Apathy - Overcoming Unbelief

Hebrews 3:13 gives us a clue to overcoming unbelief.

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief,
in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it
is called today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast unto the end; - Hebrews 3:12-14

Exhort one another daily
Fellowship is so important in a Christian’s life. Without the exhortation and encouragement of other believers, one may fall rather quickly and be sucked into the vortex of the flesh and world. I need fellowship. I cannot live without it. Without the daily encouragement of others, I am prone to stop fighting the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12). I need Christian men of good character to build me up, and to lift me up every day. Not just once a week. We need to keep our eyes on the prize daily.

And what are the things the bible teaches us to do daily:
• Take up our cross and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23)
• Teach and witness (Mat 26:55, Luke 19:47, Acts 5:42, 17:17, 19:9)
• Deny and Die to ourselves (Luke 9:23, 1 Cor 15:31;
• Read and search the scriptures (Ne 8:18; Acts 17:11)
• Worship God and Fellowship with other believers (Acts 2:46-47)

And what can I do to exhort and be exhorted?
• Find Christians with like passions and share ideas on how to be better equipped.
• Share your victories with people who need encouragement.
• Encourage others.
• Set in your heart a goal of reaching one person a day for Christ.
• Work on asking yourself questions that may be asked by someone and using Scripture to answer them.

Hold the beginning of our confidence, steadfast to the end
Actions speak louder than words…correct? A man’s choices will follow the belief in his heart. If he believes (or not) whether God, the bible, heaven, hell, etc are true…his life will correspond to those beliefs. They have to. If a person doesn’t witness, and doesn’t care to either…it reveals the lack of need in his heart to do that very thing. It reveals he or she does not believe the words of the bible and the need to preach the gospel to every creature.

What are some things we hold onto or grasp tightly? They are those things that are valuable, and secure. When I asked my wife to marry me, I wanted it to be a special place. It was ten rows center of a standing room only of an Alice Cooper concert in an outdoor venue. It was a perfect night, but it could have ended in perfect disaster because I was holding in my hand a $3000 ring. Instead of carrying it in my pocket for fear of losing it in a mosh pit, I insisted on holding it…very tightly…so tightly that when I finally gave it to her it was covered in blood. Secure is something that is safe, immovable, solid and firm. When people find themselves in earthquakes they run towards the safest, strongest place in their house, which is a doorway and hold on. While everything all around is falling, shaking, and breaking, they are protected by the one thing that will not move. As Christians, the one thing in our lives that is valuable and secure is the Word of God.

What is the beginning of our confidence? It’s basically the time when we first believed. When we first knew true that God was real, that Jesus was our Lord, and the cross saved us from the penalty of sin in hell. We heard the gospel and believed it (Romans 10:13-17). With some of us though, as we get older in our Christian walk, we tend to fall backwards. We don’t go to the bible studies we used to, or not pray as much. We forget what it was like to be amazed at Christ and the power of His amazing grace. Paul writes Timothy to, “Stir up the gift of God which is in you…” (2 Timothy 1:6). Three times Paul gives examples of remembrance here also in vs 3, 4, and 2:8. In 2 Timothy 2:14 he writes Timothy to remind the faithful, teachable men of what Paul instructed him to do. Remembering is a powerful tool from the Lord. 1 Corinthians 4:17, 2 Peter 1:12, 3:1: Revelation 2:5, 3:3.

Final Thoughts
I have to admit, one of the hardest things being an American Christian is living in America. It is so full of pleasures, and pulls, things to do; wants and desires. With the added duties of being a husband, employee, among other titles, one has to think it would be impossible to do things on a daily basis. But the thing is that we do what is important to us. Ask yourself, “Is reaching the lost important to me?” If yes, then ask, “What am I doing about it?” If not, then ask, “Why not?” Conquering apathy is not easy in America, but it is so needed. Take the first step in climbing out of the pit of apathy today.

Apathy - The Cause...Unbelief.

12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of
unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily,
while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness
of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our
confidence steadfast unto the end;

- Hebrews 3:12-14

As I searched the scriptures and looked to see what the cause of apathy is…I spent some time battling it myself. Ever since I started this task of breaking down the enemy’s tactics, I found myself battling the very thing that I was determined to expose.

As I was contemplating in my mind the cause of apathy, I asked myself some questions. “Why do you not share your faith with the lost as much as you should”? Fear…maybe. But then I thought about my mother-in-law who drove eight hours to our house when she was battling depression and her own fears about driving to see her daughter who was in unbearable pain after getting a spinal tap. Love conquers fear. But what if the spinal tap didn’t exist? Then there would be no reason to drive. So what if there was no hell? Then there would be no reason to witness. If there was no sickness, there would be no reason for the cure.

