Indifference

Philippians 2: 1-4
1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.


I want to drill down on the last verse here. We should look out for not only our interests but also the interests of others. Indifference has become the rule today, not the exception. This was called to mind today, as I read about a man in the U.K. was found dead in his bed…….2 years after his death! How can that happen? How can a man with neighbors on both sides of him be dead for two years? The answer is indifference.

People are encouraged now more than ever to worry about themselves, and nothing more. While that does make for a selfish society, it also creates a society steeped in indifference. It breeds an attitude of “well it does not affect me, so why do I care?”
We have created a society where if anyone looks after their neighbor, it is almost viewed as an invasion of privacy.

It goes beyond your neighborhood, out into the world. It affects the place you work, you city, county, state, and country. The political world (both sides) would have you believe that we do not have to think or worry about anything; they can provide all that is needed. They depend on our indifference. The citizens of this country are being tricked into a mindset of as long as I do not get hurt, who cares what laws they pass. The thing to remember is that the laws that are passed today about things or a class or a topic that you do not care about, can just as easily be passed at your expense tomorrow.

This mindset will come home to roost. More people today have no ides what is going on right outside their door, let alone in the world. For proof all you have to do is ask 10 people about a topic that does not have to do with the latest celebrity buzz, and it becomes clear that not only do the majority of them not know, but they are indifferent. Now over 80% of people here in the U.S. consider themselves Christian, yet they are totally indifferent to their neighbors, their local government, or to what is going on in the world around them. So my question is are they indifferent to Christ, and how he works within each of us? Have we become indifferent to what Christ has offered?

Elie Wiesel said:
There is nothing worse in life than indifference. Indifference to evil is evil and at times worse than evil…”“The opposite of love is not hate but indifference. The opposite of knowledge is not ignorance but indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness but indifference. The opposite of life is not death but indifference because he or she who is indifferent is actually dead without knowing it.”

Dead without knowing it, very much like the guests that were invited to the wedding banquet in Matthew 22. They had no time; they were indifferent to the invitation. Verse 5 reads: 5"But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.

I pray that each of us can soften the hearts of our brothers. It is my hope that we all do not fall into the rut of indifference. It is only when we start to open our eyes to the world around us that we can start to have true concern for those around us. We cannot love our brother as we love ourselves, if we do not know who our brother is…….we would all do well to go check on our neighbor!


Peace,
Rev. T