i read somewhere that apathy or indifference is a form of spiritual disengagement, lukewarmness, a state of spiritual slumber. It’s not simply a lack of knowledge or laziness, but a deeper indifference towards spiritual things, often rooted in neglecting God’s love and forgetting His promises. Apathy means “I don’t care.” It’s not the same as ignorance (“I don’t know”), complacency (“I am satisfied with my current status”), or laziness (“I don’t want to do anything”).

Romans 12:11, “Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.” Also, pay attention to Hebrews 12:1b. “…lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” We must participate with the Lord in order for change to occur believing that change is not beyond our control.

A young woman was arguing with her mother in the kitchen before school one morning over something or other. It’s not important why they were arguing, but more focusing on the young woman’s attitude (“attitude” meaning “how you lean in your heart”). Every time her mother would point out an attitude that needed more consideration, the young woman began to flip her hair and dismissively said, “I don’t care.” The more her mother tried to press her points the more the young woman claimed indifference. “I don’t care, mom!” she yelled.

I don’t care? Really? As believers, here’s a question: Is God indifferent? About anything? Ever? If we say we are living like Jesus and want to be like Him, and God is not indifferent, then neither should we. Indifference, or as the Bible calls it “apathy” or “being apathetic” has far reaching consequences.

The folks at Bible Pathways make two very good points:

1. “Indifference represents a complete disregard for the needs and suffering of others.” “Disregard” may seem a bit harsh but, somewhere there the word disregard is absolutely applicable. Think. In order to be “indifferent” we must disregard the needs of others or ourselves. Is that a good idea? No.
2. “General apathy leads to spiritual apathy in believers, hindering good connection with God and others.” Did you get that? Apathy dulls our ability to connect with God and others. Now hear this — a little apathy inspires a little more apathy, and the more we are apathetic, the easier it gets to be apathetic. We are Christians who are in hard pursuit of God and His values, so in our modern society, being apathetic can have profound consequences. Is that a good idea? No.

Imagine … one day apathy comes to visit, at first posing as a friend. Then, to our frustration, decides to stay, camping out in the living room, making a gradual mess of everything and constantly stinking up the bathroom. More and more, apathy carelessly tosses soda cans on the floor, sprinkles food crumbs and empty candy wrappers everywhere. Apathy becomes absent-minded as to the well being of the house. Then begins a long string of heedless, irresponsible, reckless behaviors that makes us sorry we ever let apathy in the door.

Psalm 73:12, “Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.” Often in the Bible there are words used to point out indifference or apathy, words like “at ease”, “sleep” or “slumber”, and references to “the lazy”.

Thus, we gradually start to “wander away”. That is “wander away” in the sense of James 5:19, which is also translated as “led astray”. Did we wake up one day simply indifferent or was there something greater which “leads us astray”? Do you see it? Inch by inch, little by little, our apathy or indifference influences our faith, until one day, we wake up and realize we’re in real trouble and wonder, “How did I get way over here?”

In Lamentations 1:12, the writer notices passersby are indifferent to their suffering and sorrow. “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?” Rest assured, God has been addressing our tendencies toward apathy when, from the beginning, things are difficult.

So, what are we really saying when we claim indifference? Are we playing our “go along to get along” card, as in — others don’t seem to care, so I won’t either? Is it more that something is too painful to talk about, so in an effort to not deal with our internal conflicts we claim indifference? You do realize the longer we don’t deal with our conflicts the more we will resemble our conflicts. The doctor wisely advises the patient to stop drinking, but the patient retreats to their typical dismissive posture and claims, “I don’t care!” To me the patient is saying, in so many words, “don’t bother me, I’ve heard it a thousand times before. I’ve tried to quit over and over and failed, so i just resign to slowly killing myself.” i call that death on the installment plan. “I don’t care.”

How often, looking deep within ourselves with all honesty, how often does “i don’t care” actually mean “i don’t care”? After all, the only people who truly don’t care, having a through and through “care-less attitude”, are sociopaths and psychopaths. Think about it.

For me, often my problem was not that i was indifferent, but more i cared about everything so much I was burdened. So in an effort to escape my burden i claimed indifference, choosing apathy instead of empathy. In the claim of being indifferent, did i actually escape the weight of my affliction? No. My internal conflict was still there and the truth is I was still burdened by the weight by which I was so easily knocked off my feet. The truth is i did actually care, but there was something wrong with the way I was dealing with life.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

25+ years ago the Lord began to address my apathy, my conflict of being indifferent. Over time i began to get the idea that i needed to re-think what was important rather than claim indifference. In the course of a couple weeks i went from pretending apathy to realizing and properly weighing what was of most importance to the least important. i was learning to prioritize. It was not that i didn’t care if someone remembered my name, but that it was not a great, pressing priority. If the name of Jesus is the most important name in the universe, then it’s obviously more important people know Jesus, not me. It’s not that we shouldn’t care what happens to the poor but more what level of importance does God assign it, and isn’t it more important that we align with God’s purposes?

Let us not “wander away”, or slumber when we need to pay attention. God never, EVER calls us to disregard others or to be indifferent. He is not indifferent or apathetic about anything and neither should we.

i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name Ministries.