An Expectation of Nothing Part II
“Rat poison,” is a passiveness, lack of focus, and idleness created by a belief that one deserves certain privileges or treatment without having to earn it.
Throughout Paul’s journey to advance the gospel, he found value even in unexpected divinely planned situations. A storm-tossed shipwrecked ship was no problem; he ministered to the people of Malta (Acts 27-28). Imprisonment was frequent, but he found value. Singing hymns to God with Silas at midnight and a divine earthquake, the jailer “had come to believe in God with his entire household” (Acts 16:34b). In unfounded accusations leading to his arrest from the high priest and elders when their lawyer Tertullus presented their case to Felix saying, “For we have found this man to be a plague, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the Roman world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5). Paul capitalized on this unexpected divinely planned circumstance to discuss “the subject of faith in Christ Jesus” (Acts 24:24b) with Felix and his Jewish wife Drusilla.
Paul’s only expectation was that God would use him in any way or circumstance in which he made himself available. How did Paul develop and maintain a mindset grounded in an expectation of nothing? What would happen if making disciples involved in training followers of Jesus who view NOTHING is more important than “the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8a, CSB)? In the concluding moments of Saban’s segment on the Pat McAfee show, Saban explains that complacency, arrogance, and a lack of focus all contribute to the poison of expectation, with complacency and arrogance fueling the lack of focus.
COMPLACENCY
Complacency in the discipleship process is a mindset of contentment with one’s current spiritual growth without a desire to pursue further Christlike development. Complacency is a risky sense of self-satisfaction. Solomon shares his wisdom on the subject, saying that “the complacency of fools will destroy them” (Prov. 1:32b, Christian Standard Bible). Complacency will lead a disciple to a dangerous place of negligent security. Complacency is an enemy of discipleship because it destroys personal and collective spiritual growth, undermining the Great Commission's call to be discipled and to “make disciples.”
Complacency is dangerous because it contributes to a disciple’s lack of spiritual focus. A disciple who is complacent has lost motivation to mature in Christlikeness. They would hold a contrasting attitude to that of Paul, who states, “Not that I have already reached the goal or am already perfect, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:12-14, CSB). Paul was never complacent enough to be satisfied with his spiritual progress, and neither should anyone who sees themselves as a disciple of Jesus.
An attitude of complacency is settling for less of Jesus. The woman with the bleeding problem in the book of Mark is an example of someone who wanted to settle for less of Jesus. She viewed him as a means to an end. She wanted the quick fix, the touch-and-go miracle, but Jesus wanted to change her life, not just her health problem. Commentators offer various insights into her touch-and-go approach, but ultimately, this story illustrates that Jesus desired to give her so much more—and He did! Her twelve years of blood flow stopped with one touch, and Jesus brought healing to her spiritual condition. He acknowledged her faith and said, “your faith has saved you” (Mark 5:34, CSB). “The word for ‘healed’ is the same as the word for ‘saved,’ indicating the physical and spiritual aspects of her healing. Only now could she go in peace—a bodily peace from which all traces of disease had been removed and a spiritual peace in which all hostilities with God had been removed through the work of Christ.” [1]
Jesus is more than a means to an end. For those who settle for the bare minimum, He becomes a convenient solution to their problems rather than the transformative Savior. Complacency is the definition of neither hot nor cold, to which Jesus said to the church in Laodicea, “I am going to vomit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:16b, CSB). Jesus desires fully committed disciples, not those who waver on the fence of complacency.
In his book Never Settle, Greg Holder explains the impact of settling for less of Jesus, saying, “When we settle, not only do we stop progressing, we also start putting down roots in a land of less than: less than satisfying, less than interesting, less than helpful, and certainly less than hopeful. It’s a choice we make— a costly one, at that.” [2] Once Jesus has taken hold of someone, there is no place for complacency. Complacency is poison in a disciple’s life, subtly killing a disciple's desire for spiritual progress.
An expectation of nothing combats complacency in a couple of ways. First, it changes a disciple’s perspective from a passive mindset to an active one focused on spiritual growth, realizing that growth is not gained effortlessly. This change of perspective gives space for a realistic view of self when spiritually compared to Jesus, highlighting the reality that progressing to become like him (1 John 2:6, Gal. 4:19, Eph. 4:15) will halt without intentional effort. What is more rewarding than becoming more like Jesus? Nothing. So, nothing is more important than a disciple’s active pursuit to become like Jesus.
Complacency is an unrealistic state of satisfaction. Idleness and laziness are not satisfying in the life of a Christ follower; therefore, the complacent person hopes to be sustained spiritually in that state, which is unrealistic. Having an attitude of expecting nothing removes a state of unrealistic satisfaction produced by idleness by replacing it with a hunger and thirst for a vibrant relationship with God. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matt. 5:6, CSB). Disciples that hunger and thirst will be filled with! There is no true satisfaction outside of a relationship with God, regardless of the self-justifications one might create. Unrealistic satisfaction is based on the comfort of a lazy spirit and an effortless mind. What is more satisfying than Jesus? Nothing. So, nothing is more important than a disciple’s satisfaction in Jesus.
Rodney L. Cooper, Mark, Holman New Testament Commentary, vol. 2 (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 88.
Greg Holder, Never Settle: Choices, Chain Reactions, and the Way Out of Lukewarmness (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress Publishing Group, 2020), 16.
