Apathy

By
Raymond D. Mossie, M.D.
(Emphasis added)

Apathy is something that most people experience at some point in their lives. Saying that
one is a ‘believer’, but not really caring is contradictory. One cannot be a true believer
and be apathetic. A true believer will ABIDE in Jesus, (John chapter 15) and by doing
that they will by definition walk in love. Love leaves no room for apathy because apathy
is a fancy word for the pride of selfishness and love does not consider itself or ‘seek its
own’...

I Corinthians 13:4-7 -
4
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not
puffed up; 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no
evil; 6does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.1

Also consider the verses in Amos chapter 6 which speaks of what He will do to His
people who are comfortable and apathetic...

Chapter 6
1
Woe to you who are at ease in Zion,
And trust in Mount Samaria,
Notable persons in the chief nation,
To whom the house of Israel comes!
2
Go over to Calneh and see;
And from there go to Hamath the great;
Then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Or is their territory greater than your territory?
3
Woe to you who put far off the day of doom,
Who cause the seat of violence to come near;
4
Who lie on beds of ivory,
Stretch out on your couches,
Eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall;
5
Who sing idly to the sound of stringed instruments,
And invent for yourselves musical instruments like David;
6
Who drink wine from bowls,

1The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
1982.
 And anoint yourselves with the best ointments,
But are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.
7
Therefore they shall now go captive as the first of the captives,
And those who recline at banquets shall be removed.
8
The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself,
The LORD God of hosts says:
“I abhor the pride of Jacob,
And hate his palaces;
Therefore I will deliver up the city
And all that is in it.”
9
Then it shall come to pass, that if ten men remain in one house, they shall die. 10And
when a relative of the dead, with one who will burn the bodies, picks up the bodies to
take them out of the house, he will say to one inside the house, “Are there any more with
you?” Then someone will say, “None.” And he will say, “Hold your tongue! For we dare
not mention the name of the LORD.”
11
For behold, the LORD gives a command:
He will break the great house into bits,
And the little house into pieces.
12
Do horses run on rocks?
Does one plow there with oxen?
Yet you have turned justice into gall,
And the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,
13
You who rejoice over Lo Debar,
Who say, “Have we not taken Karnaim for ourselves
By our own strength?”
14
“But, behold, I will raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,”
Says the LORD God of hosts;
“And they will afflict you from the entrance of Hamath
To the Valley of the Arabah.”2

When God says WOE to someone it is never a good thing. I would not want to incur
God’s wrath through apathy. Zephaniah chapter 1 also speaks to the apathy of God’s
people, esp. Vv. 12-13...
12
“I will search with lanterns in Jerusalem’s darkest corners to find and punish those who
sit contented in their sins, indifferent to the LORD, thinking he will do nothing at all to
them. 13 They are the very ones whose property will be plundered by the enemy, whose

2The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
1982.
homes will be ransacked. They will never have a chance to live in the new homes they
have built. They will never drink wine from the vineyards they have planted.3

God also speaks to the apathy of His people in Haggai chapter 1, consider Vv. 3-11...
3
So the LORD sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Why are you living in
luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins? 5 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
Consider how things are going for you! 6 You have planted much but harvested
little. You have food to eat, but not enough to fill you up. You have wine to drink,
but not enough to satisfy your thirst. You have clothing to wear, but not enough to
keep you warm. Your wages disappear as though you were putting them in pockets
filled with holes!
7
“This is what the LORD Almighty says: Consider how things are going for you! 8
Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take
pleasure in it and be honored, says the LORD. 9 You hoped for rich harvests, but they were
poor. And when you brought your harvest home, I blew it away. Why? Because my
house lies in ruins, says the LORD Almighty, while you are all busy building your own
fine houses. 10 That is why the heavens have withheld the dew and the earth has withheld
its crops. 11 I have called for a drought on your fields and hills—a drought to wither the
grain and grapes and olives and all your other crops, a drought to starve both you and
your cattle and to ruin everything you have worked so hard to get.”4

If a person is not prosperous, it may be due to apathy and not doing the work that God
created them to do. There will be no reward for these people, I Corinthians chapter 3
makes this clear.

