Just this week we learned of an embarrassing admission concerning the war with Iran. But it’s not about Iran but about Britain.
An Iranian drone hit a British airbase in Cyprus. But it turns out that Britain, which once had a navy that ruled the seas, did not have a single major ship in the vicinity to defend its interests. They decided to send a ship, the HMS Dragon, but it was held up because the company that supplies support services only worked 9:00-5:00 on weekdays. This was said to be a money saving measure.
This was not the British Navy’s finest hour. You can’t have a 9:00-5:00 military.
It was also noted that Britain has twice as many admirals as surface warships. This speaks of bureaucratic bloat.
Britain used to be very proud of its navy. In times past it was a strong defense for the British island whenever the armies of the European continent considered sailing across the channel to invade.
One key example was in 1805 when Horatio Nelson, the great British admiral, defeated an alliance of 33 French and Spanish ships with 27 British ships at the battle of Trafalgar. This victory established British naval supremacy for the next 100 years. And of course, there is the heroic stand of Britain in World War II.
Perhaps I am being unfair to the Brits. But it does lend to the idea of institutional creep and loss of an edge. Admittedly, our own military, under Presidents Obama and Biden, was too often used as a setting for the imposition of liberal social ideas. Those presidents forgot what the military was supposed to be about, which is fighting, winning and preventing wars. I’m not at all blaming the men and women in uniform, but I am criticizing the civilian leadership and top brass who too often allowed for such distractions.
Bureaucratic creep can afflict militaries, governments and individuals in the form of complacency. It tempts everyone. It tempts the Christian. When all seems to be well we might think we are entitled to a little more ease and comfort.
The Bible gives warnings about this. One of the biggest examples concerns king David. In the Bible book of 2nd Samuel, we see him rise to the highest heights and then his fall to the depths in just four chapters.
In chapter 7 we see him receiving an unimagined blessing. David sought to do something good for God–build a temple. He reasoned that since he, David, lived in a palace then why should God dwell in a tent (speaking of the tent of the ancient tabernacle, set up under Moses)? David’s desire was noble. But the prophet Nathan gave him God’s reply: the answer was no; David couldn’t build God a house. But that disappointment was followed, in that very same prophecy, by a spectacular announcement: though David would not build God a house, God would build David a house in the form of a dynasty. David’s son would rule after him, and then his son, and so on, forever. This promise would eventually be fulfilled in Christ–the Son of David who reigns forever (Luke 1:32-33). David was awestruck by this promise and prayed a humble and grateful prayer. This event was a pivotal high point that may be unmatched by any blessing received by any other Old Testament king.
But David fell from the highest height to the lowest depths. Only four chapters later, in chapter 11, comes the sordid story of shocking sin that David committed.
How could this have happened? One word: complacency. After receiving his great promise from God and then receiving even more blessings–more victories in war, more happy things–David let down his guard. 2 Samuel 11:1 contains one of the most subtly ominous verses in all of scripture: “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.” It started with some seemingly harmless complacency.
It was the time “when kings go off to war,” but David stayed behind in the comforts of his palace at home. He delegated a duty he should have done himself. The initial gratitude at God’s blessings were allowed to gradually disintegrate. Gratitude was had been quietly replaced with entitlement that made him vulnerable to temptation, then sin, then disaster.
Complacency is the result of good times that are not handled rightly. We forget the source of the blessings and what God wanted them to do in us.
When a church grows so much that it becomes an institution, when layers of bureaucracy start accumulating and the ministry becomes ‘successful’, that church must not allow that success to be beginning of its undoing. When a Christian is blessed, when things start to go right, when prayers are answered, it would be worse than ironic if those were the very things that led to complacency. We need a discipline and self-correction that comes from the inside that will resist being dulled by exterior comforts.
Paul likens the Christian life to a runner who keeps training. Paul himself was used mightily by God, yet he never lost his edge. He reminded others to stay in the race, to stay in training. He said: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize,” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
When a ship is delayed because it is dependent on 9-5 civilian contractors, something in that navy is wrong. When a navy has more admirals than it has warships, it seems to be a red flag for complacency. Far be it from me to give advice to the British government, but there might be something they need to adjust.
And we may have something to look at within ourselves. We have a great spiritual station. When we are tempted to complacency, which we probably will be at one time or another, we should answer it with discipline and awareness.