Imprisoned by Indifference
Indifference. In a world where we focus on so many other human sins, indifference seems to receive backseat treatment. We often talk about hate, violence, lying, and cheating, but rarely do we hone in on the sin of indifference. Probably because it’s harder to pinpoint. You can spot a lie… you can call out a cheat… but indifference? It’s harder to notice, especially when it’s so pervasive in our society.
Yet, wallowing in this emotion can do more damage to our personal and spiritual relationships with God and others, than any of the sins mentioned above.
Why?
Because indifference is lazy. It’s what we turn to when we see something horrible but feel we can’t (or won’t) do anything about it. It’s how we cope with the wrongs we can’t right. And although it’s how we get through the news of the day, it’s also what deadens our resolve to do God’s work. It zaps the passion and dampens the zeal. Once that happens, it’s incredibly hard to help someone understand the Glory of God. When your testimony is hampered by indifference, you can’t praise its virtue to others.
God asks us to be zealous in our faith and radical in our approach with others.
- [Let] the one who leads, [do so] with zeal.” (Romans 12:8)
- Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. (Romans 12:11)
I get it that the world is filled with things we can’t control, but we can control our response to it. When we get lazy in our Christianity and indifferent in our approach, it’s not just us who suffer. It’s everyone else, too.
I encourage you to not fall into the trap of indifference. Instead, say this prayer when you feel apathy crowding into your passion for Christ…
“Whatever it takes, Lord, increase my zeal to do your will and my urgency to make the best use of my time during these evil days. In Jesus’s name, Amen.”
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FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.
Matthew 13:15
