Kick Out The Complacency
I find myself writing this sat on the end of Harry’s bed after too many days of a routine that Emily and I are all too familiar with – one filled with Doctors and nurses, of coffee runs to the Costa just downstairs, “sleeping” on an armchair that converts into a bed before the switch and going to work for the day. It’s a routine that we had avoided for 2 years and yet, here we are again, admission 2 in just over a month. The reality of our world is that we are so used to Harry and how he works that we missed a sign that he was quite poorly. We didn’t cause his illness, nor have we done anything to put him in danger but we almost became a bit complacent with his cold symptoms that we almost missed the bigger problem.
As I’ve been thinking about this, I actually think that we can often do this in our own lives. We almost become so used to the little things that aren’t really a problem, but if we don’t deal with it quickly enough it becomes a much bigger deal. We’ve all heard or read stories and messages like this before , of that I am very aware, but they normally focus on the self aspect, the you side of things. What are you allowing to become “ok” in your life etc etc. But I want to ask you in this moment what about in your teams? What about in your locations or areas of responsibilities? What things have you allowed to just linger that little too long?
One of my favourite books in the Bible is Judges. As I’ve been working through this, and thinking about writing, Judges seems like a great example of what can happen if we allow complacency to take over, but also the counter to that.
Throughout the book chapter after chapter begins with “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord…” and as I’m sure you know the result was them being taken captive or becoming subject to another nation. For years and years at a time. If we just read the text I think it can be easy to assume that the evil the Israelites committed was a one off thing each time, but in my opinion (and I am willing to be told I am wrong), I believe that it was more of a long term thing. Possibly, in the beginning was one person, one act that didn’t really mean anything – didn’t really hurt anyone. But as the complacency set in, and the one time thing became more and more, a reaction was needed.
I’m not saying that you or your teams are doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, but I am asking if there is anything that you’ve accepted and, as a result of complacency, it’s now become a little bit more than a small thing.
Throughout Judges, the solution that we see is a leader rising up, leading the nation to a point where they are, again, right in the eyes of the Lord and see Him come through for them again. So my challenge for you right now is this, it’s time to act on that “little” thing, the little cough that has been hanging around for a little too long and call up those around you. Kick out the complacency, become dissatisfied with the niggle, the “little” thing. As we do this we will see, like the Israelites throughout Judges, the blessing of God in our teams, locations, families and in our wider worlds. I think one of the biggest learning points through Judges though is that great leaders need to raise great leaders to follow.
Why did the Iraelites continue to do evil in the eyes of the Lord? I think because the dissatisfied leaders died, and there was no-one carrying the same level of dissatisfaction immediately following and so it took the take over to trigger the actions against complacency. I don’t think this is something that we have to contend with but I’m not willing to let it “just” happen in the background. Be eager to raise the next wave, be intentional on letting them journey with you. Let them see the niggle that you have against complacency. Then, I believe, we won’t see the highs and lows, swings and roundabouts, but rather see consistency through generations.
Kye Izatt