Deadlier than Ebola

Of the many problems plaguing our culture, one stands out among the rest. It is far deadlier than Ebola because it pierces deeper than the body, it kills the heart. Like darkness, it rises and encompasses all who are ignorant to its presence. It is a problem to which none of us are immune.

When our longing for answers has us skipping over the questions altogether, we rush to Google and demand a response with 4G speed, often neglecting whether the source is credible or even if the questions are helpful.

So why do you care? That’s my point…

When a longing for answers runs ahead of our willingness to ask the right questions, we’ve already been infected.

Infected with apathy.

Apathy

Apathy

Everywhere we turn, there is an answer, right? How-to-dos flash in our sidebar and litter our inbox. On the surface, they seem authentic and, don’t get me wrong, some of them are. However, when their interest in the answer runs ahead of their interest in the problem, apathy sneaks in.

So often, our desire to help people outruns our opportunity to understand them first. A desire to speak outpaces a willingness to listen and if we’re not careful, we find ourselves being consumed with, ourselves.

When we scroll through Facebook, casually glancing at the news feed, there’s so much information we don’t really pay attention to anything. Apathy sneaks in. Take Ebola for example, we don’t care about it until it’s in our backyard. Then again, Texas is still a long way off.

The epidemic of apathy is often fueled by Comfort and Pride. We’re comfortable with where we are, so why bother ourselves with something that doesn’t concern us, or that doesn’t lead to more comfort. Or, we proudly concern ourselves with our opinion more than our willingness to understand.

These two love to mask themselves with a noble guise as they dance in union with apathy, laughing devilishly.

Unfortunately, even spirituality and religion can become corrupt. Many times, churches focus on production instead of impact and the door is opened. I’ve found that piety and judgement are the cornerstones of a prison cell for your soul.

I’m learning that people are ambivalent when it comes to how much you know, but they are always concerned with how much you care.

Fighting the Battle

Apathy is our enemy. And when the battle lines of the heart are drawn, we must fight. As David ran toward Goliath, we must run toward our enemy, fearless. As David held stones in his pouch, we must carry stones in ours as well. Although our stones aren’t physical, they carry a weight all their own. Their impact changes hearts and will fuel hope for eternity.

The stones we must carry to fight apathy are: compassion, humility, generosity, gratitude, and love. When we fight with these, the battle is already won.

So I challenge us today. Let us choose compassion. Let us embrace humility. May they fuel our generosity and gratitude.

Should you join me, apathy won’t stand a chance.

MH

 

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2 Responses to Deadlier than Ebola

  1. Rick Theule October 8, 2014 at 10:06 am #

    “So often, our desire to help people outruns our opportunity to understand them first.” – Very true. I’m seeing this in my own community. Specifically my church community. Listening is pushed aside in our constant attempt to ‘fix’.

    • Matt Ham October 8, 2014 at 10:10 am #

      This has been something very prevalent in my eyes. Hope people start taking notice.