Tag apathy

7 PLAGUES of the mind pt 2

The Preacher 1 Comment

LEERINESS & APATHY.

Before we can exceed our expectations, we must first face our limitations. Attitudes of the mind that interfere with our faith are some of those limitations.

Awareness is a warning. Just as we watch the weather to prepare for a storm, so too should we be aware of those negative PLAGUES of the mind that contribute to the storms of life.

Last article looked at the first in our list called Pessimism. Today we give warning to the second and third; Leeriness (overcaution) and Apathy.

All of the PLAGUES are natural responses to our experiences in life. They are not sin in and of themselves, except as it weakens our faith, and faithfulness.

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him, and saith unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt” (Matt 14:31)?

Overcaution, being overly leery, is being unnecessarily cautious. We are instructed to be cautious; “Look therefore carefully how ye walk, not as unwise, but as wise” (Eph 5:15), but overcautious can hinder us in helping brethren. “Forget not to show love unto strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Heb 13:2).

Jesus spoke about helping strangers, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me” (Matt 25:34-36). These two passages talk about the individual responsibility first toward brethren in Christ, and also toward our fellow man (cf Gal 6:10; Luke 10:33-37)

Life is full of risk. It’s risky to do those things needed to take responsibility for the needs of the family. It’s risky to try to improve our health, & mind. We risk appearing foolish as we learn. It’s risky to serve God (Acts 3-8). It’s risky to keep the faith in a faithless world. “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved” (Matt 10:22).

A few years ago, Overcaution led many away from assembling with the saints. That’s not to say we should take unnecessary risks, being too risky is unwise, but it takes risk to remain faithful. If worshiping together with the saints becomes illegal, will you risk it to worship God? While Paul was ready to risk death (Acts 21:13), he took advantage of an opportunity to avoid dying unnecessarily (Acts 23:11-22). Be ready to die, but avoid it if it doesn’t cause you to lose faith. “For whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it” (Matt 16:25).

To overcome overcaution, we need to remember the instruction to Timothy; “For which cause I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline. Be not ashamed therefore of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but suffer hardship with the gospel according to the power of God” (2Tim 1:6-8)

Apathy is the third in our list of plagues of the mind. The bible describes it as being lukewarm. “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth” (Rev 3:15-16). Think about coffee. We like it either piping hot or ice cold, but room temperature coffee is not on any Starbucks menu. Room temperature is the temperature of inactivity.

Apathy takes the “I don’t care” or “It doesn’t matter” approach to service rendered toward God. While there are some things that have no affect on maintaining fellowship, there are other things that are absolute. Baptism, instrumental music in worship, faith in Christ, preaching the gospel, etc are doctrines that cannot be changed.

Paul wrote to Timothy, “Take heed to thyself, and to thy teaching. Continue in these things; for in doing this thou shalt save both thyself and them that hear thee” (1Tim 4:16). There are teachings (doctrines) that are absolute. The ecumenical world takes a casual approach to the doctrine of Christ. “If any one cometh unto you, and bringeth not this teaching, receive him not into your house, and give him no greeting” (2John 10).

Pour it on is the opposite attitude of apathy. Paul found contentment in whatever state he was in; “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.” (Phil 4:11). Paul pressed all the buttons, turned all the knobs, and flipped all the switches. “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14).

Paul wrote quite a bit about being on fire for the Lord:

Apathy is the drift approach to faithfulness. “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them. For if the word spoken through angels proved stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard;” (Heb 2:1-3; emph mine seb).

The Leeriness and Apathetic approach to faith is no faith at all. These two plagues need to be fought like we fight any physical disease.

Agape,

Spencer

the 7 PLAGUES of the mind is a series of articles about attitudes.

APATHEISM IS THE WORST

The Preacher 2 Comments

As you might can tell, the word ‘APATHEISM’ is a blending of the words ‘apathy’ & ‘theism / atheism’ meaning that one is unconcerned as to whether a deity exists or not. An APATHEIST doesn’t care if God exists and furthermore, has no interest in discussing it because the answer wouldn’t change anything about their lives and or behaviors.

Do you see why I say that it’s the worst? At least with the antagonists toward faith, there’s dialogue. The APATHEIST has zero interest whatsoever with talking about it. For them, any discussion about it is meaningless.

There’s more to this APATHEISM picture. It’s one thing to have zero interest in the existence of God, but this same APATHEISM shows up among believers of God regarding the issues that have created denominations. For many, the discussion about…

  • The one Body– Mat 16:18;
  • The one Holy Spirit – John 16:13; Eph 3:3-4
  • The one Hope – Eph 1:18
  • The one Calling– 2Thess 2:14
  • The one Lord – 1Cor 1:13;
  • The one Faith – Jude 1:3:
  • The one Baptism – Mark 16:16
  • The ONE GOD – Mal 2:10;

…are meaningless [Ephesians 4:4-6]. They’ll say something like, “we’re all in different ships heading to the same harbor.” After this they are saying by their APATHEISM, “the discussion is over, the theology is settled, the debate is over, the time for talking has passed. The experts have reached a consensus. Any other point of view in this day and age is hateful, divisive & judgmental. If you disagree, then you’re not welcome. It’s legalism, it’s pharisaical, it’s old fashioned, it’s outdated. You’re lost for believing such things, and I will only help you out of your lost state if you just listen, don’t ask any questions and totally agree with me and especially if you don’t ask me to show you any scriptures.”

You may think what is written above is mocking. I assure you it is not. Each of these statements have been outright stated or implied to me on a near daily basis. I once scheduled a study with 2 young men in white shirts from a particular denomination, for which they arrived late. They wanted to speak first. After they were done, I said, “I have a couple of questions for you.” After the first question (which they refused to answer) they had to leave or they would be late for their next appointment. The time for talking had passed.

Another time a fellow said, “I don’t want you to tell me that my beliefs are wrong.” Another once screamed at a colleague of mine, “YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE BAPTIZED TO BE SAVED!!!” On another occasion when I kindly asked a person if they wanted to see the only time “faith only” was used in the Bible they said, “nope.” By the way, it’s in James chapter 2 and it says, “Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.”

I find it amazing when folks approach me to tell me about their faith as if time had no meaning, but are suddenly out of time when I ask them a few questions. The debate is over, you’re a legalist.

Folks, eternity is much too long a time to spend it in regret of having not learned the truth about salvation & faithfulness. When Paul said, “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” he wasn’t authorizing that as a position of safety [1Cor 14:38]. Ignorance may be bliss in this life, but in the next one it’s misery. “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” [Acts 17:30]

PS: There is an authorized time when the time for talking has passed and it’s found in Mat 7:6; 15:14. When is the right time to be apatheistic? When you discover you’re talking with an APATHEIST. I’m never apathetic toward the lost who are willing to engage in discussion. It’s only when they tell me, “the debate is over, the time for talking has passed, Any other point of view in this day and age is hateful, divisive & judgmental. The theology is settled, the discussion is over…”

–Spencer