Bothered by Indifference?

To my thinking, the shrug is one of the worst gestures in use today. This motion of nonverbal communication expresses its meaning in a way that is almost meaningless. It appears cold, detached, and emotionless nearly to the point of being unresponsive. It makes the other party feel unimportant. When you give a shrug, you proclaim you are so dispassionate that you can’t even be bothered to voice the word “whatever.” An awkward raising of the shoulders weakly provides the understanding that a person doesn’t know or doesn’t much care. As infuriating as this lack of concern can be in general, it represents a unique danger in religion.

Indifference to doctrine – Are we still interested in the truth? Does it really matter what we teach? Some say that doctrine is divisive, and we should avoid being hard-liners about spiritual matters. Others say we should focus more on feelings rather than specific points of truth. In such places, preachers fill their sermons with current events, personal stories, pop-psychology, and secular self-help strategies. People may come away glad for the ear scratching (2 Tim 4:3), but did they learn anything? We should care enough to buy the truth, to seek the old paths, to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Pro 23:23; Jer 6:16; Mt 5:6)! We should place importance on declaring and carefully following the doctrine of Christ (1 Tim 4:6; 2 Jn 1:9).

Indifference to worship – Do we care about coming together to praise God? Are we still concerned with worship that pleases Him? Some seek contemporary innovation to cater to the masses. Others promote making worship as convenient as possible. One congregation hung a large banner that read, “30 Minute Worship!” on the outside of their building. God is seeking so much more from us than that (Jn 4:23-24)! Our actions should demonstrate reverence and an understanding of His authority (Psa 89:7; Col 3:16-17). Our attitude should reflect our great desire to give the Lord the glory due to His name (Psa 29:2; 122:1). We should know that how we worship makes a difference.

Indifference to church family – Do we still value our brothers and sisters? Are we interested in helping one another? Some have little to no involvement with the local congregation apart from Sunday morning. However, the Bible describes Christians as joined together in one body (1 Cor 12:12-13; Col 2:2). Through God’s design, we benefit from being involved with each other (Eph 4:16; 1 Thess 5:12-15). We actively assist one another (Gal 6:1-2; Col 3:15-16). Our being together matters! Seeing the growing spiritual apathy around us, we need to set a guard on our hearts (Pro 4:23). Don’t grow weary while doing good (Gal 6:9) and don’t shrug when it comes to matters of religion!