Tearing down the walls of indifference

Walls are buildings and fortresses built to keep something out - the walls in our homes protect us from the outside elements and dangers. Walls in fortresses or castles are there to protect from intruders and outsiders. Our lives have walls also - we, too, build walls in our lives to protect us from others - those we deem intruders and/or outsiders. Some of these walls are subtle - we don’t realize they are there, while others are thrown up intentionally and we sometimes even relish the fact that they are there. Unfortunately, walls tend to keep us from being effective for God. Walls can impede our progress and our growth and hinder us from being where God wants us to be. There are walls of bitterness, backbiting, and betrayal and prayerfully we are working toward tearing down those walls. There is also another wall that we need be mindful and watchful of... WALLS OF INDIFFERENCE Indifference has to do with a lack of concern, lack of interest, unresponsiveness - an “I don’t care” attitude. We tend to put up walls of indifference when we want others to know that it makes no difference to us whether they exist or not. Indifference leads to alienation and alienation leads to cliques and cliques lead to division and division ultimately leads to sin. Don’t believe me? Let me illustrate: I am indifferent toward you - I’m unresponsive, I have a lack of concern and a lack of interest in you. I see you in church every Sunday but I act as if you aren’t there. You’re invisible to me - I’ll even go so far as to speak to almost everyone else in the church, all the while avoiding you. Then I’ll go to MY GROUP - those who I consider worthy of my interest and who feel as indifferent toward you as I do - and we become a clique that causes division - my group against your group and then the sin begins. We begin to run one another down - “They think they’re this or that” Now indifference has turned into all of the other things we previously talked about backbiting, bitterness, and betrayal. A big mess! Does any of this sound familiar? The question becomes, then, if indifference is my attitude toward you - a lack of concern, a lack of interest, unresponsive, “I don’t care”, can I truly say that I love you? I Jn. 4:7-13 lays out the foundation for loving one another - true love for one another comes from God. If we love one another God dwells in us and his love is perfected in us. How can I profess to love God and act indifferently toward you as if you don’t exist, as if you don’t matter? Verse 13 says that we know that we dwell in Him and He in us because he hath given us His spirit? Having an indifferent heart toward another is definitely contrary to the Spirit of God that dwelleth in us! I Jn. 4:17-21 tells us that we lie if we say we love God and love not one another. Would you not question the love of your loved ones if they ignored you or acted as if you didn’t matter? Hmmmmm. Why do we put up these walls of indifference? Fear. For some reason we feel that we must protect ourselves so that others won’t hurt us - that is what walls do, don’t they? However, we have to change our perspective and look at our lives through Christ’s eyes. He is the protector of our souls, the captain of our hearts - He has our best interest at heart. Can we really trust ourselves to do those things? Will our motives be as pure as His? Can we say that we are striving to be like Him if we are indifferent? It might seem scary, but we will need to come out of our comfort zones and reach over the walls to each other. Maybe you are not yet at the place where the walls are being completely torn down - but will you at least try to reach over them and embrace someone else with the love that Christ has placed in your heart? We like indifference because it protects us from having to deal with others on a personal level. If I’m indifferent, I don’t have to get close to you, and ultimately, I don’t have to be bothered or help you, either. I don’t have to cry or laugh with you - We are not there with each other! God has not bestowed His love for us and upon us so that we can shut one another out! Stop being indifferent and start being embracive!