Indifference

There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments…

dined sumptuously each day.

And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus,

covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of

the scraps that fell from the rich man’s tables.

When the poor man died …

~ Luke 16: 19-31

 

Indifference or unresponsiveness or lack of sympathy or apathy literally can translate to the opposite of humanity, especially in light of the abject doctrine of selfishness and egocentricity that has permeated all facets of our lives. The mere fact that we see death as a result of unnecessary action and inaction and still go about our “normal” life as if nothing has happened is both frightening and worrisome to say the least. And as children of God, we must let go of our insensitivity and begin to love one another again otherwise what a hopeless society ours shall continue to be!

We have become so cold and indifferent to the plights of others, especially when it does not “seems” to affect us directly to the point that, we not only justify our insensitivity to the needs of those seeking our attentions, but vehemently defend why it is not necessary to be bothered with such inimical trends like the killing of people that are defenseless, the homelessness affecting folks, the refugees crisis emanating from the wars and natural disasters and other forms of man inhumanity toward others on the basis of ideological state of mind such as terrorism based on religion and racism.

The perpetrators and agents of this “indifference” may have their fill in this world; however the scripture is warning us what is waiting for all who perpetuate this godless and inhumane attitude.

Today we are being challenged to give up our attitude of indifference and substitute it with one of compassionate sensitivity that foster love and love in turn will promote humanity and humanity will lead us to God and our God will lead us to eternity in his Kingdom of Heaven!

At times is difficult to love, especially when you are hated unnecessarily and that is the more reason why we need God and one another in our lives.

The Rich man and Lazarus

 

Wealth and riches are definitely blessings from the almighty God and therefore the crime of the rich man was not about his possessions but simply as a result of the indifference to the welfare of other people and in this case especially toward Lazarus!

The rich man failed to see in his possessions the opportunity to use it to glorify God and therefore save more treasure for eternal life.

The insensitivity of the rich man was so gross that even though he was aware of Lazarus plight, but careless because his heart has become immune to the suffering of others and to the extent that he continue to live sumptuously and can go to sleep without giving his life style a second thought and challenging himself as to whether he is loving his neighbors as himself.

We are all aware of this kind of egocentric lifestyle especially here in the western hemisphere where individualism predominates over commonality and conformity or traditional values such as “we are our brothers keeper of the extended family system in the developing countries.”

The rich man believes that his wealth can buy him favoritism even before God!

Are we any different from the rich man when we fail to extend a helping hand to those who are suffering and in terribly need of our help?

Lazarus represents the downtrodden, the rejected and abandoned and the forgotten that unfortunately is unable to stand on his own and therefore is in need of our helping hand!

 

The contemporary Rich man and Lazarus

 

On different levels, and sadly too the Parable of the Rich man and Lazarus continue to play out in our lives on a daily basis. The rich man represents countries and people of the world, who happen to be blessed by the same almighty God with abundance of resources that could be committed to serving God and humanity and unfortunately in many instances, we have seen the abuses of these resources and misappropriations leading to countless and unbearable act of inhumanity against man!

When technological and scientific and liberal art and other forms of human intellectual advancements are used to demonize, denigrate and murder human beings, such an act represents the attitude of the rich man and the victims are the Lazarus of our times.

 

So who is the Lazarus in our lives?

 

In the United States of America, there are many Lazarus in our lives; we see them and yet like the rich man in the Parable of Jesus Christ, we disregard them and go about our daily activities as if nothing has or happening!

Given the recent events in the country especially the killing of harmless African- Americans by the police on one hand, and those who try to justify and support these perpetual abuse of authority by way of propaganda and extrication of the parts of the law of the lands that give unilateral power to the police to kill in the name of security are like the rich man in the parable who have grown so cold at heart and indifferent to the plights of the people of color that we no longer see any need to defend the helpless and hopeless! The uncountable evidences from video cameras that have shown that in most instances these victims of police brutality did not provoke nor encourage any kind of altercation and yet they were killed! How can we in our right heart justify such an action?

How can a person take the life of another fellow who does not present any form of threat other than the color of his skin and the stereotypes attached to him, and then rationalize such an action? And as if that is not enough, the “prey” goes about his or her business as if nothing has happened? In fact, the reaction we paid to a dog that is killed by mistake is greater than any that an indifferent heart have exhibited toward the wrongful death of a Black man in America.

