Ignorance and Apathy

Romans 10:1-4

Do you have any pet words that drive others a little crazy, or even make them angry?  In my early days at 3M BPSI selling one of the few products 3M ever made that was not all that good, and that is being kind. I worked with a man named Joe Williams and he had this saying; “ignorance and apathy are two things that are impossible to deal with.”  Apathy is indifference, laziness, emotional emptiness, or a lack of enthusiasm, and both the churched and the unchurched are full of such people.  But ignorance is very different, it is the lack of knowledge, a person who does not have experience in a particular area, or is unfamiliar with a technology, like me when it comes to computers.

I’m oblivious or ignorant of much of the technology of our day, and when I say that someone is ignorant it has not one thing to do with intelligence or I.Q. but an unawareness of the subject matter.  So let’s address these two words and agree that my definition is very close to correct for both of them, and how those two words pertain to the people who go by the title of Christian.  King David, the second king of Judah gave this insight to living victorious in this life in Psalm119: 11, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”  We also have this reminder from the apostle Paul who God used to pen much of the New Testament, in 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

My wonderful wife of 50 years often states, “Bob, you are your worse enemy, do not blame it on someone else that you worked to hard or to long.”  And she is right, I’m guilty of believing I can still do what I did at a younger age, but I’m also guilty of not being a storehouse of God’s word.  This question often haunts me, why have I not followed the advice of a King David or the apostle Paul to penetrate my heart?  And it is apathy, yes it is and both you and I know it is indifference, laziness, emotional emptiness, or just a lack of enthusiasm for the Word of God.  We are to busy watching “Days of our Life” or in my case football, or NCIS over putting God’s word in our heart so the Holy Spirit can use it to encourage or correct us in our daily activities.  And if you claim to be as I am, a follower of Christ, and are ignorant of the Scriptures, you need to examine yourself, and Romans 10:1-4, is a great place to begin.

“Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” (Romans 10:1-4)

From the Back Porch,