apathy:
1. absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or
excitement.
2. lack of interest in or concern for things that
others find moving or exciting.
3. indifference
As I pried my eyes open two mornings ago, I wasn’t sure of which
was louder: my alarm clock or this word resounding in my head in rhythm with
the irritating bleeping. I was just
working out a good reason to tuck myself a little further under the duvet (I’m
constantly amazed by my nearly involuntary powers of self-justification at 5:45
am) when the Holy Spirit interrupted my internal monologue:
“I want you to study this word because you need to
understand what you’re feeling and what you’re facing as a church.”
I’d felt really strange for a few days…sort of restless, but
I didn’t really want to do anything.
Maybe discontent is a better word.
I found myself wanting to avoid conversations and issues and…people. Vaguely discouraged by the current
circumstances, which chiefly involve immigration challenges. And the more I took notice of this feeling,
the more disillusioned I felt about things ahead, and the more I wanted to
avoid it all, anyway, all leading to subtly whispered questions in my mind: what’s the point, anyway? Who really cares about anything we’re trying
to do? And with that question, a
strange heaviness settled around my shoulders and down my spine, like a
horribly overweight backpack.
Consequently, the voice of the Holy Spirit came as relieving
insight. This strange feeling of
discontented lethargy leading to listless discouragement and purposelessness…it’s
apathy. And it’s not simply the
byproduct of my own fluctuating emotions.
It’s the spiritual climate here, if you will, and it seeps into
everything the way the damp drafts from the rain tend to chill even the
sturdiest buildings.
Spiritual battle and the intense challenge of pioneering the
gospel generally conjures images of living in squalor in some remote desert or
rainforest where you’re never sure if you’ll be arrested or shot for
acknowledging Jesus. I have the utmost
respect for the men and women who live in this type of battle zone. But in the West, the battleground is far less
obvious. Here, counterattacks to kingdom
advancement are not so much physical danger, job and property loss, and imprisonment;
they are depression, workaholic tendencies, materialism…and apathy.
The most desperate thing about the West is that isn’t
desperate. Christian or not, we
Westerners have enough grocery shopping, work deadlines, unanswered emails, and
social engagements to occupy us from dawn until dusk- no, midnight. These produce a paralysis in the Church; we
are indifferent because we don’t have time to notice needs that are relatively
invisible to middle class living. And
outside the Church, they provide a necessary diversion from gnawing emptiness
and hopelessness. The West doesn’t care
because it doesn’t have to care, and
this indifference is the apathy that settles in like a heavy fog. It’s a helpful momentary narcotic that
produces side effects of purposelessness, depression, and the vague sense that
this is “as good as it’s probably going to get”.
Jesus addresses this issue of apathy in the “lukewarm”
Laodicean church (Rev. 3:14-22). Each of
the seven churches is commissioned to overcome an aspect of opposition. Some, like the church in Smyrna, faced imprisonment
and death- understandably some things to overcome. Just a few verses later, however, the
Laodicean church is commanded to overcome lukewarm apathy.
Really??
I was stunned as I read this again this week. Jesus addresses apathy as if it is as
substantial a foe to the church as physical torture. Bravely facing loss of property and family
strikes me as noble sacrifice. Facing
apathy strikes me as…normal. But
apparently, fighting each of these is considered a worthy fight with a promised victory- if we acknowledge the enemy and engage in the battle.
The Greek word for “overcome” is “nike”. Long before the advent of the immortalized
“swoosh”, Nike was the Greek goddess of victory. She was typically depicted triumphantly
standing with her foot on the neck of her enemies. Consequently, Jesus’ invitation to the
churches to “nike” is a statement declaring his supremacy- over persecution,
over culture, and even over world government.
I love that. Apathy
is not some state of “normal” into which we must resignedly settle; it is a
very real enemy that we are invited to nike. It rouses me out of the discouraged lethargy
that wants to creep in and inspires me to fight. And wonderfully, fighting is not a strain and
struggle- it is simply worshipping, asking the Holy Spirit to fill me, and
attending to the primary business of getting my soul “happy in the Lord”, as
George Mueller puts it.
This is MAJORLY inspiring and right on regarding this Western world mindset/heart-set. I love the revelation God has given you on this and I find it incredibly helpful for me even now as I am looking ahead to a new season of change. I cannot wait to see this all unfold. And something I have been pondering is this; God can do a lot with time. As you persevere,just think, "God can do a lot with time". There may be just one thing that is needing to shift into place and then, once it does, things will steam ahead! Until then, we persevere and fight apathy in every way that you stated above. I also love that thought of "making my soul happy in the Lord". Yes, yes, yes! So much revelation is coming to Racine right now on the LOVE of God for US and that we must live from his love for us, not our love for Him. It changes everything. Perhaps Jonathan's most recent sermon would clue you into what I am talking about more clearly, because his sermon really began something in Racine on the whole.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, LOVE YOU LOTS! Perhaps we can Skype soon?
xoxo