A preacher was disappointed that things were not “happening” in his church, so he asked one of the influential deacons – “What is wrong with our church? Is it ignorance or apathy?” The deacon responded, “I don’t know and I don’t care.”
Apathy is a serious problem in the Lord’s church – too many Christians simply don’t care what the church is or what it does. Indifference is a challenge that faces the Lord’s church today just as much as it did the Israelites.
Indifference leads me to not study the Bible and pray at home like I should. Complacency motivates my heart and my mind to think that I’ve reached a level of Bible knowledge that is sufficient for me. Or it motivates me to think that since God knows what I need anyway, it is not necessary for me to pray.
Indifference leads me to neglect worship and other church-sponsored activities – whether fellowship activities or evangelistic activities. It may be that I am so wrapped up in the world that I become indifferent to the church and its work. Jesus portrays the seeds that were sown among the weeds as being choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life (Luke 8:14).
Indifference means that our love for Christ, like some in the early centuries of the church (Matt 24:12) has grown cold. Like the Christians in Laodicea whose works were lukewarm, because of indifference (Rev. 3:15). The Christians in Ephesus had left their first love (Rev 2:4). These Christians were still worshipping together. John writes that they were working, toiling, persevering, and testing those who called themselves apostles but found them to be false. But they had left their first love. It is quite possible for all the machinations of the Church to be in full working order while at the same time the spirit of love and zeal which first set it moving is on the decline.
What leads us to apathy or indifference? In some, as we see in the parable of the sower, it is absorption in worldly affairs. In others, it is the influence of worldly companions. In some, it is intellectual doubts, having penetrated the mind through unbelieving and skeptical books. In others it might be the chilly atmosphere of the church itself. In some, it might be a sinful lust, some ungodly desire that has not been totally mortified in the flesh and it makes its reappearance.
But no engine will continue to run long after the fuel has gone out. There are enemies of the cross today as insidious as ever. If we love our redeeming God, if we love our sacrificial Savior; if we love our inspiring Holy Spirit, if we love the church of our Lord which He bought with His own blood, then we need to renew ourselves, rejuvenate ourselves, and reapply our shoulders to the grindstone and get to work. Losing zeal for the work of the church takes the sap out of the tree.
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Consider these passages which illustrate where we need to be zealous in our love for the Lord: leading (Rom. 12:8, 11), forgiving (2 Cor. 7:11), giving (2 Cor. 9:2), benevolence (Gal. 2:10), good works (Titus 2:14 & 1 Peter 3:13), preserving unity (Eph. 4:3), studying God’s word (2 Tim 2:15), and remaining faithful (Heb. 4:11; 2 Peter 1:10; 3:14).
The cure for apathy is:
- Trusting in God, trusting in Christ, trusting in the Word.
- Obeying God, obeying Christ, obeying the Word.
- Following God, following Christ, following the Word.
- Honoring God, honoring Christ, honoring the Word.
- Working for God, working for Christ, working in accordance with the Word.
Paul Holland
