Tim Hansel, in his book “When I Relax I Feel Guilty,” writes some insights into what most people want from God.
“I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a drunk man or pick up someone out of the gutter of life. I want ecstasy, not transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.”
Along this line of thinking, did you hear about the college students who wanted to form a new organization on their campus? They called it the “Apathy Club.” Their “Apathy Club” wasn’t going to be like any other student group. Where most organizations have a purpose or goal – or some common interest to unify and motivate them – this club was advertised as “believing in nothing, pursuing nothing.” They simply did not care about anything, and they were going to demonstrate their apathy in an organized fashion!
Just one problem: the self-appointed officers of the Apathy Club advertised the first meeting – and not a single person showed up – because anybody who might have been interested did not care enough to attend.
That is funny until you realize that there is an apathy epidemic raging in American Christianity. Apathy. The dictionary says it’s “a lack of feeling or emotion” – it’s defined as “passivity and indifference” – or an “absence of concern or interest.” Apathy has a close cousin – complacency – and complacency brings the added component of self-satisfaction.
Again I use one of my favorite verses, John 10:27. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” Many who become Christians only want the fire insurance but don’t want to pay the premium. I would say on any given Sunday in your community there are by far more Christians at home than in church! Why is this? Apathy. They know about Jesus, but they don’t really know Jesus.
I thank God for those of you who tell me you enjoy this article every week. I thank God for your encouragement to me. But more than that I thank God for what that really tells me: that there are many of you who are following Jesus every day. That there are many of you who are not apathetic about the Lord’s work. You want more than $3 worth of God. You want all of Him. You talk to God in prayer; you read your Bibles to hear what God is saying to you. You are faithful to your church, where you meet to worship, to serve God, to encourage fellowship and to teach one another. I know that there are many of you out there. Let me urge you to stay with Him, stand by Him and go for Him.
But beware of the wiles of the devil, for we can also fall prey to the devil’s tool of apathy and unconcern. Remember these words from the apostle Paul and hide them in your heart. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)
Watch sermons and read sermon texts and other articles online at tomahawkmbc.com. Listen to Pastor Jack Ward’s sermons on WSIP FM 98.9 every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Watch his sermons on his Facebook page. Find him on Rumble, Bitchute and Brighteon video platforms.