Lackadaisical Faith: The result of careless, lazy faith and how to lack no good thing
In 2002, Purpose Drive Life was published by Rick Warren. This book gained visibility and popularity in both the secular and religious sectors. I imagine it did because it strikes a chord with the deepest questions we have as people – who are why, why do we exist and what’s the purpose of all of this?
I was a junior in college when I read the book for the first time. I picked the book up because I thought it would help answer questions I was facing as I prepared for my final year of college, wrestling with what I should do next. The book poignantly asks the question, “What on earth am I here for?” I took one look at the cover, and immediately my soul said, “YES! Yes, that is what I want to know.”
I admit, I was eager to read the book because I thought at the end of it, I would know what my next steps should be. I believed I would walk away with a sense of direction and “purpose” in the sense of a career path. I wanted to know what was next. I hungered for answers about me. I hungered for clarity for me and my life.
As I got into the book, my faith walk and my relationship with God was challenged. The book revealed to my spirit that I was living a sideline kind of faith. It pointed out that I was lazy in my walking with God. It exposed that I sought all the benefits of being God’s child but wasn’t interested or invested in surrender to God as the priority in my life.
Indeed, I received some answers about purpose as I read. But the answers I received were less about me and more about God. Through reading this book I obtained something I didn’t even know I needed.
The Purpose Driven Life helped me to see that God is looking for men and women who are actively seeking Him. Who desires what He desires. Who longs to be close to Him and connected to Him. Who are willing to put relationship with Him at the center of their lives.
The more I read the more it became clear to me that I was living a lackadaisical faith. I was in the rut of going through the motions of religion, but not being transformed by the gospel, not living by the spirit. I was not seeking the heart and person of God…just His benefits.
My faith was careless and lazy. This lackadaisical approach to life, to relationships, to work and to faith leads to dissatisfaction and empty striving. Rick Warren wrote, “Your commitments can develop you or they can destroy you, but either way, they will define you. Tell me what you are committed to, and I will tell you what you will be in twenty years. We become whatever we are committed to….Many are afraid to commit to anything and just drift through life. Others make half-hearted commitments to competing values, which leads to frustration and mediocrity.”
What was I committed to? SELF. And that led me to half-hearted faith. I drifted through life missing out of the blessings of living sold-out for God.
I believe that carelessness and laziness plague our culture today. But as the Bible tells us there is “nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9) What caused the people of Israel to be distant from God thousands of years ago, is the same reality we face today. The war of who’s on the throne of our hearts. Us or God? The Israelites walked through seasons hunger and self-imposed suffering because of the same empty, lazy and careless faith that we are tempted to live out today.
In Psalm 34:10 David wrote, “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” (Psalm 34:10 ESV)
That is precisely what I was feeling. I was hungry for answers. I sought after a career and thought discovering my purpose would satisfy. I wanted something on this earth – namely relationship – to fill the hunger I felt. But The Purpose Driven Life helped to shift my focus and help me understand that my purpose in and of itself was not meant to satisfy. It was only God who could do that.
One of my favorite quotes from The Purpose Driven Life is “Your wisest moments are those when you say yes to God.” Saying yes to God means that we understand that His ways are higher and better than ours, His thoughts are better than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). This understanding is what makes us wise. Our “yes” to God is an active step toward God. And it is a daily active choice that dethrones self and enthrones God.
Our “yes” to God defines our lives. It gives purpose to everything we do and speak. Our “yes”, our commitment to God opens the door to what David wrote in Psalm 34, we “lack no good thing.”
Often, we don’t give ourselves over to God because of the fear that we will live a life of lack. It’s not that we turn our backs from Him, we are lukewarm. I think we are fearful of what a whole-hearted commitment to God means. But the Bible tells us is that life without Him leaves us suffering in hunger and want. We starve ourselves when we withhold our attention and affection from God.
Revelation 3:16 says, “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
But seeking God, is a life of lacking nothing. In Him, we have everything we need. We must trust Him, and in faith believe that He will satisfy every hunger and meet every need. As we get to know Him what we want and hunger for does change. And He provides every step of the way.
The cost of lackadaisical faith is unquenchable hunger and want. But when we choose to seek after God with our whole heart, we lack nothing. The result of careless, lazy faith is an incessant striving for things that will never satisfy.
A life devoted to putting Christ first, putting him at the center of it all, is a life lived in worship, wholly surrendered to Him. This life with certainty comes with a cost. Warren in The Purpose Driven Life says, “One thing worship costs us is our self-centeredness. You cannot exalt God and yourself at the same time. You don’t worship to be seen by others or to please yourself. You deliberately shift the focus off yourself.”
This is the root; the reason why lackadaisical faith is so tempting. Because we are lulled into the belief that we can “have our cake and eat it too.” We can exalt God and exalt self. But this is not possible. Lazy faith is exalting self. It is declaring that what we want is more important to us than what God wants.
Keep in mind, that when I read The Purpose Driven Life for the first time in college, I was attending church, I was involved in campus ministry and leading a Bible study. I was “doing” the right things. I was “involved” but my faith was lazy. I was living life on my own terms, wrapped on the exterior with Christian-ese.
It’s interesting that the exterior doesn’t always represent the interior – the heart of the person. I suppose that is the purpose of the adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” My heart was very “me” focused. Can you relate?
The good news is that His mercies are new every day (Lamentations 3:22). And we can start today to take another step toward living ALL IN for Jesus.
Knowing where you are in your faith is the first step. Are you lackadaisical or seeking? Are you passive or active in your faith journey?
Are you “doing” religious things for the sake of self or because you are surrendered to God’s best?
Are you half-hearted in your commitment to God? How often do you think about God? Pray? Read His word? If you are praying and reading the Bible, are they checklist items? Or are you participating because you are driven by love for the Father?
What do you think saying “yes” to God will cost you? What are you willing to give up in order to have a deeper relationship with God?
These questions are just a launch pad for you to consider, to reflect and to shift. I encourage you, don’t stay the same. I encourage you to face your beliefs about lack you think you may experience by being wholly committed to God. Hand them over to Him, and instead experience that you will “lack no good thing.”
Would you consider joining me this week on ALL IN with Stephanie as we dig into this topic of Lackadaisical Faith and how with God, we lack no good thing.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday @ 8:30am on most podcast platforms.
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