Apathy

Apathy (def) - "a state of indifference, or the suppression of emotions such as concern, excitement, motivation and passion."

Not caring is not normal. God created man, and in doing so he gave him a moral conscience (Acts 17:26-27). The apostle Paul even discussed the moral code sometimes obeyed by people who are ignorant of the law of God (Rom. 2:14-15). So it is expected that certain things matter to us: How we conduct ourselves, how we see others treated, right and wrong, causes worth making sacrifices for, et cetera.

This is why apathy is unhealthy, and in many cases, just plain sinful. In doing a study on apathy, one will find that it exists more often in people with mental illnesses. It is commonly associated with depression, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, schizophrenia, Schizoid Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and other diseases. This should tell us, that when a person does not care about the things that everyone should care about, something is wrong upstairs. Now it is one thing to have a disease that you cannot control which causes you to be apathetic, and it is another thing to choose not to care. Perhaps we could describe the latter condition without the letter "a", "pathetic."

With regard to the Christian life, there are some things for which every child of God should care. One should care about faithfulness to God, the unity and direction of the church, humanity's ideas and treatment of the Godhead, the Bible, their personal relationship with God and man, sin and its consequences, those who are less fortunate for any reason, and one should care when they see another person being mistreated.

The list could be longer, but the point is that it is important to remember what matters and what things should affect us.

Plato once said that, "The penalty that good men pay for not being interested in politics is to be governed by men worse than themselves." If this has some truth in it, what about the spiritual state of Christians who stop caring...who is governing them?

Are you bothered with being bothered, or do you still have the type of conscience with which God would be pleased? God wants a people who have a heart for Him, who care about what He cares about. Be very careful and guard you heart! Satan isn't just looking for people who are set on evil, he is looking for people who are too lazy to care!

“So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man." ~ Acts 24:16