For most people, spiritual growth is not a priority. Many people say that they are Christians, but there isn’t really anything about their life that would give that away. Compared to others, they look more conservative or moral but nothing beyond. It is sad that so many want to show up and warm a chair on a Sunday morning, but don’t want God to infringe on any more of their time. A dozen or so times in the last month I’ve asked my husband, “How come people don’t care about growing spiritually?” We could talk about all the excuses that people give for giving up on growth, but when it all comes down, we do what we really want to do. Bobby said, “People just don’t care about growing spiritually.” This is a sad reality. Passivity is commonplace, lack of motivation the norm. Why is the flame of many Christian’s fires that of a match? Something is wrong.

John MacArthur said this in his Truth for Today segment a few days ago–

Our society is not conducive for people becoming like Christ. We live in what has been termed a sensate culture because most people are more concerned with pleasant emotions than with productive efforts–they’re more into comfort than accomplishment. Such a perspective has affected even the church, which suffers from an appalling apathy. We have forgotten that we are soldiers in a holy war.

MacArthur’s words reminded me of Ephesians 6:10-13, where Paul says,

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

We easily forget that our pursuit of Christ likeness is a battle. We don’t think of our day to day life as a spiritual war. We think it’s a matter of getting that cup of coffee, making deadlines, having people be nice to us, and just in general getting what makes us happy. We get swept away by the desire for comfort and anxiety about tomorrow. We are not equipped and not prepared and we don’t care enough to do anything about that. God’s Word is not silent about this subject. We are soldiers and need to be alert and ready to resist temptation and strong in His power so that we can stand against evil.

ap·a·thy

Lack of interest or concern, indifference

Consider Webster’s definition of apathy from a spiritual standpoint. The implications are sobering. How can we have a lack of interest in the Creator of the Universe? How can we be indifferent to God’s Word? We must be crazy! We don’t need more mountain-top experiences to break down our insensitivity. We don’t need to pray for miracles or signs to shock us out of our spiritual coldness. We need to be willing to do what it takes to become like Christ. Spiritual growth is critical.  We need to care.