Apathy (also called impassivity or perfunctoriness) is a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion. An apathetic individual has an absence of interest or concern to emotional, social, or physical life. They may also exhibit an insensibility or sluggishness.
Apathy drains our lives. It makes us numb. It keeps us from reaching for something more.It affects the way we think, the way we act, the way we treat others, the way we treat ourselves. It destroys our ambitions. It keeps us from achievements.
It causes us to be zombies, we’re walking around on the outside when really we are dead.
Apathy was never God’s intention for humanity. (See Genesis 1) God chose to put people in charge of His creation. This is a massive responsibility! God gave people ownership over everything that He had made. And man had intimate fellowship with God. The bible says that God walked in the cool of the garden with man!
When we lost our focus of God’s purpose for humanity we became apathetic. We settled for something far less than what we were created for. We sold out for something less than all God had for us.
Apathy isn’t hard to engage in. We live in a culture that is extremely apathetic. We take things for granted. We buy into a consumerism mentality thinking that if we buy more stuff we’ll be happier people. Sometimes we become apathetic because life is hard. All the drama, all the busyness of life, all the pain. Sometimes we find ourselves wanting to hide from all of it or maybe just zone out for a while. We can become detached from life and glazed over. We can feel like all hope is lost and give up.
But we have a hope and His name is Jesus. Jesus came to save us and bring us back to God’s original purpose for humanity. This includes saving us from apathy. In John 10:10 Jesus says, "The thief comes to steal kill and destroy. I come that they may have life in abundance." Jesus is talking about life here and now, abundant living while we're alive. I think one of the best examples of this is the story of Jesus raising Lazurus from the dead. Jesus calls Lazurus (who is physically dead) to come to life and come out of his grave. In the same way that Jesus calls to Lazurus who is dead He calls to us who are dead in our apathy to come alive to His abundant life.
1 Tim 6:17 says that God has made all things for our enjoyment. Creation, friends, music, food, books, coffee, sports. God created it all for our enjoyment. James 1:17 says that every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven from the Father of Light. If it’s good it’s from God and He has made it for our enjoyment. God wants us to enjoy life. He wants us to live fully alive and engaged not detached or glazed over. He has people for us to touch and minister to. He has a plan for each us but it will never be fully realized in us if we live in apathy. Jesus calls for us to come to life and come out of our grave. To live life to the fullest. To enjoy all that He has made for us and given to us. To see beyond ourselves to the broken and hurting around us and to share with them the life giving presence of God that lives in us. Let's choose to live abundant life rather than living in apathy. That is if apathy is really living at all.
