Antidote for Apathy

The Antidote for Apathy (Revelation 2:4-5)

Revelation 2:4-5, “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.”

A little girl got home from Sunday school where she had been taught the verse, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and give glory to our Father who is in Heaven”. She asked her mother when she repeated the verse what it meant. Her mom said, "Well, it means that when you are good and kind and thoughtful and obedient, you are letting Christ's light shine in your life before all who know you." The very next Sunday in Sunday school, the little girl got in a bit of a quarrel with another student and created somewhat of an uproar to such an extent that the Sunday school teacher had to go and find her mother to get her settled down a bit in the class. Her mother was concerned when she got to the classroom and said, "Sweetie, don't you remember about letting your light shine for the Lord before men?" The girl blurted out, "Mom, I have blowed myself out!" Many of us have done just that. In our relationship with Christ, our love light has gone out.

Worship for the Lord becomes empty when your love for Him declines. This was a problem in the church at Ephesus which was a decent church (Revelation 2:4). They lost their passion and excitement for Christ. This was a problem with Jonah, who ran the opposite direction when God commanded him to go to Nineveh. It was also a problem with Peter after he denied the Lord. These men lost an attitude of preciousness toward the Lord. Their love waned for Him. You would think this would never happen, but it happens every day. Other matters, things, or people become more important than Christ, who gets put on the back burner of our lives. One clear sign of apathy arising in ones life is a lack of concern for the Great Commission.

Consider this mission statement of a well-known university: "To be plainly instructed and consider well that the main end of your life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ." Founded in 1636, this university employed exclusively Christian professors, emphasized character formation in its student above all else, and placed a strong emphasis on equipping ministers to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Every diploma read, Christo et Ecclesiae around the word Veritas, meaning "Truth for Christ and the Church." You've probably heard of this school. It's called Harvard University. That's right. You heard it right…Harvard. Only 80 years after its founding, a group of New England pastors sensed Harvard had drifted too far for their liking. It had become spiritually bankrupt. Concerned by the secularization at Harvard, they approached a wealthy philanthropist who shared their concerns. This man, Elihu Yale, financed their efforts in 1718, and they called the college Yale University. Yale's motto was not just Veritas (truth) like Harvard, but Lux et Veritas (light and truth). Today, Harvard's and Yale's legacy of academic excellence are still intact, but neither school resembles what their founders envisioned. At the 350th anniversary celebration of Harvard, Steven Muller, former president of Johns Hopkins University, bluntly stated, "The bad news is the university has become godless." Harvard's and Yale's founders were unmistakably clear in their goals: academic excellence and Christian formation. Today, they do something very different from their founding purpose. What happened to Harvard and Yale is called "Mission Drift". They had lost their first love for the Lord.

Jesus told the church of Ephesus what they needed to do to correct the problem (Revelation 2:5). The antidote to apathy is that one must be willing to hear what the Spirit says and respond with obedience (Revelation 2:5-7, 16-17, 21). One must continually examine their spiritual condition in relation to God and His standards (Revelation 2:4, 14-15, 20; 3:1-2, 14-17). One must be willing to sincerely repent (Revelation 2:5-7, 16-17; 3:1-3, 15-22). They were to remember, repent, and repeat. If you have lost your first love for Christ, if your worship is empty, then remember, repent, and repeat the good things you are supposed to do. May our devotion for Him not be hollow and heartless.

I came across this poem in Bible College titled: Apathy
I looked upon a farm one day, that once I used to own;
The barn had fallen to the ground, the fields were overgrown.
The house in which my children grew, where we lived for years…
I turned to see it broken down, and brushed aside the tears.
I looked upon my soul one day to find it too had grown,
with thorns and nettles everywhere, the seeds neglect had sown.
The years had passed while I cared for things of lesser worth.
The things of Heaven I let go while minding things of earth.
To Christ I turned with bitter tears and cried, "O Lord, forgive."
I have not much time left for Thee, not many years to live.
The wasted years forever gone, the days I can't recall.
If I could live those days again, I'd make Him Lord of all.

Having our sin exposed is never pleasant. However, it’s when we become sick of our sin that we will begin to repent of it. Apathy cannot survive where sin is grieved. The Word of God will expose our awful sin nature. The Spirit of God will expose His amazing grace. May the Lord help us to not be guilty of having empty, apathetic, or insincere worship of Him.

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