Monthly Archives: June 2015

A Case for Christianity: Is There A Problem of Apathy?

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HEAD COVERED, EYES CLOSED!!!

We may have found a cure for most evils; but we have found no remedy for the worst of them all, the apathy of human beings. –Helen Keller

As a high school biology teacher I see the ‘disease’ of apathy growing, not only in my young students but also in many of my adult peers. In a recent sermon my pastor made a comparison between being a student and being a Christian, he asked: “Why is it that two students with average intelligence might go through a class together and at the end one can tell you everything about the course and its subject matter and the other can barely recall the topics?” The answer would seem to be that one of them took an interest in their homework and developed a passion for the subject matter while the other was only interested in doing the minimal work needed to get through. In many respects this is exactly what happens to Christians.

I worry about my students’ future and their ability to effectively think through difficult situations to do well in the career of their choice, but even more so I worry about my Christian students. During our lunchtime Christian Club meetings the students actually get excited when they are able to discuss current research that they are not allowed to get in their regular classrooms. For example, we look at evidence from things like the fine-tuning of the universe that specifically points to an Intelligent Designer. This kind of information gives them confidence that their Christian faith can be supported as they go off to college.

Unfortunately this does not happen for many of our Christian youth. According to the Pew Research Center: “Compared with their elders today, young people are much less likely to affiliate with any religious tradition or to identify themselves as part of a Christian denomination. Fully one-in-four adults under age 30 (25%) are unaffiliated, describing their religion as “atheist,” “agnostic” or “nothing in particular.” This compares with less than one-fifth of people in their 30s (19%), 15% of those in their 40s, 14% of those in their 50s and 10% or less among those 60 and older.” And these types of statistics keep growing.

Our Christian kids need reasons to believe and they need our support. If we don’t know what we believe, and why we believe, then how will our next generation survive this culture? We need to make it our passion to investigate the claims of our Christian faith so we can have confidence to share it with others because apathy is not an option when it comes to things of eternal importance. I once had a professor say, “It is not radical Islam that that America should fear, but nominal (apathetic) Christians.”

As the Apostle Paul teaches: See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.  –Colossians 2:8

For further reading I highly recommend: The Pew Research Center and the Barna Group to get updated statistics and great information on the pulse of religion in America and worldwide.

I also recommend setting up a schedule of regular Bible study along with some time reading Christian apologetics’ books, articles and posts. You can check my references and resources page for best selection.

Let me know what you think:

  1. Do you agree apathy on many levels is a growing problems especially in Christanity? Why?
  2. Do you know what you believe and why you believe it? Do your young people?

Join us next week as we continue our Case for Christianity. In these posts I am going to continue to present logical reasoning and sound scientific evidence not found in the public school textbooks.

This blog is part of a series. You can start the series by going back to the September 1, 2014 Introduction called A Case for Christianity: Why do we need one?

Teri Dugan

TeriDugan@truthfaithandreason.com

Always be ready to give an answer for the hope that you have in Christ Jesus as Lord. 1 Peter 3:15