Indifference – The Great Destroyer

Indifference refers to an attitude held by a person indicating a lack of zeal, commitment, and concern regarding whatever that individual is indifferent toward. 

I do not know of anything a person can succeed at long term with indifference dominating him or her.  Natural talent will only take a person so far.  There comes a time when to succeed you have to buckle down, get serious, and do the work.  This is true of the great athletes of the world, the great musicians, of people who are highly successful in their fields, and even the Einsteins of the world, and so how much more so of you and me? 

Of course, we are talking here about the significant things in life, things that matter and make a difference.  If you want to get a degree or degrees, a good education, if you want to have a successful marriage, if you want to succeed in your job or vocation, and if you want to go to heaven.  Yes, and if you want to go to heaven.

We are living in a time of a great falling away from spiritual matters, from Christianity.   The percentage of what are called the “Nones” continues to grow.  “Nones” are those who have abandoned faith in any kind of religion.  More and more people are coming to the decision that they do not need God in their life and they are not searching for him. 

From an article on the religionnews.com website published Aug. 5, 2019, I quote the title of an article found there, “‘Nones’ now as big as evangelicals, Catholics in the US.”  The article itself was dated March 21, 2019, but put online August 5^th.  It may or may not be online by the time you read this and the numbers will no doubt change with time becoming more or less but that has been and remains the trend over the past several years.  

Most churches I know about living as I do in the rural Midwest have declined drastically in membership over the last 50 years, some having closed their doors and others are on the verge of doing so.  People have lost interest in Christianity which is another way of saying they have become indifferent.  They are not seeking and thus they shall not find.  “Seek, and you will find.” (Matt. 7:7 NKJV)

If God and his word are matters of no serious concern to me, if God is only going to make my top 100 list of the most important things to me in my life, if he gets that high, then realistically what kind of hope do I have of salvation, of going to heaven?  To be indifferent is to not care.  If you do not care about God, about his will, about going to heaven, if you are disinterested in living a Christian life what joy do you bring to God?  You bring grief and sorrow like Israel and Judah in the Old Testament before they went into exile but joy, no.      

But, there is a lot of indifference abounding in many who proclaim Christianity.  It is not just the “Nones.”  A lot has been made of the fact that salvation from sin is a free gift from God.  This while true is seldom understood properly because seldom taught properly.  People have gotten it into their heads that their soul's salvation is solely dependent on God.  This lends itself to indifference.  There is nothing for me to do if God is going to do it all.  No need to seek God, from their point of few, despite the fact he says in his word, "He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him." (Heb. 11:6 NKJV)

The idea people seem to have is there is no need to study the Bible; God is love; God is grace; God is going to save everyone no matter what he or she believes or practices just as long as the person believes that Jesus is the Son of God and Savior of the world and that belief can be held in the most abstract sort of way divorced from all action and commitment.  Put another way you can be indifferent and go to heaven. 

Attend services wherever you so desire, no matter what they teach or practice, or don't even attend anywhere if you don't want to.  It will make no difference just as long as you believe in Jesus.  That is generally the Christian (?) world we live in here in America today.  False teaching along this line has led to a lot of the indifference we see.

Indifference is one natural byproduct of denominationalism.  If it really does not matter what you believe or practice just so you believe in Jesus then certainly one can be indifferent about both doctrine and practice.  What difference does it make about either if we are all going to be saved anyway?  I thus see people who think they are going to be saved who never worship.  If they have a Bible they would have to hunt it before they could read it and then dust it off for it has sat that long unread and unused.  They never read it.

The scariest thing for me when it comes to one's loved ones having indifference towards God and salvation, toward spiritual matters, is that indifference is one of those types of sins that is nearly impossible to get people to see and thus to own up to and repent of.  They do not see themselves as being indifferent but are satisfied they are doing all that is necessary for salvation, even though it is nothing, and will be saved as they are.  Nothing is necessary for salvation for God will take care of it all is the thought.  This is a perversion of Eph. 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (NKJV) 

The modern-day exegesis of this passage is that man has absolutely no obligations in any way toward God.  There is no need to read his word, there is no need to worship, there is no need to obey any of the commandments.  Just show up at Judgment Day and all will be fine.  Heb. 5:9 thus becomes meaningless, “And having been perfected, he became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:9 NKJV)

Indifference is accompanied by satisfaction.  The satisfied do not repent.  The satisfied does not seek, knock, or search in any way for anything other than what satisfied already has for satisfied is satisfied.  It becomes, as a result of that, nearly impossible to get people who fit into that state of mind to a mindset of repentance.  They are not interested in studying or searching the scriptures for they are indifferent and content. 

