Apathy
By Robert Waters
Intro.
A. Aside from Satan, who or what do you think is
the greatest enemy of good? It is APATHY
1. How could
any church be successful in
preaching the gospel if its members are
unconcerned about the lost?
2. How can any
county thrive for very long and
deal justly with its citizens if the people don't
care enough to find out what is going on and
do their part to help the right persons get
elected to positions of leadership?
3. How can a
husband and wife remain true to
each other and set the example of a happy
home-raising children in a godly way, if they
are afflicted with apathy?
4. Unfortunately,
in each of the areas just noted
(country, family and the church) problems
among us exist because of lack of apathy.
B. What is apathy?
1. The word
"apathy" is interesting.
a. It
comes from the Greek apatheia which
means without feeling.
b. In
English there is the word Pathos
which
means strong passion.
1). The
prefix "a" identifies absence.
2). So
apathy means: without feeling; no
passion;
without fervent spirit.
c. The
simple meaning is well expressed by
"Who Cares?"
2. Webster: Apathy is a state of
indifference, or
the lack or suppression of emotions such as
concern, excitement, motivation and passion.
An apathetic individual has an absence of
interest or concern to emotional, social, or
physical life. They may also exhibit an
insensibility or sluggishness.
3. I don't think
apathy is or should be classified
as a disease; rather, it is a symptom of one or
more diseases or possibly of drug use.
a. In
1950,
wrote that...
"Apathy is one of the
characteristic responses
of any living organism when it is
subjected to
stimuli too intense or too complicated
to
cope with. The cure for apathy is
comprehension."
Robert Maynard Hutchins summarized the
concerns about political indifference
when he
claimed that the "death of
democracy is not
likely to be an assassination from
ambush. It
will be a slow extinction from apathy,
indifference, and
undernourishment."
b. Dr.
Gould, president of
College, said "I do not believe the
greatest
threat to our future is from bombs or
guided missiles. I don't think our
civilization will end that way. I think
it
will die when we no longer care . .
."
c. William
Sehlamn said the epitaph of our
society should read: "This
civilization died
because it didn't want to be
bothered."
Is there any doubt that what is said
about
the impending death of democracy is also
true of Christianity?
D. This morning, we are going to be looking at
apathy in a different way than perhaps you have
ever looked at it: its anatomy.
We are going to discuss its:
1) ATTITUDE;
2) BASIS;
3) BEHAVIOR;
4) FUEL;
5) LANGUAGE.
Body:
I. Indifference is the attitude
of apathy.
A. It means:
1.
"unconcernedness" - an attitude of
I don't really care!"
2. complacency, apathy, lack of
interest,
neutrality.
B. The apostle John wrote, "But whoso hath this
world's good, and seeth his brother have need,
and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
(I John 3:17).
1. When people
become complacent and
unconcerned with the needs of others they
have been afflicted with apathy.
2. Christians
are not apathetic to the cause of
Christ and the needs of people--Christians
CARE.
II. Unbelief
is the BASIS or foundation of apathy.
A. If you don't believe in a cause you don't care
enough to get involved in helping promote it.
B. Persons who truly believe in the cause of Christ
are not apathetic toward the activities of his
church.
1. Such persons
don't have an apathy problem.
2. On the other
hand, those that don't truly
believe, and who do not act in response to
their faith, do have an apathy problem.
a. Naturally,
they don't care about the Lord
and what he has done, and so they have
little or no interest in the activities
associated with him and his.
b.
Jesus rebuked the sin of unbelief
associating it with "hardness of
heart."
Mark 16:14
c. James
dealt with the same problem:
James 2:14-16 - What doth it profit, my
brethren, though a man say he hath
faith,
and have not works? can faith save
him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and
destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you
say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye
give them not those things which are
needful to the body; what doth it
profit?
1) This
text primarily about speaking but
not doing; talking the talk but not
walking
the walk.
2) But
the root problem of those who the text
is applicable to is apathy.
III. Ingratitude
is the FUEL of apathy.
A. Apathy and ingratitude are married to each
other; where you find one, you always find
the other.