The refugee’s crisis of the world was never an accident, but the evil machination of man to perpetuate his authority, power and clutch on the helpless people in their native land, a land that no longer know peace and where the normality of daily routine have been taken away and replaced by bombing, gun violence and other forms of mass destruction of lives and properties. As a result of this atmosphere of mediocrity, hostilities and uninhabitable many like the natural migration of birds in search of a livable environment have given up on their native land, home and people and are now roaming the global desperately looking for where to live and breathe again! These peoples are the Lazarus in our lives and the many of us that refused to grant them help and try to again justify why such an inhumane action should be taken against the downtrodden are nothing short of the rich man in this parable by our Lord Jesus Christ.

This negativity does not end with the two examples above; in fact a deeper reflection on the family can showcase circumstances in which many of us have decided to act like the rich man to members of our family, friends and neighbors. Whenever we fail to use our talents, gifts and blessings to show compassion, mercy and justice, to provide help and support for the less privilege are become the “rich man.” A father who invests his wealth selfishly without regards to his family makes the entire family to become his “Lazarus” and the same are applicable to mothers, children and any other members of the family that is self-centered to the extent of exhibiting indifference to the plight of his family members.

When the Drug companies are too focused on making money that they are indifferent to the inability of their “customers” to purchase their medications due to inhumane skyrocketing increase in the cost of such drug, they become the “rich man” and make the recipient of their product the new Lazarus.

Children born and unborn, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters that are subjected to any form or kind of inhumanity such as killing or murdering, and subjugated or oppressed circumstances are the ‘Lazarus’ in our lives and those of us who supported or carry out these evil plans or machination are the rich man.’

 

Consequences of Indifference

 

The earthly consequences of indifference are manifested in the perpetual and ongoing wars, conflicts and apathy we see on a daily basis in our lives! People get killed unjustly, the downtrodden are rejected, racism is a common phenomenon because those who are not hurt by it careless about the victims, there are those who are hungry, thirsty and homeless, naked, uneducated and hated and yet many of us turn our face away, because we are not the victims.

We are rich by worldly standard, plenty of money, possessions and life a flamboyant and luxurious lifestyle, our children did not lack anything good, our home is well protected and in retirement we are sure to perpetuate this “Hollywood” kind of living! However our next door neighbor has nothing to eat or drink, living in a home that might collapse any minute due to dilapidation, children that cannot afford to go to school, let alone be granted entry into your rich man mansion and yet, we turn our face from these human suffering and still claim to be living a life of luxury? This is not the kind of luxury God intended for the rich. It is the Devil that has taken possession of your heart and turns it into a muscle that beat but cannot feel.

These are what indifference look like, when you fail to show compassion, mercy and justice, when you refuse to stand up for what is right and defend the victims of inhumanity, when you look at a fellow man with a heart that is unresponsive, insensitive and lack sympathy, when what you see in the next man is a being that is synonymous to one of your properties- the one that might be in the closet that you really do not want to give away, only because you just want to keep it without needing it.

Indifference is when you see injustices and decided to careless about it and do nothing since in your mind it does not affect or matter to you.

Indifference is also when you see people being hated for no other reason than the color of their skin, the way they speak and the culture that they live out and you feel no remorse toward the perpetrators.

 

Hope in hopelessness

The reality of humanity is that we are made up of both physical and spiritual nature and created by God and given the ultimate task of loving the Lord our God with all our hearts and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

In spite of the shortcomings we have witnessed as a result of the countless ways we have become indifferent to the plights of others, there is still hope in God’s ability to touch our lives and turn our hearts from that of stone to flesh!

Love is the only viable means by which we can overcome our insensitivity and lack of sympathy for others.

When we care about the downtrodden, the rejected and those who we think have nothing to offer in return, our world will be a better place to live in.

Today is another new day, a new opportunity given to us by our God to make a difference in the life of someone; love, support and help just about anybody that we will encounter. The challenge is are we ready to let go of our ego, cold-blooded hearts and begin to see ourselves in others?

How many of us think about eternal life? We have two choices, life everlasting in heaven and eternal damnation in hell; of these which one do we want to reside in? If our goal is to have a share in the eternal life that was won for mankind by our Lord Jesus Christ, then we must first and foremost change our ways, habit and culture and other practices that are contrary to the tenet of our faith, hope and love for God.

 

Prayer

 

Dear God,

Please touch my heart today and remove the coldness residing within me!

Open my eyes to see myself in others and grant me your grace to live in accordance to your tenet of love.

I do not want to be indifferent to anybody again!

Thank you for always hearing my prayers.

In Jesus Christ name I have prayed. Amen

Podeh2016.