you through what you haven't yet experienced.

Stay close to God. Listen, continue to His Word carefully with humility. Stay strong, and don't let yourself drift away off the path of life. So study the Bible every day. Don't rely on coming to church once a week, or every other week, whatever your habit you've drifted into.

Study your Bible every day. Let God instruct you, let Him teach you. Grow in your journey. Walk further down the path every day.

And along with that, pray earnestly. You will notice when you drift away, your prayers get shorter and shorter and shorter, until you think, well, I didn't pray today. That's the drift that happens. Pray like you used to when you were first baptized. Ask God to guide you to do His will today. Guide me not just to do my will today, but let me glorify your name today. Work through me to shine your light in me today. Earnestly pray. Ask God to show you how to grow that day. So pray and study every day. That's point number one.

Attend your daily Christian duties every day. But there's another thing that we need to do as well to overcome complacency. This is a very simple sermon. Very, very simple. Point number one is pay closer attention. Point number two, seek and take wise advice. Oh, this is such a big deal. Especially in Texas. I love Texas. I love our brethren. I do. We don't take advice.

Oh, no. Don't tell me what to do. Neighbor of mine, just put up a sign that I've seen for three decades now that I've been in Texas for three decades. I've seen this sign so many times, and he just put it up over his fence. It's a sign with some words with a little revolver. Hang in. What do you think those words are? We don't dial 911. A warning to anybody that, hey, we're Texan. Right? We are Texan. Don't mess with us. Which has its good side, but you flip that coin over and it has a stubborn side. Where we don't take wise counsel.

Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 14. Proverbs 11 and verse 14. Where there is no guidance, a people falls. But in the abundance of counselors, there is safety. Safety is the opposite of disaster. Live in complacency, risk disaster. Take advice, live in safety. Complacency leads to disaster and abundance of counselors taking advice from many expert sources. Not just picking and choosing, but really gaining a broad perspective from as many experts as you can.

Leads to the opposite of complacency. In this case, safety. Let's read another companion proverb to this. Solomon's very repetitive, so it gives different angles of taking advice. Proverbs 15 and verse 22. Proverbs 15 and verse 22.

Without counsel, plans fail. How did they go wrong? It was so perfect. You didn't know what you didn't know. You can't know what you don't know unless you ask somebody who knows. Good planning requires input from other sources. Success is far more likely when you seek and accept advice. The Israelites, they could have listened to God and Moses and lived.

The pre-flood people around Noah, they could have heeded decades of advice, repented, and lived. The owners and the crew of the Titanic could have taken advice. Tons of advice! Even if they didn't have enough lifeboats, they could have simply turned south when they got the warning about the icebergs and not hit the icebergs. But they plowed through confidently. We're rich and increased with the goods in need of nothing. We're the Titanic!

Are you the Titanic? Instead, they ignored advice and over 1,500 people died. The Titanic stands as a timeless parable of what happens when confidence replaces caution. And warnings go unheeded. Like the church in Laodicea, which believed itself rich and secure, while being wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and absolutely shameful. The Titanic's downfall wasn't from ignorance. They knew what they were doing.

It was from neglect, pride, and inaction. You are the Church of God. You know the Scriptures. That's not the issue. Warnings were given to the Titanic. Provisions were possible. Time was available. But complacency delayed response. And the window to act closed. We went through only two things to overcome complacency.

Don't avoid your daily duties. Settle your Bible and pray every day. And take an abundance of advice. Especially before making a major decision. Our key Scripture today was Proverbs 1 and 32. Let me read it again. The simple are killed by turning away.

Meaning not paying attention. And the complacency of fools destroys them. It teaches us that turning away from wisdom, neglecting correction or truth, leads to personal ruin. Complacency, which is false security, passive living, just getting into a routine, leaves us unprepared for crisis, whether physical, moral, or eternal, as we saw in Revelation chapter 3. Wisdom calls out in the streets and calls right now, while there is still time to respond. We read Proverbs 1 and 32.

It's our key verse. The very next verse gives the solution. Proverbs 1 and 33. The very next verse. But whoever listens to me, that's God's wisdom, will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster. You want to avoid disaster? Pay close attention and take advice. Listen to God, talk to God, take advice from experts around you that God has provided for you. Don't assume that you are sufficient in yourself to face the future.

You and I are called to overcome a very challenging, selfish person inside. We are called to become a wise and loving person like Jesus Christ is. That takes a lot of effort, and it takes a lot of paying attention. Complacency or self-satisfaction leads to being unaware of our actual dangers and deficiencies.

If you've become complacent, put some salve on your eyes. Meaning, take a good look at yourself and ask God to show you where you need to change. So you can be zealous for your spiritual growth again. Complacency will destroy you, but whoever listens to God's wisdom will dwell secure and be at ease, without dread of disaster.