The Cure for Spiritual Apathy

As I prepared for our meeting today, I struggled a bit in determining what to share a devotion with you on. While nothing from my personal time in God’s Word stood out, I began to think about each of our local churches and what might be a source of discouragement for us right now. There were many things but one in particular was the perceived apathy of church members. We all know people who do not seem to care and simply go through the motions. They have not always been this way. There was likely a point in time where their love for God and His church was notable but along the way their enthusiasm waned.

What can we do with such a problem? How do we lovingly address the lack of care so many seem to have about the Lord, His inspired scriptures, and His church? The Bible has much to say about spiritual apathy, but the first passage that comes to my mind is found in the words of Jesus to the Church in Ephesus in Revelation 2.

This body of believers is described as working hard, enduring patiently, avoiding evil, testing false prophets. This sounds like the model for a Christian person. However, all of these things are based on works alone. Jesus brings one charge against them: that they have abandoned the love they had at first.

These very words from our Lord and Savior give us the greatest solution to spiritual apathy: give them Jesus. In fact, if you feel as though your level care is dwindling, give yourself Jesus.

We should dwell often on the miraculous birth of Christ which fulfilled the prophecies about the coming Messiah. We should consider the perfect life that He lived and the wise instruction given to His followers. We should mourn His death on the cross which was made necessary by our own sin. We must celebrate His unprecedented resurrection and the new life that it promises us. And as we think on these things, we should anticipate the day when we will join Him in heaven.

We preach these things to ourselves first. Then we turn to our brothers and sisters and encourage them with Jesus. We don’t have to be harsh in this address. Simply opening the word of God will do the job in addressing a lack of care!