I Corinthians 5b-22 -

Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 My job was to plant the seed in your
hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. 7 The ones who
do the planting or watering aren’t important, but God is important because he is the one
who makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team
with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually, according to their own
hard work. 9 We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God’s field,
God’s building—not ours.
10
Because of God’s special favor to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert
builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must
be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already
have—Jesus Christ. 12 Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold,
silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But there is going to come a time of testing at
the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone’s work

3Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.)
1996.
4Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.)
1996.
will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. 14 If the work
survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up,
the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like
someone escaping through a wall of flames.
16
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit
of God lives in you? 17 God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple. For God’s
temple is holy, and you Christians are that temple.
18
Stop fooling yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world’s standards, you
will have to become a fool so you can become wise by God’s standards. 19 For the
wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say,
“God catches those who think they are wise
in their own cleverness.”
20
And again,
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise,
that they are worthless.”
21
So don’t take pride in following a particular leader. Everything belongs to you: 22
Paul and Apollos and Peter; the whole world and life and death; the present and the
future. Everything belongs to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to
God.5

Lest you think that apathy was only an issue for the Old Testament people James
addresses the self-confident pride of apathetic people in chapter 4, esp. Vv. 13-17...

Warning about Self-Confidence

13
Look here, you people who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town
and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you
know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little
while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live
and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such
boasting is evil.
17
Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.6

The only way that we glorify God is to finish the work that He created us to do.

John 17:4 -
4
“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to
do.7

5Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.)
1996.
6Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.)
1996.
Apathy is not a good thing, nor is it acceptable to God. He will punish those who fail to
do what they were created to do. I suggest reading the teaching entitled, ‘Have You
Buried Your Talent?’ and consider the scriptures in Matthew 25:14-46...
14
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his
own servants and delivered his goods to them. 15“And to one he gave five talents, to
another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he
went on a journey. 16“Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with
them, and made another five talents. 17“And likewise he who had received two gained
two more also. 18“But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his
lord’s money. 19“After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts
with them. 20“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents,
saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents
besides them.’ 21“His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were
faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of
your lord.’ 22“He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered
to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ 23“His lord said to
him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I
will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ 24“Then he who
had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man,
reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25
‘And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you
have what is yours.’ 26“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy
servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not
scattered seed. 27‘So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at
my coming I would have received back my own with interest. 28‘Therefore take the
talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. 29‘For to everyone who has,
more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have,
even what he has will be taken away. 30‘And cast the unprofitable servant into the
outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
31
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then
He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32“All the nations will be gathered before Him, and
He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
33
“And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34“Then the King
will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35‘for I was hungry and you
gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;
36
‘I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and
you came to Me.’ 37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see
You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38‘When did we see You a
stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39‘Or when did we see You sick, or in
prison, and come to You?’ 40“And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I

7The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
1982.
say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to
Me.’ 41“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed,
into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42‘for I was hungry and you
gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43‘I was a stranger and you did
not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit
Me.’ 44“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or
thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45“Then
He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to
one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46“And these will go away into
everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”8

Jesus will return with rewards. He makes it very clear in the Bible that those who do not
obey God and do the work that He created them to do cannot claim to be believers,
because they did not obey God or bring glory to Him, (so by God’s definition they are to
be counted among the UNBELIEVERS). Those who did the will of God will receive a
good reward according to their Spirit directed works and those who did their own thing
will likely end up in the lake of fire.

Revelation21:7-8 -
7
“He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My
son. 8“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral,
sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and
brimstone, which is the second death.”9

Revelation 22:12 -
12

“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one
according to his work.10

So you see apathy is not going to fly. Anyone who claims to be a believer but ‘just do not
care’ should be ‘feeling the heat’ because there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth for
them!

© 2009 Raymond D. Mossie, M.D.

Adonai’s Agape Through Jesus Christ Ministries
Website: www.perfectchristian.co.za
e-mail: [email protected]

8The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
1982.
9The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
1982.
10The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson,
Inc.) 1982.