What does the Bible say or teach about indifference? 

One of the first passages that comes to mind is Rev. 3:15-16 where Jesus is directing a message to the members of the church at Laodicea and says, "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth." (Rev. 3:15-16 NKJV)

Jesus is talking to Christians here.  Does it sound like they are in a saved state?  If you will read one verse further (verse 17) Jesus goes on explaining, "Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.'" (Rev. 3:17 NKJV)  They were perfectly satisfied.  Please note carefully the words from this passage, "have need of nothing" expressing their satisfaction.   They were indifferent toward doing anything other than what they were doing.

"If you love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 NKJV)  Can one go to heaven who does not love God?  “If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed.” (1 Cor. 16:22 NKJV)  How do you keep the commandments if you are indifferent?  Is love indifferent?  Is love uncommitted? 

In another statement, Jesus said, "Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:27 NKJV)  What kind of cross does the indifferent person bear for Christ?  Can such a person be a disciple of Jesus?  What does the text say? 

In the Old Testament God said with respect to the people of Israel through the prophet Hosea, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." (Hosea 4:6 NKJV)  If it happened to them could it not happen to people today?  The indifferent cannot gain knowledge of God for the attitude of indifference creates no desire to seek and learn.  Mr. Indifference is also Mr. Satisfied with the way things are and with what little knowledge he already has.

Jesus said, "Seek, and you will find," (Matt. 7:7 NKJV) but one's indifference keeps him from seeking and thus from finding.  We are to "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matt. 6:33 NKJV) but the indifferent have no will to seek let alone seek first.

The Bible teaches the love of God, or love for God, is keeping his commandments.  "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." (1 John 5:3 NKJV)  Jesus said, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me." (John 14:21 NKJV)  "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word." (John 14:23 NKJV)  "He who does not love me does not keep my words." (John 14:24 NKJV)

The indifferent cannot do that.  Why?  Because he/she is too indifferent to read, study, and learn the word that Jesus would have them keep.  They are satisfied with what they have.  They will never wear a Bible out from use.  They do not know the truth from study of the truth.  What they know is only what they have heard which may or may not be the truth and what they believe is that which has satisfied them whether it be truth or error (they know not the difference).

Many are going to die eternally simply because they did not care enough to be saved.  Jesus taught a great deal about the idea of being ready, of making preparation, for his return and the Day of Judgment.  The parable of the ten virgins comes immediately to mind.  Another passage that comes to mind is found in Matt. 22:11, the account of the man who came into the wedding unprepared and as a result was cast out. 

The indifferent, due to that indifference, are negligent and do not prepare and consequently, unless they can be brought to a change of heart cannot be saved.  They live in a continual state of unpreparedness.

Indifference is a symptom of a spiritually diseased heart.  The heart is not where it ought to be as it is concentrated on the self and this world.  It is full of pride; I'm okay; I don't need any more religion than I have.  It is presumptuous and assumes God will save me as I am.  It is rebellious against God (we will do it my way).

The question becomes, for those of us who care about people we fear may be in this state, is what can we do about it?  Here I must stop.  I cannot write any more for how does one answer this question?  If a person is indifferent, satisfied, does not care, then how do you get them to care?  This is why this is one of the most fearful sins a person will ever run up against.  How do you get a person to care that does not care?  How do you move a satisfied person into a state of dissatisfaction where he can repent?

If a person has committed a sexually immoral sin or sins of many other kinds, sinful acts versus sinful attitudes, he/she probably knows what they did was wrong and feels some pang of guilt.  There is hope there.  You can get a person like that to repent but how do you get the indifferent, those who do not care, to repent?  It is your turn now to write the next article and tell me the answer.   

(Originally written July 11, 2011)

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Disrespect for the Word of God is Disrespect for Jesus

There is little respect for the word of God in America today.  It is now common to hear the term post-Christian used to describe our society and the West in general.  Of course, if we are post-Christian it necessarily follows we have also become post-scriptural, people who no longer value the things of scripture, believe them, or abide in them. 

