This past January was the 25th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger tragedy. In connection with the somber commemoration of this event many news reports discussed its impact on our space program. One report detailed the fact that this disaster led to some soul-searching at NASA. In the investigation that followed the explosion it was discovered that an O-ring failure was at fault. The disturbing thing, however, was that the problem had been identified and known prior to this. Due to a lack of safety protocol and a proper chain of communication, the situation was allowed to continue without halting missions until the Jan. 28, 1986, tragedy. In response to these findings, NASA instituted new communication and safety plans to prevent this kind of tragedy from occurring again.

Time passed. In 2003 NASA experienced another wake-up call when the space shuttle Columbia exploded just moments before touchdown. Again there was a thorough investigation. It found that a foam insulation piece had damaged a wing during takeoff. What was most troubling, however, is the fact that such foam pieces had broken off on previous launches. Foam loss damage became accepted as routine. A very similar scenario to that which had led to the Challenger disaster had taken place again—despite new safety and communications protocols. How could that happen? One person within NASA identified the problem: complacency. "It's so human to become complacent" (Traci Watson, "25 years later: How the Challenger disaster brought NASA down to earth," USA TODAY, Jan. 30, 2011).

Complacency can be a real killer. No fire has ever struck our homes, so we stop regularly checking our smoke detectors and changing their batteries. We've been feeling pretty healthy, so we stop going in for our regular mammograms or annual physicals. There hasn't been another terrorist attack in years, so we let down our guard and aren't vigilant anymore. Until . . .

It is indeed part of our human nature to become complacent. That's dangerous in the physical world, but it is absolutely deadly in the spiritual world. In fact it is one of Satan's most insidious weapons against us. You can almost hear the discussion in the situation room of hell: "Just get them to think that judgment day is a long time away, and they will stop reading their Bibles, praying, and worshiping the Lord. Just get them to think that they can handle temptation by themselves, and they will fall." No wonder Paul warns in 1 Corinthians, "If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" (10:12). He knew our human nature! So did Peter when he warned, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).