Tag: apathy

The words of Jesus to the Ephesian church in (Rev. 2:4-5) needs to be heard by the church today:

“Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.”

The Ephesians had let their orthodoxy and legalism get in the way of the mission of God – have we? Just as marriages fail because the fighting over whose right outweighs fighting to save the relationship; speaking truth without love (Eph. 4:15) can get in the way of the point of the truth we are trying to communicate. The problem did not come upon the Ephesians suddenly but was a systemic leftover of their sinful nature rising up in them. As Paul was developing that church he wrote in (Eph. 4:31-5:1): “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God in Christ has forgiven you…walk in love, as Christ also has loved us.”

Look again at (Romans 13:11-14), Paul said that “the night “was far spent meaning the time of Jesus’ absence from us as well as of Satan’s work in this world was nearly finished. Whatever the conflict in our lives, it is ALWAYS darkest before the dawn. Its true, the final push whether in the boxing ring, on the field of competition, on the track or in military conflict is always the hardest. The enemy of God will fight hardest when his day is at hand and the Lord’s return is on the horizon; we therefore must be ready for the fight and as Paul said, “cast off the works of darkness.” Some of those works may be the complacency, apathy, indifference or misplaced zeal which control some believers today. Our lust, our desire to have things our way is dulling our senses and making us less that ready in these days to rescue the perishing. Paul says. “let us walk properly, as in the day – not in strife and envy.”

In a similar message spoken to the Colossian church Paul wrote:

“Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time….(Col. 4:5) adding in (Eph. 5:16) “because the days are evil.”

Redeem the time…how? Paul said it in (Phil. 2:5):

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”

As we wrap it up today, I want us to consider the passion of Christ.

Jesus Christ left heaven to dwell among men. He minimized His glory and hid it within the frame of human flesh. He humbly allowed men to handle Him, talk to Him, question Him. He allowed their mistreatment against Him – their accusations, their attempts to harm Him and their mischaracterizations of who He was and why He had come. He allowed them to beat Him, literally ripping the flesh from His body – He did not fight back and as a sheep led to the slaughter so He opened not His mouth (Isaiah 53:7). He allowed them to spit on His face and tear out His beard. He allowed them to nail Him to a cross and raise Him up in their hatred, scorn and unbelief. He allowed this because His passion for the will of His Father and for those who would ever believe in Him was greater that His concern and passion for His own life.

Remembering that when Jesus did these things, we were all enemies of God (Romans 5:8,10) whom God nevertheless loved so much as to sent His Son to die for, His example serves as the best model for us today. His passion for you and for me outweighed His passion and zeal for Himself – He put aside every privilege and right belonging to Him as Creator of everything for us.

As we move forward church – let His example, His mindset change and become yours.