What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy? Don’t know; don’t care. Think about that for a few moments. There are many things about which we know little or nothing. And even if we knew about them, we wouldn’t really care one way or another because we believe other things are far more important to us – the pebble in our shoe. But ignorance and indifference can harm or kill us. (Examples: electricity, gravity, chemicals, etc.)
It’s sad that many people, including children, are being stupefied with all kinds of legitimate and illegitimate drugs instead of with natural remedies that have fewer side effects. This problem will intensify during the upcoming seven years of “The Tribulation.” [1] (See Revelation 9:21; 18:23)
Many people are also mesmerized and lulled into spiritual sleep by the devil and are apathetic toward God and His Word (2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 John 5:19). Many are lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people [we’re to] turn away! (2 Timothy 3:2-5).
Maybe the apathetic person you meet has an irritating pebble in his shoe that keeps him distracted so that he rarely, if ever, thinks about God. Perhaps the devil put it there (2 Corinthians 12:7).
A. W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us…Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God….For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous [amazing or intriguing] fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.” – The Knowledge of the Holy
Here are a few basic perspectives on the question of God’s existence. [2] Which one of these beliefs describes you the best?
Atheism, Agnosticism, Theism, and Deism
1) atheism: the belief that God (or gods) do not exist
2) agnosticism: the belief that there is not enough evidence to prove or disprove the existence of God – ‘we just don’t know’
3) theism: the belief that there is a God (or gods) with whom we may relate
4) deism: belief in the existence of a supreme being, specifically of a creator who does not intervene in the universe.
But here is another one that should be added to this list.
5) apatheism. It is the view that whether or not God (or gods) exist is not that important. An ‘apatheist’ doesn’t take a position on the question of God—he or she simply doesn’t care.
It’s important to note that your belief will affect the way you talk or don’t talk to others about God. Are you a “Professing Christian” who is quite content and comfortable in the life you are now living? Perhaps you expect the “professionals” (Evangelists, Pastors, Teachers, Deacons) to do the work of evangelism rather than your getting involved in it yourself.
The early Jewish Christians knew what Jesus had told them to do – “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
But for a long time they hesitated to reach out to non-Jews with the Gospel until God put “a fire under them” in the person of Saul, the persecutor of Christians (Acts 9:1 ff; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13), who later became the Apostle Paul (Acts 13:9), and the steward (household manager) of the “Dispensation of Grace” in which we now live (Ephesians 3:1 ff). [3]
Carnal Christians, who are manifesting “the works of the flesh,” (which are all perversions of good things – Galatians 5:19-21), usually won’t be interested in being obedient to the Lord’s command. In fact, they shouldn’t witness to lost people until they’ve confessed their known sins to God the Father and have claimed His forgiveness (1 John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13; James 5:16). Failure to confess all our known sins to Him can result in severe discipline (1 Corinthians 11:27-32; Hebrews 10:31; 12:5 ff; James 5:19, 20; 1 John 5:16).
Once we’ve made things right with God and others whom we’ve offended (James 5:16; Romans 12:18), we need to walk by means of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25), and be “filled with the Spirit” by allowing Him to make up where we are lacking in Christ likeness (Ephesians 5:18). When we’re rightly related to God the Holy Spirit, He will produce “The Fruit of the Spirit” in our lives (Galatians 5:22, 23). Then we become responsible to direct it toward the right objects, for the right reasons, and at the right time. [4]
Sometimes, when we’re dealing with unsaved people, they will show little or no interest in spiritual things. They’re apathetic. I also have encountered people who were hostile to me when I tried to talk to them about God and the Gospel. If they’re offended, I want them to be offended by the Gospel (1 Corinthians 1:18-25; 2:14) rather than with me because of my ineptness or carelessness.
Perhaps they’ve had a bad experience with “religion” and “religious people.” Rather than trying to “cram the Gospel down their throat,” showing “agape” love and kindness to them might open up a future opportunity to talk to them about God’s amazing grace and the salvation He provides for all mankind (John 3:16; 1 John 2:2). After all, it’s the goodness [kindness] of God [that] leads [people] to repentance [i.e., a change of mind] (Romans 2:4). [5] Do you love people as God does (John 3:16)?
Sometimes I like to leave a clear Gospel tract with people. (It can be like a “pebble in a shoe.”) I often use a tract that I wrote about the death of our late son, Bill, as an “ice breaker.” [6] I’ve found many people who have had similar circumstances with the loss of a loved one or friend.
If you distribute “Gospel tracts,” [7] make sure that they include the facts of the Gospel – that Christ died for our sins…and rose again bodily on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3, 4). Don’t use those that leave out Christ’s bodily resurrection as many Gospel tracts do. Make sure that they clearly state that the only condition for their salvation / deliverance from hell to heaven is for them to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ alone, through the Gospel…” so they can/will be saved (Acts 16:31). When a person believes, he repents (i.e., changes his mind about God, himself, and how he must be saved). Our “good works” have no part in our being saved (Ephesians 2:8, 9; Titus 3:5; Isaiah 64:6).
If you have been saved by God’s grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, through the message of the Gospel, but have been involved in “apatheism,” confess this to God and then, with His help, become a F.A.T.F.R.E.E. Christian. (Faithful, Available, Teachable, Flexible, Evangelistic, and Enthusiastic). [8]
We’re here to assist those who are teachable, willing to change, and who want to grow spiritually. If you’d like additional spiritual help, we can be reached here or through our website: www.kelseypeach.com.
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For further study to show yourself approved to God (2 Timothy 2:15), we invite you to read the following articles:
[1] The Tribulation –
[2] Basic Perceptions – https://thelogcollege.wordpress.com/2023/01/28/witnessing-in-an-age-of-apathy/
[3] Dispensations Chart – https://www.kelseypeach.com/_files/ugd/08892a_ce5bb78881fa4f50a6c866dd9ab0adfe.pdf
[4] Fruit of the Spirit – https://kelseypeach.wordpress.com/2022/01/07/be-like-jesus/
[5] Repentance –
[6] The Death Of Our Son – https://kelseypeach.wordpress.com/2016/04/12/the-death-of-our-son/
[7] Gospel Tracts – https://www.biblebelievers.com/Torrey3.html
http://bartimaeus.us/pub_dom/monographs.html
[8] F.A.T.F.R.E.E. https://kelseypeach.wordpress.com/2013/05/25/the-f-a-t-f-r-e-e-test/
The Gospel by which we are saved –
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