1. In the 1st
chapter of Romans, Paul writes at
some length about the depravity of man…the
sin that was manifest by the Gentiles.
a. In
that list of sins there are things like
murder, haters of God, sexual immorality,
maliciousness, deceit and inventors of
evil
things.
b. But
we read a little earlier in this passage
(
basic to all this depravity; they did
not
glorify God as God, and they were not
thankful!
Romans 1:21 Because that, when they
knew God, they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful; but became vain
in
their imaginations, and their foolish
heart
was darkened.
2. Now, let us
apply this point to Christianity:
a. If
you are grateful for what God has do for
you--making it possible to have the
forgiveness of sins and hope of heaven,
you will not be ungrateful.
b. If
you are truly grateful you will not be
afflicted with apathy.
IV. Inaction
is the BEHAVIOR of apathy.
A. This is simple.
1. If you do not
care, you do not act.
2. If you:
a. Are
ashamed of the gospel you will not
engage in activities to promote it.
b. You
don't believe in the gospel you will
not put forth efforts to benefit from it
or to
promote it so others can.
c. Don't
care about the gospel or the lost the
result is inaction!
B. If it doesn't matter to you what happens to the
local church; if you simply do not care--you will
not act.
C. Where there is no sincere zeal or passion; where
there is no real devotion to a cause, there is no
action in the interests of that cause.
V. Silence
is the LANGUAGE of apathy.
A. If I do not care, I will probably not say anything.
1. Someone may
ask a question, and I may know
what the Bible says about that…but silence is
the language of apathy.
2. Someone we
know may be walking right into
some deadly and destructive sin, but in our
apathy--we say nothing; we don't care.
3. People may
be:
1) Deceived
by error;
2) Seduced
by false doctrine;
3) Led
astray from the faith, but those who
are apathetic don't care and therefore
so
not say anything.
4. Yes, SILENCE
IS THE LANGUAGE OF
APATHY.
B. In contrast to apathy, there is Paul's attitude in
2 Cor. 5:11, "Knowing, therefore, the terror of
the Lord, we persuade men…"
1. Do we speak
the language of apathy by being
silent when we should be speaking to promote
Christ and his teachings?
2. Or, do we
seek opportunities to "persuade
men"?
VI. The
Result of Apathy
A. Apathy results in neglect of spiritual matters,
which is disastrous to the soul.
1. The Hebrews
writer wrote, "How shall we
escape, if we neglect so great salvation…"
(Heb.2:3)?
2. Apathy brings
God's disapproval and
punishment, as was the case with the members
of the church at
a. These
Christians were lukewarm--they
were just "playing church"
instead of
being zealous and getting things
accomplished for the Lord.
b. God
viewed them as wretched, miserable,
poor, blind and naked.
c. He
rejected them saying "I will spue
thee
out of my mouth."
1) "Spue"
to throw up, vomit."
2) Apathy
is sickening to God.
VII. How to
Overcome Apathy
A. Resolve to love the Lord.
Matt. 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
To overcome apathy...
B. Determine to develop a love for God that is
greater than:
1. Family.
Matt. 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more
than
me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or
daughter
more than
me is not worthy of me.
...determine to develop a love for God that is:
2. More than
material gain. Matt. 19:16-22
3. More than
self.
Matt. 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross, and
follow me.
To overcome apathy.....
C. Resolve to work.
I Cor. 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be
ye work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that
your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Eph. 2:10 For we are
his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them.
stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the
work of the Lord.
D. One cannot have these four attitudes and at the
same time be afflicted with apathy:
1. God above
family;
2. God above
material gain;
3. God above
self; and
4. A resolve to
work and at the same time
be apathetic in the Lord's work.
D. Love is expressive.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my
commandments.
E. A good place to begin...is through diligent and
regular study of the Bible (2 Tim. 2:15).
1. Paul spoke of
his Jewish brethren as being
zealous for God but not according to
knowledge (
2. The wise will
look first to God's word and
ascertain his will for their lives and then act
upon what they learn.
F. To overcome apathy requires daily effort.
1. It can be
done through faith, love and hope!
2. If I open my
heart to Word of God so that
faith is produced within me; faith in God,
in Christ, and in the Word--if that faith is
sufficient to move me, to cause me to act, to
walk in the light of God's word, to obey
and please Him --- that faith rules over
apathy.
