Danger of Apathy

Apathy… it is as one of the most difficult things for a leader to overcome.  It can start small and inconspicuous but if not managed, it can quickly take over its host. In doing so apathy will make the host ineffective at any task that could that requires the host to engage in a potential life changing activity. It will tear apart families, destroy potential academic achievements, stall professional careers, and drive a wedge between the plans of God for the host. Apathy is also contagious, especially among those who are in positions of leadership. This is the reason why husbands and fathers who are infected with apathy often have families and subordinates who are also suffer.  Churches that have pastors and leadership who suffer with apathy often lead churches that are riddled with apathy.

Leaders need to treat apathy aggressively. The best way to protect yourself and others from being effected by the grip of apathy is to embrace passion. Passionate people will not succumb to the pull of apathy. They are constantly pushing themselves and others to take the next step in their professional, relational, and spiritual development. Fathers who are passionate many times will have families that have high standards and are heavily engaged in the activities that they are involved in. Passionate people often find their identity in their passion. Passionate people get things done.

Apathy is detrimental to spiritual growth. Apathetic people have a hard time looking at their lives and seeing any deficiencies, whereas passionate people constantly analyze their life to find where they are falling short and addressing those areas. God has commanded that Christians love others and God. Apathetic people will make excuses for why others are more qualified or why they just are not up to the task. Passionate followers of Christ may make mistakes but those distract them from the commands of God.

Today we need to look at our lives and identify where we are between completely apathetic and totally passionate. Then we need to be committed to become more passionate about the things that would honor God. Passionate people are the catalyst for change and our world needs more God honoring change!

"God created us with to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every park of our lives.(1)" - John Piper

 1. John Piper, Don't Waster Your Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2003), 37.