What other scriptures warn against complacency and self-indulgence in worship?

◄ Other scriptures on worship warnings? ►

Complacency Exposed: Amos 6:5 as a Starting Point

“You strum on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.”

The verse highlights people who enjoy the forms of worship while ignoring God’s heart. Scripture consistently condemns this attitude.

Echoes from the Prophets

• Amos 5:21-24 — “I hate, I despise your feasts… But let justice roll on like a river.”

• Isaiah 1:12-15 — “When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you… your hands are full of blood.”

• Malachi 1:7-8 — “You present defiled food on My altar… try offering it to your governor!”

• Zephaniah 1:12 — “I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency.”

• Isaiah 32:9-11 — “Rise up, you complacent women… tremble, you overconfident daughters.”

Wisdom’s Voice on Self-Indulgence

• Proverbs 1:32 — “The waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.”

• Ecclesiastes 5:1 — “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools.”

Jesus Confronts Empty Ritual

• Matthew 15:8-9 — “These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain.”

• Luke 21:34 — “Watch yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life.”

• Luke 12:19-21 — Parable of the rich fool whose ease and plenty blinded him to eternity.

Apostolic Warnings to the Church

• 1 Corinthians 11:20-22, 30 — “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat… That is why many among you are weak and sick.”

• James 4:3 — “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”

• 1 Peter 4:7 — “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear-minded and sober so that you can pray.”

• Revelation 3:15-17 — “Because you are lukewarm… I am about to vomit you out of My mouth.”

Drawing the Threads Together

• God never separates worship from obedience and compassion.

• Ritual without righteousness provokes His displeasure, whether in ancient Israel or the New Testament church.

• Self-indulgence dulls spiritual sensitivity; complacency invites judgment.

• True worship flows from hearts awake, humble, and eager to align with God’s truth.