apathy: sinning by sitting back

two nights ago i realized the gravity of sitting back--
of sitting back when god calls you to rise up.

i realized the danger of
i can fix this tomorrow.
it's okay right now.
maybe someone else'll stand up.

i realized the impact that doing nothing can have.
apathy is a dangerous thing. and what does sitting back say?

it says, to our brothers and sisters in christ,
hey, i might know better. you might know better, too.
we both know god's got plans. but i don't think living
a life that's pleasing to him is worth it for me or
for you right now...

it says, to our friends,
hey, i might know better.i might be blessed to
know the savior of the world, to know the cure
for death, but right now, i don't see the importance
of sharing that with you, of giving you a shot
at it...

it says, to the whole world,
listen, i know god. i know what he intends for us, and
this isn't it. but instead of letting our creator work
through me, i'm just going to relax--lie low for a while.
this fallen world is good enough for me right now...

and that's a whole lot to say without saying or doing anything.

in class last week, my professor asked how absurdist literature
affects its audience. i said that it caused me to notice the
things around me--
talking without saying anything
saying a million inaccurate things with our actions
sexual violence
alcoholism
addiction
poverty
disease
broken hearts--
not to be numb to them anymore,
not to be stuck in a constant state of,
there's better, but who cares?
it's not like i can do anything about it.
and i'd say that awareness--
that realization that we act like this is normal,
this is just how things are,
though that's clearly so wrong--
that's our first step out of apathy.

my professor challenged me though.
don't you think that is idealistic?
i told her that i don't
i don't think wanting a world where a girl can
go out on a weekend without fearing she'll be
raped is idealistic. i don't think wishing that it
wasn't viewed as "just how the world is
and that's that" is idealistic.
she made some sort of noise to acknowledge
she heard my response, but them moved on.

now i',m well aware that the world won't be free
from the grips of those things until jesus comes again,
but that doesn't make it idealistic to want
to see our friends, our halls, our classmates,
complete strangers get to live free from this grip now.

and that's a call to action for us.
a call to pray for god to open our eyes to
the world around us, to break our hearts
in the same way that his breaks for this world.
a call to pray for god to work through us,
filling us with willingness
and obedience to him.
a call for us to answer that
boldly and urgently.
a call for us to reflect in our actions that
deep in our hearts,
we have the spirit dwelling.
we have the key that unlocks the chains.

we get to spend each day living with the almighty,
overwhelmingly beautiful God who gives us freedom from it all.

and that's nothing to be apathetic about.