3. Faith is the
victory that overcomes the
world, 1 Jno. 5:4,5.
4. Heb. 11:6 But
without faith it is impossible
to please him: for he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him.
G. When there is faith, love and hope working in
you, apathy has no basis.
1. Apathy will
then go away due to lack of fuel--
it will cease to exist like a fire when the fuel
is shut off or removed.
2. Action takes
the place of laziness;
indifference is conquered by zeal and
silence cannot prevail.
Conclusion:
A. Christians can avoid apathy once they fully
understand it.
1. Indifference
is the attitude of apathy...
2. Unbelief is
the basis of apathy…
3. Inaction is
the behavior of apathy...
4. Ingratitude
is the fuel of apathy… and
5. Silence is
its' language.
B. Edmund Burke (1729-1797) in a letter written
to William Smith dated January 29, 1795 said,
"Nothing
is so fatal to religion as indifference,
which
is, at least, half infidelity."
C. The Lord sent this message to the church of
the Laodiceans …
"I know your works, that you are neither cold nor
hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then,
because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."
1. It is clear,
that these people had lost their
enthusiasm, so that there was no evidence of
zeal, passion or excitement about their work
as Christians.
2. Did you ever
think that we may make the Lord
feel the same way?
a. If
we are lazy, self-righteous, complacent
Christians, basking in our own presumed
achievements we may be wholly
unacceptable
to the Lord.
b. Talked
to woman recently about attending
the meeting at
membership.
1) Admitted
she had not been going to
church much.
2) Said
she, "I went last Sunday and I
felt so good."
3) This
is the sort of thing that I expect the
Lord
was talking about when he was
speaking of brethren be LUKE
WARM.
D. What A Communist Said He Would Do If He
Believed What Christians Say We Believe
"If I believed, as millions say they do, that a
knowledge and practice of Christianity in this life
influenced destiny in another world, Christianity
would be to me everything. I would cast aside
earthly thoughts as vanities and earthly feelings
as follies. Christianity would be my first waking
thought, and my last image before sleep sank me
into unconsciousness, I would labor in its
cause alone. I would
take thought for tomorrow
and eternity alone. Earthly consequences would
never stay my hands nor seal my lips. I would
esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a
lifetime of effort. I would go forth and preach
Christ to the world, and my theme would be,
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole
world and lose his soul?"
1. This
statement shows that this atheist knows
what must be believed by one who really is a
Christian.
a. He
knows what the Bible says about the
worth of one soul!
b. Do
you and I believe it?
2. The world may
properly call us hypocrites
if we claim to believe the Bible but do little or
nothing to show that we actually do!
3. What really
matters in the end of course is
what our Lord Jesus Christ thinks about each
of us.
a. We
serve Him, not man.
b. Paul
teaches us that whatever we do
should be done "heartily, as unto
the Lord,
and not unto men;..." (Colossians
3:23).
E. Christians Are Admonished Not Only To Wake
Up, But to Grow
Up As well
"...It is high time to awake out of sleep; for
now is our salvation nearer than when we first
believed. The night
is far spent, the day is at
hand. Therefore let
us cast off the works of
darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let
us walk properly, as in the day..."
(Romans 13:11-13a).
F. A man doesn't have to burn a field in order to
destroy a crop.
1. All he needs
to do is to fail to plow it, weed it,
and fertilize it to produce the same effect.
2. If we can
recognize and understand these
things in the physical, secular world, we
should also be able to see that such is also
true of the spiritual world.
3. Neglecting
the services discourages the weak
and influences those who are not members to
continue as they are.
G. No one will go to heaven by following the road of
apathy.
1. The only way
to heaven is through Jesus and
His teachings.
2. This path can
only be followed as long as
apathy is not a traveling companion.
3. Apathy truly
is a great battle that every
Christian must fight against.
H. If you are a Christian and your actions are those
of an apathetic person, then please, turn back to
the Word of God and work to replace that apathy
with zeal.
This lesson derived from various sources to include
John Duvall, Mike Willis, and Warren Berkley