Combating Apathy

Does anybody truly care about the sate of America anymore? People are apathetic. Apathy is defined as "the absence of passion, emotion, or excitement; the lack of concern or interest." This defines so many people

There is something really really wrong when a young person would rather play football, baseball, or basketball on a video game than going out and playing the real thing. When people have more interest in virtual  reality, more passion for pretending, and get more excited about fantasy football there is something wrong.  I sat at a high school football game last night and saw no passion on the sidelines from the players. One father commented to me when he walked by the tunnel where the players gathered before the game he did not hear a word. He told me his young son tried to pump others up a few weeks back and upperclass men told him to shut up. Apathy has stolen the passion out of people.

A town we used to live in recently voted to go wet and start selling and serving alcohol. They were once a proud town of less than half a dozen towns to remain dry in Texas. While I lived this issue came up and I wrote a letter to the editor against it. The town voted to remain dry. When I was told the vote numbers it sickened me that out of a town of 6,000 well over 4,000 of the residents chose not to vote at all. Satan persisted and now has won. Apathy. Indifference. Lack of interest and concern.

The same thing happens in the church. Have you ever sat on the platform, sang in the choir or praise team and looked at the faces of all the people seated in the congregation. They are apathetic. In far too many churches, including the one I serve, people are indifferent and suffer from absence of passion or excitement.

Apathy is slowly choking the life and vitality out of our society. Does anyone care anymore? Preachers talk about evangelism but do people really ever share their faith. I did this week and it breaks my heart that the one I talked to thinks they are right with God when every fruit of their life screams a different story. Do we care that family, neighbors, friends, co-workers, teammates will actually perish into eternal destruction?

Does anyone want more than dead, formal, religious routines masquerading as worship services anymore? Are there people who long for a fresh visitation of God and they don't care how long the worship service goes or how long the preacher preaches? Are there still people out there who desire to hear the whole counsel of God and are sick and tired of being entrained? Are there still people out there who long for the Holy Spirit to have freedom to move even if the service goes longer than an hour. Are there people so hungry for God in worship they don't care if they sing souther gospel, old hymns, a negro spiritual, or a modern day song as long as it's all sung to God. Are there people who still desire to hear a word from God and adjust their lives accordingly.

I once heard a preacher preach his heart out. God stirred me and I ran to the altar as fast as I could to pray. When I got finished I expected to be surrounded by others. Nobody else was there. The preacher called on someone to pray to close the service. I followed him to his office where I found him in tears. I told him how powerful the sermon had been and that God spoke to me. Weeping he asked me why the people did not respond? In a word apathy.

Over time preachers get used to empty altars and apathetic people. Preachers lower their expectations and justify apathy in their preaching by consoling themselves that they preached the truth and it is up to the people what they do with the truth. That is only partially true. If the preacher has become apathetic too and preaching icicles from the pulpit instead of sermons on fire by the Spirit of God then part of the blame lies at the feet of pastors.

Everywhere I look I see apathy. I see it among athletes going through the motions. I actually heard about a runner today at a sate cross country meet who ran so hard she passed out and had to crawl the last yards of the race. PRAISE GOD FOR A YOUNG PERSON OF PASSION. I wish I could see that on Sunday mornings. I wish I could hear and see people praising God like they cared and meant it. I wish I could preach to people eager to open God's word desiring to hear from the Lord. I wish I could see people really start caring again.

Does anybody care? I don't want to end my days as an apathetic preacher. I don't know how much time America has left or how much time I have left to live. I only know I refuse to be apathetic. Are there any others? May we pray, serve, and follow God with passion no matter what. May they cut us open at the end of our days and we bleed passion for the glory and cause of God in every realm of life.