The Big C's
The Big C's of COMPLACENCY, COMPROMISE, and CARNALITY can lead to spiritual decline in the professing Church, but we can avoid them by being zealous and repenting.
Milton Haack addresses the spiritual decline in the Church today, focusing on the three 'Big C's': Complacency, Compromise, and Carnality. He highlights how these issues were addressed in the letters to the seven Churches of Asia, warning against lukewarm faith, watering down the Gospel, and allowing worldly practices to infiltrate the church. Haack emphasizes the importance of repentance and zeal in response to the rebuke from the Lord, as seen in Revelation 3:17,19.
Text
We observe three "Big C's" that seem to sum up a spiritual decline in the professing Church today and none of us are exempt from its ill affects. The Lord addressed these issues in His letters to the seven Churches of Asia.
"COMPLACENCY" - The Lord reminded the Laodicean church, they were neither cold nor hot, but luke-warm. Many want enough religion to pacify the conscience but not enough of Christ to make the flesh uncomfortable or the world unattractive.
"COMPROMISE" - This can take the form of a "watered down Gospel" so as to not upset the sinner or compromising truth so we don't lose some of the Christians to the big church across the street.
"CARNALITY" - This is to allow worldly methods or practices to creep in to increase the numbers of the congregation. The worlds music is used in some places to attract crowds. A. W. Tozer said, "you win them to what you win them with". A worldly church will have worldly members and the obvious result will be COMPLACENCY, COMPROMISE and CARNALITY.
The Lord saw the rich and boastful Laodiceans as "wretched, and miserable, and poor and blind, and naked". Then He told them, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent". Rev. 3:17,19
Are we in danger of being dragged down by the three "Big C's"?
Sermon Outline
- 'The Big C''s: COMPLACENCY, COMPROMISE, CARNALITY'
- Consequences of the Big C's
- 'COMPLACENCY: lukewarm faith'
- 'COMPROMISE: watering down the Gospel'
- 'CARNALITY: worldly methods and practices'
- COMPLACENCY leads to spiritual decline
- COMPROMISE leads to loss of truth
- CARNALITY leads to worldly influence
Key Quotes
“you win them to what you win them with” — Milton Haack
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore and repent” — Milton Haack
“They were neither cold nor hot, but luke-warm” — Milton Haack
Application Points
- We must be zealous and repent to avoid the Big C's and maintain a vibrant faith.
- We must be careful not to compromise the truth of the Gospel to avoid upsetting the sinner or losing members.
- We must avoid worldly methods and practices that can lead to CARNALITY and spiritual decline.