"UNCONCERN"

REVELATION 3:14-19

INTRO.The Church that we have read about is an example of what we should not be. At Laodicea, we see that unconcern was rampant. Note v17, "Because THOU sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing....". This is how the Church saw itself. It is a picture of many of our Churches today. They have the fine buildings, and programs. They have the padded pews and the stained-glass windows. They have plenty in their treasury, but they lack one vital thing: POWER! I'm afraid many of our Churches are that way today. We are so involved in our day to day lives that the only time we have much time for God is on Sunday. And that is, if we don't have something else more pressing to do.

Unconcern is a real problem in our Churches today. When a person is unconcerned, they are indifferent to the Church and to the things of God. This was the case at Laodicea. Christ told them "thou…knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." (v17b) I want us to look at the problem of unconcern and see five characteristics it possesses.

(1)UNCONCERN IS DANGEROUS

  1. WE NEGLECT OUR SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITIES. Look at Lot’s unconcern for his family. When the two angels came to carry Lot out of Sodom look at Lot’s attitude. Genesis 19:12-14 says, “And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides a son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters? and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. And Lot went out, and spoke unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law.” Consider Saul's unconcern for God's Word, when commanded to kill all the Amalekites and King Agag. Samuel told Saul in 1 Samuel 15:2-3—“Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.” But look at Saul’s incomplete obedience, “And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.” Saul obeyed but not completely. He did not follow God’s Word fully. Friends, are we not guilty of the same? We are more excited about teaching our children earthly things than we are leading them in spiritual things. We follow God only as long and as far as it doesn’t cramp our lifestyle and way of living?
  1. WE FAIL TO REALIZE THE NEARNESS OF THE SAVIOR’S RETURN. Each of us are sitting on the edge of eternity. Are you concerned? Jesus said in Revelation 22:12—“And,behold,Icomequickly;andmyrewardiswithme,togiveevery manaccordingashisworkshallbe.” Those words were penned almost 2000 years ago and recorded for us by the apostle John. Jesus said, “behold,Icomequickly”. Friends, the Lord is coming soon! It may be tonight, tomorrow, next week, or next year but He has promised, “Icomequickly”. Unconcern causes us to not be looking for the Lord’s return. Unconcern causes us to be slack in our spiritual responsibilities. Unconcern causes us to become comfortable in our surroundings. "It's later than we think, and most of us are not thinking." - Unknown

(2) UNCONCERN DARKENS (THE SPIRITUAL SIGHT)

  1. WE LOSE THE VISION FOR SOULS. Spiritual sight is the sight that causes us to know God's will and carry the gospel to a lost world. When we get unconcerned we get to the point that we forget that our children need the LORD too! We fail to tell our friends, family, and loved ones how much Jesus is to us! We fail to sorrow over the future of those who know not the Lord! We lose our tears! Psalm 126:5-6 promises, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” Folk, where have our tears gone? Does this not show a spirit of unconcern within us?
  1. WE LOSE THE VISION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF SPIRITUALITY. Unconcern causes us to forget that we also will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). Unconcern causes us to stand by and see a Church destroyed by troublemakers. Unconcern will cause us to sit back and not ask forgiveness for personal sin, while there are those who are lost around us who we could reach for the Lord if only we were right with HIM! We must never use God’s grace as an excuse for laziness or being lax in our spiritual purity.

(3) UNCONCERN IS THE DAUGHTER OF DISBELIEF

  1. UNCONCERN SHARES DISBELIEF’S CHARACTERISTICS. That means it takes up some of the same characteristics. A person who is unconcerned suffers from a lack of faith in the promises of God. Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Unconcern may believe that God can work in other people’s lives but doubts that He will work in their life.
  1. UNCONCERN SHARES DISBELIEF’S CONCLUSIONS. One who is unconcerned is one who really doesn't believe that the LORD is coming back as a thief in the night. They are not looking for Jesus to return at any time; or else they would walk closer to Him than they do! Unconcern doesn't believe that God will send a son or daughter to hell for unbelief. Unconcern doesn't believe in getting up on Sunday morning and going to Church even if the Bible teaches it (Hebrews 10:25). Unconcern doesn’t believe in the importance of giving God our best even though Proverbs 3:9 encourages us to, “Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase.” Someone has said, “The nice thing about apathy is you don't have to exert yourself to show you're sincere about it.”

(4) UNCONCERN IS DEAF TO THE WORD

JAMES 1:22-25—“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only,

deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and

not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a

glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and

straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso

looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he

being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall

be blessed in his deed.”

  1. INDIFFERENCE TO THE WORD. I have stood many Sundays and preached to people about God and their responsibility to God and seen the faces of unconcern. It seems we all have a tendency to “tune” the preacher out when we don’t like what he says. Listen folks, if a man of God is true to his calling he will be delivering “thus saith the Lord,” not his own opinion. And when he brings God’s Word to us we had better listen, heed and obey! But "When there is no thirst for righteousness, the sermons seem dry."- Unknown- PULPIT HELPS, Sept. 1990. On business meeting night, talk to people about God's will and how it works and see them get mad and go away swelled up. They did not hear a word of what God said or wanted them to hear.
  1. IMPORTANCE OF THE WORD. Listen to David’s words in Psalm 119:9-11—“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” The WORD is important. It is the most important thing we have in our life! We can't live a holy life apart from the Word. We can't experience God's presence to its fullest apart from the Word! A woman wanting to impress the pastor when he came to visit, said to her little girl, "Honey, “go get the book that Mommy loves so much." The little girl soon returned carrying the new Sears catalog. Friends, the BIBLE should be the most important book in our lives! It contains all we need to live holy and godly lives. But unconcern is deaf to the Word.

(5) UNCONCERN IS DEGENERATION

  1. THE REALITY OF UNCONCERN. The word degeneration means “to undergo progressive deterioration.” The writer of Hebrews wrote of this problem in Hebrews 5:12—“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” Notice the words, “ye have need that one teach you again”. This shows that they “had been” taught on some former occasion what were the first principles of religion, but they had not followed up the teaching as they ought to have done. (Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible. e-Sword. Version 7.5.2. Copyright 2000-2005. Rick Meyers. All Rights Reserved World Wide). I have seen people who at their conversion were sincere, zealous and on fire for God, become indifferent and cold, then mean and vindictive. Then finally they are filled with so much hate and self-pity that Christ has no place in their lives.
  • The danger in this is that they usually drag their family and close friends down with them (Hebrews 12:15).
  • Their family and friends take up their part and end up doing the same thing.
  1. THE RESULTS OF UNCONCERN. Friends, remember it all started with unconcern. The unconcerned usually fit into two categories:
  • Most of them want what the Church can do for them, instead of what they can do for the Church.
  • Most of them destroy the Church fellowship and effectiveness in the process!

CLOSING: Friends, much TOO OFTEN the growth and vitality of the Church

is stunted not because of a lack of workers but because of

unconcern. It is not the LORD who is slack in saving or hearing

the need of the lost sinner. It is unconcern. Your unconcern may

be what is keeping someone from being saved. Friend, your

unconcern may be causing someone not to grow spiritually or

someone to stumble.

Let us all pray that we will be more concerned about God and His

Church and that we will make Him preeminent in our lives!