'Before continuing and determining what would be the right response, let us look at what constitutes a complacent response. Sometimes the easiest thing to do in the midst of difficulty is to ignore it. It's a lot easier to not be bothered by what is wrong than to have to come up with the will power or means to change it. That is complacency at its finest. People will also ignore problems because they are satisfied with their lives. Many Christians have adopted this mentality in response to the culture. It comes across as a cavalier, above-it-all type of attitude. If you have a good job, a nice car, a decent family, a steady stream of entertainment, and a church to go to each Sunday, then who cares about the problems in the culture? Right? "My life is good. Don't' bother me," is the slogan of this response to the culture. The problem here is that having a good life does not give anyone an excuse to not be "salt and light" (Matt. 5:13-16). In fact, if God has blessed you with a life that is not riddled with problems and concerns, He expects you to be more willing and able to serve Him and fulfill His purpose in reaching the culture. "To whom much is given much will be required."' -- David Hoffman
Pack your bags folks; we are going on a guilt trip. This is works theology at its worst. Once again however, Hoffman has pre-decided that if you do not engage culture as he defines then by definition you must be living a cushy life and be a complacent Christian. Nonsense. Being salt and light does not mean transforming culture into a theocracy, which is actually what Hoffman is advocating for. People who play church as he describes are probably not saved to begin with. What Hoffman fails to see is there is an alternate response to his culture warrior stance. That is the Christian who stands in the gap for the unsaved, prays for them, and speaks the Gospel to them. So while Hoffman is berating them for their lifestyle choices or trying to change laws to force them to behave better, real Christians are doing the actual hard work of the kingdom and representing the Gospel and that is not complacent.
"Oftentimes, I hear people say things like, "It has always been bad, why try to change it?" I think the clearest answer is found by just taking a good look at God. If God had that mindset, He would have never intervened in human history and there would therefore have been no salvation and no Bible. If God, Himself, doesn't take a "hands-off" approach, then why should we as His people? If someone was dealing with cancer for a while and there was a treatment to halt the spread of the cancer, they would never say "Well, it has been pretty bad for a while now. I guess I shouldn't try to stop this cancer from getting worse." That would be ridiculous. However, this is the illustration that best fits the complacent attitude of many Christians when they interact with the culture. The message of Christ is the cure for the sin destroying our culture and complacency is good at developing rationales for not taking responsibility to deliver this message to the culture and to the lost." -- David Hoffman
I literally have never heard anyone espouse such baloney. The issue is what you are trying to change. Hoffman is trying to change culture while the Bible tells us this is a battle for souls. What Hoffman fails to see because of his idolatry for the United States is that this country is the Titanic and we have already struck the iceberg. Hoffman's approach is to rearrange the deck chairs and the true role of the church is to direct people to the lifeboat, which is Jesus. We once again see the insidious nature of the teachings the NAR espouses. The message of Christ is not the cure for the sin destroying our culture but rather for the individual and the sins that is destroying their lives. The Gospel focuses on them while the NAR focuses on the culture and the reason is shameful. The NAR is all about saving the culture not the individual.
