Something Worse than Hate: Indifference
As my mom was visiting me this weekend, we were watching a movie and a random question came up regarding the difference between indifference and hate. It led to a discussion in which she explained to me how being indifferent to someone is a lot worse than showing hate to them. The reason for this is because when someone is showing hate, they still have feelings, even if the feelings are negative, but they are still treating that person as a human being. Whereas when you are indifferent towards someone, you are essentially not emotionally connected with the person at all and aren’t treating them as an actual human being. There is this disconnect between you and the person, essentially creating an objectification that person to the status of “it.” Being indifferent toward someone is saying that you care so little about them, that they aren’t even worth a glance or a comment, even a negative glance or comment. There are many things that can cause a person to have these feelings of indifference, but regardless of the cause, being indifferent is not healthy nor is it godly.
However, as my mom was explaining this to me, she brought up the example of my older brother as a baby. He was adopted when he was 5 months old and because he didn’t have a stable caretaker until he was adopted, the doctors were worried that he would later develop attachment issues which could bring emotional disconnect from others. So in order to avoid this from happening, my parents needed to go to extra lengths to make sure that bond was created between them. When my brother would get hungry, my parents had to let him cry for a little bit so he would realize his need for food, and when my parents gave him his bottle, he would then realize that they were satisfying his need. The repetition of this task would bring about feelings of attachment and emotional connection between my parents and brother, because my brother would understand that his needs were only being satisfied by my parents. Therefore making him able to have emotional attachment and hopefully avoid indifference towards others later in life.
After she told me this, I got to thinking. This is exactly what God does to us sometimes. We, as Christians, don’t have perfect lives. Far far from perfect lives actually. We go through trials of various kinds, some small hurdles, and some hurdles that are so tall we just keep tripping and falling over them. However, I think that God uses these hurdles in our lives for us to realize our need of a Savior, and then to subsequently realize that our only satisfaction of this need is through Him. No matter what the situation is, and no matter how hard we try to fix things in our own power, we remain helpless to fix anything. Taking things into our own human hands only makes matters worse, and our trials are God giving us a wake up call. They are His reminders, gentle or not, that we are in desperate need of a Savior who wipes our sinful slates clean, which is Jesus Christ. The Lord wants to establish a bond of attachment and an emotional connection with us, and He will do whatever it takes to protect us from indifference toward Him. Including giving us trials and tribulations. Even when our trials seem pointless and painful through our own fleshly perceptions, He uses them for His glory, to draw us closer to Him. He turns our greatest suffering into our biggest blessing.
However, as my mom was explaining this to me, she brought up the example of my older brother as a baby. He was adopted when he was 5 months old and because he didn’t have a stable caretaker until he was adopted, the doctors were worried that he would later develop attachment issues which could bring emotional disconnect from others. So in order to avoid this from happening, my parents needed to go to extra lengths to make sure that bond was created between them. When my brother would get hungry, my parents had to let him cry for a little bit so he would realize his need for food, and when my parents gave him his bottle, he would then realize that they were satisfying his need. The repetition of this task would bring about feelings of attachment and emotional connection between my parents and brother, because my brother would understand that his needs were only being satisfied by my parents. Therefore making him able to have emotional attachment and hopefully avoid indifference towards others later in life.
After she told me this, I got to thinking. This is exactly what God does to us sometimes. We, as Christians, don’t have perfect lives. Far far from perfect lives actually. We go through trials of various kinds, some small hurdles, and some hurdles that are so tall we just keep tripping and falling over them. However, I think that God uses these hurdles in our lives for us to realize our need of a Savior, and then to subsequently realize that our only satisfaction of this need is through Him. No matter what the situation is, and no matter how hard we try to fix things in our own power, we remain helpless to fix anything. Taking things into our own human hands only makes matters worse, and our trials are God giving us a wake up call. They are His reminders, gentle or not, that we are in desperate need of a Savior who wipes our sinful slates clean, which is Jesus Christ. The Lord wants to establish a bond of attachment and an emotional connection with us, and He will do whatever it takes to protect us from indifference toward Him. Including giving us trials and tribulations. Even when our trials seem pointless and painful through our own fleshly perceptions, He uses them for His glory, to draw us closer to Him. He turns our greatest suffering into our biggest blessing.
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