Articles
Apathy
Apathy is a lack of feeling, emotion, interest, or concern about something. Apathy is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation, or passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest in or concern about emotional, social, spiritual, philosophical, or physical life and the world (Wikipedia).
Apathy is subtle. It is so easy to slip into. It requires no thought and no deliberate action. In the end, however, it eats the heart and soul out of a person. It renders one useless and lifeless.
I am concerned about apathy among God’s people. I am concerned about it for myself. I think this is one of Satan’s greatest tools to dupe God’s people. See, if he can just make us where we don’ t care enough to be bothered, then he has accomplished the same thing as if we had committed some egregious sin.
Apathy affects a marriage. After years of marriage, it is so easy to slip into habits, thoughtless habits, so that the relationship becomes stale. Pretty soon, if we're not careful, we get to where we have no interest in our mate. We lose our connection and affection. We get to where we simply don’t care. We stop working on what we need to do to make the marriage successful. The marriage fails, though both may still be under the same roof.
Apathy affects our walk with God. When we lose the excitement of having fellowship and intimacy with God, we lose our heart and soul. Maybe it is our hectic life that eats away at our passion for Him. Maybe it is financial difficulties that eat away our interest in Him. Pretty soon we see it happen. We miss one assembly, then another, then another. Pretty soon, not only have we lost our connection to God’s people, who can encourage us, but also God. Now, I do not think attendance is the essence of walking with the Lord, but it sure helps me stay encouraged and connected to those who care and can help me stay excited. It sure helps me to feed on a steady diet of His word so that I can stay alive.
We sing, “This World is not my Home” but live like we will never leave. We are pilgrims walking through a foreign land. We don’t belong here. Let’s not let being here cause us to become so apathetic that opportunities to worship and serve God become non-essential activities.
Rickie Jenkins
