The Danger of a Tepid Life

Tepidity is a bitter poisonous root fixed in the minds of negligent Christians, who though out of a servile fear they abstain from a habitual practice of mortal actual sins, and therefore they think themselves secure from the danger of hell, yet they perform their external necessary obligations to God and their brethren sleepily and heartlessly, without any true affection, contending themselves with things outwardly done; perhaps knowing no perfection beyond this; but in the mean time remain full of self-love, inward pride, sensual desires, aversion from internal conversation with God, etc.

The cause of this pernicious tepidity is want of affection and esteem of spiritual things, and a voluntary affection to venial sins, joined with a wilfulness not to avoid the occasions of them, nor to do any more in God’s service than what they judge to be necessary for escaping hell. As a religious, such persons live uncomfortable and discontented lives, for having excluded themselves from the vain entertainments and pleasures of the world, they retain a strong affection to them in their hearts, with an incapacity of enjoying them. They must undergo all obligations, austerities and crosses incident to a religious state without comfort, but only in having despatched them, with very little benefit of their souls, and with extreme wearisomeness and unwillingness. Now, what a resemblance to hell hath such a life; where there is an impossibility freely to enjoy what the soul principally desires, and where she is forced continually to do and suffer such things as are extremely contrary to her inclinations!

If souls would courageously give themselves wholly to God, and with a discreet fervour, combat against corrupt nature, by pursuing their internal exercises, they would find that all things would cooperate , not only to their external good, but even to their present contentment and joy. They would find pleasure even in their greatest mortifications and crosses, by considering the love with which God sends them, and the great benefit that their spirit reaps from them. If such tepid souls being ignorant of the internal ways of the spirit are about to die, the apprehensions and horrors they feel is inconceivable; considering that a settled wilful affection to venial sins brings a soul to an imminent danger of frequently actual mortal sins; such sins although they may not be a great kind of enormous sins, yet they may be no less dangerous … Such sins include, pride, murmuring, factiousness, envy, ambition, etc. besides these, how is it possible for them to give an account of the sins of omission, of not perfecting their souls by prayer, etc.

For when such souls approach death, they will realize, then too late, that due to lack of diligent prayer, there may be a world of inordinations, impurities and defects undiscovered by them, and therefore can either be acknowledged or bewailed; so that they cannot have any assurance of the state and inclination of their souls; besides, they know themselves to have been guilty of a life spent in an uninterrupted ingratitude to God, who gave them light to see the ways to perfection which their profession obliged them to walk in, and yet wilfully they neglected to make use of such light, or make progress in those ways. Such are the sad thoughts pressing one upon another, as death approaches. What grievous apprehensions! What terrible uncertainties must these cause in tepid souls, the most sensible of dangers and fears.

(Augustin Baker, Holy Wisdom)