Motivating The Complacent Series

When we communicate a compelling vision for our church and community, we will start seeing people join our fellowship. They will hear of the blessings of the Promised Land and want to become a part of it; however, not everyone will partake of the rewards. It won’t just happen automatically because they believed in the vision and are excited about what God is doing. More is needed than just joining the mission in heart and mind. A person must become an active participant.

There will be those who will hear of the great harvest taking place, but when they see the work that it entails, they will wait for someone else to do the job, hoping to glean from the sheaves that others have gathered (cf. Ruth 2:15-16). Jesus declared, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37), expressing how some people are standing around like wallflowers, casually watching the lost go to hell, and forfeiting the reward of the harvest.

Listen, as I share a quote by the Christian author William Rollings. He says, “God wants us to be more than just a member of the team. He wants everyone to be a starter and regularly participate . . . So many church members are sitting on the sidelines watching others do all of the work . . . [But] God didn’t create us to become biblical benchwarmers.”(1) We need to understand that if too many church members sit around hoping that someone else will do the work – which includes the task of evangelism – then no work will ever get done.

After Jesus said that the harvest is great, but the laborers are few, He continued to admonish, “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38), expressing a deep sense of urgency in how people need to get busy bringing in the sheaves and claiming new territory for the kingdom. Besides praying for laborers, we must also direct those whom we lead to become laborers; and we too must become a worker!

Joshua expected the tribes of Israel to begin taking possession of the land once Canaan had been conquered; however, he began noticing that some were reluctant to receive their inheritance. Back in chapter 17, for example, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh had complained of the difficulty, feeling entitled to something easier because of their elite bloodline from Joseph (cf. Joshua 17:14-18). These two tribes were, therefore, hesitant in claiming the land.

And in our passage today, we will see how Joshua encountered seven more tribes, in addition to Ephraim and Manasseh, who lacked the motivation for taking possession of the land, as they had lost sight of the bigger picture. We will also see how he was eventually able to inspire the people to get busy fulfilling their destiny and reaping the rewards of their labor.

Some People Just Sit Around (vv. 1-3)

1 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. 2 But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance. 3 Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: “How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers has given you?”

Canaan had been conquered (v. 1). The land rested from war, and Joshua was in the process of allotting the people’s inheritance (Joshua 11:23). While others had already claimed their portion, there were seven tribes who just stood around watching the action. In verse 3, Joshua stated that they had “neglected” to go and possess the land (v. 3). According to Dictionary.com, the definition of “negligence” is “discharging one’s responsibilities.”(2)

Joshua was the leader – or the pastor, so to speak – but it was not his job to acquire the land for the people. If they were sitting around not receiving their allotted territory, it was not his fault. These seven tribes needed to get up and get moving if they were ever going to claim their inheritance; however, it seems they had become complacent and were content to just sit by and watch the show.

Ken McFarland elaborates on how complacency leads to negligence; and thus, forfeiting our calling and mission. He tells us that “complacency [is] the great enemy of success. It’s deadly to . . . churches and individual Christians. Both churches and individual members lose the vision and passion and motivation that drove them to do ‘whatever it takes’ to achieve their goals of mission. They begin to get lazy, to coast, to take for granted, to rest on their laurels, to refuse to change, to feel they can do no wrong, [and] to quit caring.”(3)