The liberal secularists and progressives in America who have come to dominate much of the media, politics, academia, and the sports and entertainment industries see this as a positive thing.  We are growing up, outgrowing silly myths and superstitions, becoming at last mature adults able to deal with reality—God is a myth. 

With such a mindset obedience or disobedience to the word of God as found in the Christian scriptures means nothing.  The scriptures are not to be taken seriously.  At best they teach good life lessons on how to order your own personal life but if you follow them too meticulously they will lead you into intolerance and judgment.  You will become a despicable bigoted person for after all not everything the Bible calls sin is actually sin.  Modern man is a better judge of sin than the scriptures. 

Accordingly, modern man has, so he thinks, refuted outdated ideas like there being any sin in adultery (as scripture defines it), fornication, abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage, attempting to change one's sex, etc.  Since discarding scripture is now in vogue one must ask what we have in place of it to guide us through life?  The answer is nothing other than whatever the latest fashion is.  Our values and ethics change it seems like the passing seasons of the year.  Anyone now living who can remember just fifty years ago can tell you we are no longer the same people we were then.  

In modern thought what one needs to do is embrace everyone in whatever lifestyle they engage in, meaning you remain uncritical of it and accepting, and it will be okay with you.  Be a good person as judged by society’s standards and it will go well with you in whatever life is to come--if there is a life to come—which, by the way, we don’t believe.  But even if there is a God he thinks the same way we do so don’t worry, it will go well with you.  So we think, so we live our lives. 

Did Jesus teach any of this?  No he did not, none of it.  First of all he never believed nor taught it was going to go well with the majority of society based on being a good person in society.  “Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7:14 NKJV)  The few is not the many.  Do not be misled by those who seem to be teaching or implying that all is going to go well with the mass of humanity, those judged good by society’s standards; unless Jesus is a liar that will not be the case.  A good Roman citizen in the first or second century was still lost unless he/she was also a Christian.  The same can be said of citizens in all societies since then. 

Secondly, Jesus never had the attitude that one could be indifferent about scripture; one cannot be indifferent about doing God’s will.  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Matt 7:21 NKJV)  If doing the will of the Father is necessary, as Jesus says, the will of the Father must be discerned.  That necessarily implies that God’s word is of utmost importance as it is the vehicle by which God’s will is made known to man.  

Did Jesus respect scripture?  If he did how can we say we respect him while disrespecting what he honors?  In John 5:45-47 Jesus rebukes the Jews he is speaking to for not believing the writings of Moses, “if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:47 NKJV)  Earlier in John 5:39 he says the scriptures are “they which testify of me.”  In John 10:35 he says, “The scripture cannot be broken.” (NKJV) 

In just these three passages alone from the book of John we see Jesus’ respect for Moses’ writings and the trustworthiness of scripture as it relates to the testimony of and about himself as well as the fact that scripture is rock solid; it cannot be broken.  This is Jesus’ view of scripture.  

One is reminded of Jesus' comments about creation in the book of Matthew when he said, "Have you not read (read what?—scripture—DS) that he who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?” (Matt. 19:4-5 NKJV)  Jesus quotes Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24, Moses’ writings, and in doing so is telling us he respects what was written and with the direct implication that we should too.  Jesus destroys any thoughts about the evolution of man from lower life forms in this passage and establishes marriage as being between a man and a woman by accepting what Moses wrote. 

Moses’ writings are reliable but our culture does not want to accept them or what Jesus said about them for if Moses’ writings are true it means that marriage is between a man and a woman and our culture is no longer willing to accept that kind of a restriction on God’s institution.  God institutes marriage but he has no right, as we see it, to be exclusive about it.  It is his institution but we are determined to grasp it from him and rule it ourselves.  God has no right in the matter. 

We will not respect the scripture.  Jesus did but we won’t and many of us want nothing to do with a Jesus who will not endorse and celebrate gay marriages.  God has no right to regulate sin.  Thank you but we can very well do that on our own (we think).  If we don’t want it to be sin we will not allow it to be.  We have that much power?  Wow!  Impressive! 

