As Christians we often live like we don’t particularly care about the way we participate in life, but if we have truly given our lives to God then we must focus on His desire instead of our own.
Graphic by: Kayla Glyshaw
_____________________________________________________
Apathy: ap·a·thy: noun: lack of interest, enthusiasm or concern.
To my fellow church kids — beware the life of a lukewarm Christian.
Every once in awhile I have to give myself a little reality check because I’ve found myself drifting into the comfortable ways of living apathetically and not really caring about how I live my life.
What does it look like to be an apathetic/lukewarm Christian?
Well, it kind of looks like the early Christian church of Laodicea in the Roman province of Asia.
They were known to be a solid church with lots of gold, expensive clothes and a special mineral called salve that helped with any eye or ear illness.
When an earthquake came and others offered to help, they decided they would rather do it themselves because they thought so highly of their own ways.
In Revelation 3:15-16, it states, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
God is saying, look, I know your deeds, I’m glad that you guys have all these material things worked out, but your relationship with me is not sacrificial.
Nobody really likes lukewarm drinks, they taste weird and make people feel uncomfortable.
God doesn’t want us to be like that.
In verse 17 He continues to say, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
Kind of like us sometimes, the people of Laodicea thought they had it all together.
We often think to ourselves, “My life is pretty good and I’m generally a good person so I don’t really need God but I guess I’ll take Him.”
We become so comfortable with the little life that we are given that we forget that we aren’t actually in control of our lives.
We forget who should be our main focus.
Many things can cause apathy.
As college kids, one of the biggest distractions that can cause apathy is being too busy.
If someone were to ask you what are the most important things in your life you would probably say God first just because you know that’s what it should be.
But if someone were to ask you what is most important in your life judging by how much time you spend on it, what would you say?
The harsh reality and conviction is something that has been hitting me in my college years.
Does your life honestly represent a life focused solely on God, or on yourself?
How do we escape this apathetic way of life?
Look back at what God said to the church in Laodicea.
Verse 20 says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”
There is a solution. We must open God into our hearts and rethink the way that we live our lives.
The result of this is having an intimate friendship with the God who knows unfathomably more than we could ever understand.
So if you are rethinking the life that you claim as a Christian, don’t let the pain of conviction keep you from rededicating your life to Christ.
Keep up the good fight of faith and know that God is always standing at the door knocking, waiting for you to let Him in and transform your life.
Triston Buckley 
Emily Retzer