One of the greatest hindrances to the cause of Christ today is the indifferent church member. Webster defines indif­ference as: "Apathy; lack of feeling for or against anything." He says one who is indifferent is: "...not interested or con­cerned about something; neutral; having no preponderating influence or value." Now this is precisely the way many feel toward the Lord and his work; toward the church. They are not particularly against it - they just don't do anything for it! They seem to have no interest in it, and as a result they have no value concerning its work. In light of these definitions we can readily see why the indifferent church member is a drawback to the church. The out and out sinner may well do less harm to the church than the indifferent member! Remember what Jesus told the Laodicean church (Rev. 3:14ff). The indifferent church member is harmful to both himself and the church; the overt sinner is only harming himself.

Joseph Fletcher said: "The true opposite of love is not but indifference. Hate, bad as it is, at least treats the neighbor as a who, whereas indifference turns the neighbor into an it, a thing. This is why we may say that there is actually one thing worse than evil itself and that is indifference to evil. In human relations the nadir of morality, the lowest point as far as Christian ethics are concerned, is manifest in the phrase, 'I couldn't care less'" (Reader's Digest, Nov., 1968).

As much as I would disagree on many things Fletcher has taught (situation eth­ics, etc.), I had to agree with this. He has made an excellent point. Now there are many church members who feel this way - the way of indifference - about the church - "I couldn't care less!" This is expressed in many ways by such people. They have no active interest in the work and worship of the congregation of which they are a member. They may even attend every service - but that is all they do, and all the coaxing to the con­trary does no good. They never take time to visit or call a sick brother. The fact that they never take the time to study God's word at home is shouted out by their obvious lack of knowledge in that word, shown in a failure to contribute anything in Bible classes, prayers or whatever else is involved. In effect, they are indifferent and so have no real value to a congregation. Yet, for sake of numbers, brethren seldom exercise any corrective, disciplinary or encouraging measures toward such indifference. What we need to realize is that in all reality, the congregation could well do without such folks and never really miss them. Lest some think that to be a harsh statement, remember what the Lord said he would do concerning such people (Rev. 3:14-16).

There is a need in the church today, and always has been, for people with burn­ing zeal, overflowing with enthusiasm and abounding in labor and work. But such seems hard to find at times; every congregation seems to have this prob­lem. Enter in among many congrega­tions and witness a feeling of gloom and feel the % ness" of it. This is not so when a congregation is free of indif­ferent members. Hear Paul as he says to "always abound in the work of the Lord" (1 Cor. 15:58). Hear him as he commends the Thessalonians for their "labour of love." The scriptures abound with such phrases. But do they apply to many today - individuals or congrega­tions? In many cases they do not.

So, my brother or sister, if you have been (or are) indifferent toward your responsibility as a Christian, you need to wake up! The Lord is coming one day and you will stand before him in judgment. Can he commend you as a tireless worker for his cause; as one who ceaselessly labored without regard for personal or physical things? Or will you be as the wicked, slothful servant? If so you will be cast into outer darkness where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth." I'm sure if the indifferent church members was sure the Lord would return tomorrow, even they would be busy do­ing things heretofore even they though they could never do! Do you know something? Today might be the day! Bill Moseley

 

 

 

Recently I was in the company of three other individuals; knew them all. One said to me, "ask (he named him) about (such and such)." I wondered why he didn't ask him! He then said to me, "we don't speak to each other." You say, "Bill, you're kidding me - surely that did not happen!" To which I honestly reply, "yep - it sure did." I hasten to add that none of these involved were Christians. But they reminded me of the farmer and his mule. A visitor leaned over the fence and said, "I don't like to butt in, but you could save yourself a lot or work by say­ing 'gee' and 'haw' to that mule instead of pullin' on the lines." The old timer pulled a big red bandana out of his pocket, mopped his brow and said, "yep, I know that. But that mule kicked me six years ago and I ain't spoke to him since."

How many times have we heard that one - not about mules and farmers but about brethren? I guess we sort of expect it among folks like the ones I was with, but surely such should not exist among God's people. If you are on the "outs" with a brother, you had better get it fixed! See Matthew 5:21-26. – Bill Moseley

 

 

 

Some things change for the better; oth­ers for the worse. It may be a cultural thing or a geographical one, as one gets used to various idioms in certain parts of the country. For example - I was re­cently in "Wally's" - (that's a term a friend of mine has for Wal-Mart) and had a dab of groceries. As the put them in a sack she started to put them in a basket, then said, "do you want to tote these?" Told her, "well, when I lived in California I carried them, but since I now live in South Carolina, I guess I can tote them." She said, "yeah, you gotta tote'em down here." Big change. I also used a favorite line of mine concerning change (if you've heard me say this be­fore, ignore it). Told her another change I had made was that I am a lot stronger now than I was when I was twenty. She wondered how that could be. Told her when I was 20 I could only carry $10 worth of groceries, and now 50 years later I could carry $100 worth!" At least we agreed on that!

But beware - some things do not change. God does not change; he views things now just has he always has. His laws have not changed, and certainly we know that Jesus is "the same yesterday, today and forever" (Heb. 13:8). His church has not changed, regardless of how much we might like it to.

So - let's learn to adapt to the changes that are legitimate; learn to live with them. At the same time we had better be about the business of respecting the things that do not change! – Bill Moseley