Cynicism and complacency

You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?”

When you say, “Everyone who does what is evil is good in the Lord’s sight, and He is pleased with them,” or “Where is the God of justice?” (Malachi 2:17)

The cynic flatters himself or herself as a hard-eyed realist, a down-to-earth, unfazed, practical person of experience—especially in comparison with "the idiots who maintain some kind of fool hope or optimism." The cynic has been there, done that, and been disappointed. Won't do that again—no way! Won't feel that way again—not on your life!

“I won't be tricked into hope—I’m too street-smart for that.”

Cynicism often leads to complacency. Just because those who defy God’s law have often seemed immune to any retribution or worse still seem to propers, it does not give us the licence to be complacent. The Lord’s sense of time is very different from ours.

Complacency is the biggest killer and a silent time-bomb. Many industrial accidents were due to carelessness and complacency of those in charge of safety. The sinking of the Titanic had killed many lives mainly due to complacency. They thought the ship was so huge and so well constructed that it will never sink - and hence only prepared for half the lifeboats needed.

Likewise, our lives are relatively comfortable; we may even feel superior in terms of intellectual and material resources we possessed. Often times, we Christians live life that is no different from that of the world. Cynicism and complacency infect everyone of us.

Let us heed the words of Malachi, especially in 3: 17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”