Jesus also spoke of Noah, the flood, and the ark as historical fact (Luke 17:27), of Moses and the burning bush (Mark 12:26, Luke 20:37), of Jonah being in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights (Matt. 12:40), of Sodom and Gomorrah (Mark 6:11, Luke 17:29), of Daniel’s “abomination of desolation” (Mark 13:14), and of David saying "have you not even read this, what David did when he was hungry?” (Luke 6:3 NKJV) 

Jesus endorsed the scriptures as authentic, historical, and reliable.  To cast aspersion upon the scriptures is to reflect upon the knowledge and wisdom of Jesus, to make him out a fool for accepting things we will not accept.  Our society is no longer willing to believe and laughs at divine creation, a worldwide flood, Jonah (a fish story), Sodom and Gomorrah, homosexuality as a sin, etc. 

Let me drive a point home here.  We sometimes make a distinction between what we believe (believe in the sense of having a strong opinion) and what we know.  We say we do not believe a thing—we know it.  So the question arises did Jesus believe the things he spoke of, that is just have a strong opinion, or did he know them? 

If he just believed them like you and I believe things when we speak that way then he was just a man and could not be God and man’s savior.  If on the other hand he knew as fact the things of which he spoke then we enter into the realm of his being more than just a man.  He spoke as one who knew.  So where do we stand?  What do we believe about Jesus?  Did he speak as a man or as God?  Will we believe Jesus?  If so it forces us to believe the scriptures.  When we doubt the scriptures we doubt Jesus and doubt is not faith. 

Jesus spoke of Old Testament scripture as the New Testament scriptures had not yet been written.  How important is not just Old Testament scripture but also New Testament scripture? 

Jesus said, “He who rejects me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority; but the Father who sent me gave me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his command is everlasting life.  Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told me, so I speak." (John 12:48-50 NKJV) 

Jesus spoke the word of God (John 12:48-50, 14:10, 24, 17:8,14) but lest we think that means we need only a red letter edition of the New Testament where we can pick Jesus’ words out by the red print and can ignore the rest of the New Testament we need to read further.  Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to the apostles.  “I will pray the Father, and he will give you another helper…even the Spirit of truth…he dwells with you and will be in you…I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18 NKJV)  As Jesus and the Father are one so are Jesus and the Holy Spirit. 

When the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles it was the same as if Jesus had come back to them in person.  This is clarified in Jesus’ own words in John 16:12-14, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  However, when he, the Spirit of truth, has come, he will guide you into all truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak; and he will tell you things to come.  He will glorify me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-14 NKJV)  Jesus still has many things to say.  When is he going to say them and how?  He will say them through the Holy Spirit when the Holy Spirit is sent to the apostles (and granted as a spiritual gift to others in the scriptures after Pentecost). 

The apostle Peter spoke of Paul’s writings as being twisted by some to their destruction comparing Paul’s writings to “the rest of the scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:14-16 NKJV) 

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God.” (2 Tim. 3:16 NKJV)  Jesus is God (John 1:1, 1 Tim. 3:16, Heb. 1:8, Acts 20:28).  Jesus is the one of whom John proclaimed, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1 NKJV)  To disrespect scripture, to belittle passages, make light of scriptural teaching, etc., is showing disrespect for the author of those scriptures, the one who said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV) 

This Jesus is the one Peter was referring to in Acts 3 when he quoted Moses saying, “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren.  Him you shall hear in all things, whatever he says to you.  And it shall come to pass that every soul who will not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’” (Acts 3:22-23 NKJV)  Jesus is a prophet, priest, and king but above all he is a part of the Godhead.  We can hear him or we can be “utterly destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:23 NKJV)     

Jesus says many times, “if you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15 NKJV) or words to that end (see John 14:21, 23, 24, John 15:10, 14).  He is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Heb. 5:9 NKJV)  How does one obey Jesus while disrespecting the scriptures that teach us his commandments that we are to obey?  “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:3 NKJV)  Disrespecting the word of God is not an ingredient in the love of God and it certainly does not show respect for Jesus. 

America is truly becoming an anti-Christian nation or should one say an anti-Christ nation?  The America we once knew where God-haters and Bible haters were rare is disappearing and I think most Americans know that and would no longer disagree about it.  We are becoming Europe but we saved Europe twice from themselves last century.  Who will save us from ourselves when we have to reap what we are now sowing?

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