A.The church has faced difficult problems from the beginning of its existence.Some of these problems are:
1.Persecution (Acts 8:1-4);
2.False teaching (Acts 20:29-30);
3.Division (1Cor. 1:10-13);
4.Strife (1Cor. 6:1-8).
B.Today, we still experience these problems to different degrees, but another problem plagues the church from within.That is the problem of indifference.
1.Indifference, or apathy, is an attitude of carelessness.An indifferent person does not actively oppose or support a given cause.He simply does not care.
2.Indifference in the church takes the life from the local congregation.Although an apathetic Christian intends no harm, his indifference can be as destructive as persecution, false teaching, division, and strife.
C.Indifference is not new to our generation.Consider the indifference of the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-22.
1.The Lord said to the Laodiceans, “'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16).
2.Christ indicated that He would have preferred their deeds to be hot or cold, that is, to be of one extreme or the other.As they were, Jesus called them “lukewarm,” a state that He would not accept.
3.The Lord’s instruction for this apathetic church was, “Be zealous therefore, and repent.”
a.Zeal is the opposite of indifference, and it was a vital element the Laodiceans were lacking.
b.They needed to repent because their lukewarm ways were sinful.Apathy is a sin that requires repentance and needs forgiveness.
D.Let us consider the damage that this very serious problem inflicts upon the Lord’s church and some of the causes of it.
II.THE RESULTS OF INDIFFERENCE
A.A careless Christian does not usually perceive of the damage his apathy causes.
1.Such a person does not purpose in his heart to do harm to himself or anyone else.He is not malicious or hateful.He simply does not care.
2.He sees no guilt in himself because he did not do anything wrong.The fact that he has done nothing right does not occur to him as a fault.
3.Unfortunately, because he does not care, he is not likely to be stirred up by the revelation that his indifference causes harm to himself and others.
B.However, the Scriptures characterize an indifferent person as being equivalent to a destroyer and an enemy.
1.Notice Proverbs 18:9 – “He also who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys.”
2.Also consider Christ’s words in Matthew 12:30 – “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
3.Thus, for the one who does nothing, his lack of activity is like an opposing effort.He is destructive and contrary to anything that is good.
C.An indifferent Christian does immeasurable, spiritual harm to himself.
1.He cannot rightly call himself a Christian, for he is unlike Christ, who was zealous for the things of God (John 2:17; Psa. 69:9).
2.He is incapable of spiritual growth, for such growth requires desire and effort that he does not possess.
a.To grow, one must feed on the word of God, longing for it like a newborn babe (1Pet. 2:1-3).
b.With no zeal, an apathetic Christian will give no diligence to study (2Tim. 2:15) and will become “dull of hearing” (Heb. 5:11-14).
3.Eventually, he likely will fall completely away from the Lord, for his careless inattention to God’s word will cause him to “drift away from it” (Heb. 2:1-4).
D.Not only does an indifferent Christian harm himself, but he also does harm to the local church.
1.The church is not an inanimate object, but rather it is a living body (1Cor. 12:27).Every member of the church that is dead and useless is a weakness for the whole body.
2.For every apathetic and lethargic member of the church, the rest of the church has to compensate for him.
3.The indifferent Christian’s example is a discouragement for the whole church, which can lead to further apathy like a spreading cancer.Consider this story:
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.Somebody got angry about this, because it was Everybody's job.Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it.It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. (author unknown)
4.The end result of a Christian’s indifference can be the failure of the entire local church to accomplish the work that Christ expects to be accomplished.
III.WHY ARE SO MANY INDIFFERENT?
A.It would seem impossible for a Christian to be indifferent to the Lord’s church, the Lord’s word, the Lord’s work, and the Lord Himself.Yet, not only is it possible for Christians to be indifferent, but it is also common.
B.One possible reason for indifference in Christians is a lack of the sense of need.
1.The high level of prosperity in our nation has robbed us of our sense of spiritual poverty (Matt. 5:3).We have no lack of food, clothing, shelter, or any other temporal thing, so we fail to sense our deep spiritual needs.
a.This is the lesson of Psalm 49, which describes men who trust in their temporal wealth to give them eternal life even when wisdom teaches otherwise.
b.Other Scriptures also warn us of this careless spiritual mindset that results from obsessing with material things (Luke 12:13-21; 1Tim. 6:17-19).
2.With minds focused upon material prosperity, many have no concern for the things of God.They become aware of their need for God only when tragedy strikes (sickness, death in the family, loss of income, etc.).
C.Another reason is a lack of the sense of urgency.
1.Apathy and procrastination go hand in hand.A person who does not care about the things of God will delay doing those things.He thinks to himself that he can do those things later.
2.Yet the clear warnings from God’s word are that our time on earth is uncertain.
a.“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” (Prov. 27:1).
b.“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” (Jas. 4:14).
c.“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matt. 24:36, regarding the second coming of Christ)
3.Knowing these warnings should awaken all to the urgency of Christian service: “And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11).
D.The most basic reason for indifference and apathy is weak faith.
1.We might cite many reasons for the indifferent attitudes of some Christians, but no one can deny that an apathetic Christian is weak in faith.
a.He does not resemble those persons of faith in Hebrews 11 who believed God and labored diligently in order to receive rewards that they had never seen.
b.His faith is the dead faith that James described in James 2:14-26, for he has no works to give life to the faith he pretends to have.
2.The indifferent Christian’s faith is too weak to motivate him.He lacks belief and godly fear to cause him to “work out (his) salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).
***What is to be done about the problem of indifference in Christians?Please consider the lesson “Renewing of Your Mind” for the solution that each Christian has to take upon himself.***