What is Unbelief?
Unbelief (Strong’s #570, apistia) simply means, faithlessness, disbelief; and comes from Strong’s #571 (apistos), meaning distrustful, disbeliever, unbeliever, and one without the Christian faith. The reason why unbelief is so dangerous is because everywhere in the bible (including the above verse), unbelief is a characteristic of the unbeliever, the heathen, the evil, and unredeemed. When a person believes, they must act on that belief. Actions speak louder than words as the saying goes.

The Dangers of Unbelief
Unbelief is like a cancer that continues to grow and if untreated will kill and change cells that were once good and pure. Unbelief breeds ingratitude, and makes us cold and uncaring of what is around us. We don’t act according to those beliefs and then those beliefs slowly die. We become indifferent to what is around us, and the people whom we need to share our hope with.
15 Unto the pure (free from the defilements of the flesh and the world), all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. 16 They profess to know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate (not passing the test, rejected). – Titus 1:15-16 (emphasis mine).

When a person is defiled, it is so easy to defile others. That is why in Deuteronomy 20:8 the officers told the people to go home if they are fearful and fainthearted (unbelieving) because fear and unbelief are both contagious. Remember this, “it is easier to pull someone off a ladder, than to pull them up one.”

Not only that, but the final end of the unbelieving, is hell.

8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will have their part in the lake of fire which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. – Revelation 20:8

Why do the cowardly and unbelieving come first and second in this list? I believe because they have not believed the Father, nor the Son of God, and therefore make him a liar (1 John 5:10). If the end of the unbeliever is eternity in a lake of fire, why should we be like them here on earth?

What about me?
Are you grateful to God and what He has done? Are you grateful for His Provision by sending Jesus Christ on the cross as a payment for your sin debt? Think about what He has done. Take some time to look around you and see all that God has given. Is He worth it? Is He worth my time, talents, and treasure? I wish I can spend so much more time on this subject, for it may be the heart of the matter. Next time, I will look at how one can overcome unbelief with help from the Lord, and others.

Apathy In The Bible

The hottest places in Hell reserved for those who,

in times of moral crisis,

preserved their neutrality.

-Dante

The ancient Greek word in Strong’s Concordance is apalgeo (524) which means to grieve out, become apathetic, or be past feeling. Thayer’s Definition’s says it like this: to cease to feel pain or grief; to become callous, insensible to pain, and apathetic. This word is only used once in the entire bible in Ephesians 4:19. To get the context of the verse, lets look at a larger view of scripture.

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephesians 4:17-19 NKJV)

If we took a look at the above verse, we can see a pattern anyway and a hint of why people are apathetic. For starters, let’s get a firm grasp of the verse in context. Paul is writing to the church in Ephesus between 60 and 62 AD. Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire with a seaport that was so large it was called, “The Gateway to Asia”. The people of Ephesus worshipped all kinds of false idols…particularly to the god Artemis, better known as Diana. Its temple was so large that it was deemed one of the wonders of the ancient world. The people not only worshipped the goddess, but some of their livelihood was based on the making of idols. This is what got Paul and his fellow missionaries in trouble in Acts 18. So the church was made up of the people who came out of this lifestyle. They knew what Paul was talking about when he wrote. They lived it every day.

So, going back to the text, the bible says it’s “as the Gentiles walk”. So our next questions should be, “how do they walk?” As we examine each one, think about how it would be to live back then, and compare it to our own life in present-day America.

They are futile in their mind – Futile meaning “emptiness as to results”.
They have their understanding darkened – meaning their thinking is deprived of light; obscured.
They are alienated from the life of God – to estrange away; become a non-participant in the life God has given you to do.
They are ignorant – or wanting knowledge but never having it.
They are blind in their heart – stupidity, hardness, and callousness. The heart is where moral, rational, and emotional originate.
Given to lewdness, uncleanness, and greediness – and they surrendered themselves to lawless acts. Not struggling with remorse and having no restraints. It’s having a moral impurity with covetousness, always wanting more and never being satisfied.

We as Christians can only wonder about the church and not those who are outside the body of Christ. My concern for us (and that’s me included) is the world becoming more like us, or are we becoming more like the world. Who is influencing who? Are we walking as the Gentiles walk? I am a member of Facebook, and am amazed of how people who call themselves “Christian” have in their popular tv programs, music, and other forms of entertainment. Shows like “Family Guy” and “Southpark” that blaspheme God. Groups and lifestyles that don’t match up to God’s Word, and you can guess what people really love because it’s plastered all over their profile. I have one friend who claims to be “Christian” but on her profile considers herself “spiritual” as to be so vague that it could mean anything and fit in to any worldview that would gladly receive her. I wonder if these same people would be considered Christians in the days of Acts, when Cesar Nero ruled the Roman Empire.