STUDY VII. HOW TO AWAKEN THE INDIFFERENT AND SELF-SATISFIED. "A certain man made a great supper; and he bade many: and he sent forth his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a field, and I must needs go out and see it; I pray thee have me excused." (Luke xiv. 16-18.) PART 1. CAUSES OF INDIFFERENCE. INDIFFERENCE seems to arise from one of three causes. First, a man may assume a forced indifference because he dreads to face the results of his sin. This applies to many. Once at Howard College, Alabama, a student told me the story of a very sinful life. I asked him to go back to his room, lock the door, and there alone face his sin in the presence of God. He said he could not do that. "But," I said, "that cannot hurt you, and it certainly is the fair thing to do." "Yes," he said; "but I dare not be alone with God in the presence of my sins for half an hour." Many are afraid to be alone and face their sins. They assume an indifference because their conscience hurts them when they allow themselves to think seriously. Then there is an indifference of preoccupation. Business is so pressing that many a man never thinks about religious affairs. It is practically impossible to get his attention for religious thought even on the Sabbath. Or if the person with whom you are dealing be in social life, the engagements are so constant and exacting that religious life has little chance. Or if he be a student, athletics and fraternities and socials and study take every hour of his time. Many men are not intentionally irreligious, but they are preoccupied. There is a third type of indifference due to undervaluation. Many people, men especially, do not think religion has any real message. They think it is a diversion of the mystical, but as for practical power it has none. Religion has so long been taught with preponderating emotional elements that men with battles to fight and big things to do frequently feel they can well afford to do without it. One can readily see there is a great difference in the three types, and the method of work in dealing with each will be different from that of the other two. Personal Thought: Has your indifference to personal work been due to undervaluation of the power of religion to help the other man? 8 STUDY VII. HOW TO AWAKEN THE INDIFFERENT AND SELF-SATISFIED. "Be noble, and the nobleness that lies in others, sleeping, but never dead, shall rise in majesty to meet thine own." "The office of a friend is to make us do what we can." "As in water face answereth to face, So the heart of man to man." (Prov. xxvii. 19.) PART 2. THE CONTAGION OF CHARACTER. CHARACTER is caught and not taught ; it is the precept both of psychology and sociology. We gain character by contact with character. Henry Drummond used to say he became a part of every man he met, and every man he met became a part of him. When Coleridge was asked the secret of his life he simply answered: "I had a friend.” The most powerful influence that can be brought to bear on an indifferent man is the personality of a God-filled soul. Become a friend to your indifferent person. Spend some time with him. Do not fear to let him know the great, deep things in which you are interested. If he really believes in you he will soon begin to believe in your power of life. If you cannot become a friend to the indifferent person, get some other strong person to do so. The greatest testimony for Christ is the consistent daily life of a Christlike person, followed with an open report of how that life has grown. When the great French skeptic visited the mystic Fenelon he came away saying: "If I stay here much longer I will be a Christian in spite of myself." I once had a little mannerism from which I tried to get free. But like most habits, it was not easily broken. One day a friend, for whom I had great admiration, called this to my attention, thinking I was not aware of it. I do not remember ever falling into it again. This is the contagion of character. In the student work of the Young Men's Christian Association many a young secretary has unconsciously adopted the mannerism of John R. Mott, the head of that work. It is the contagion of a strong character. If you can put your indifferent person into the presence of a living friend of Christ for a little while each day, he cannot long remain indifferent. This is not easy work; it will mean sacrifice and the giving up of other things, but it is worth the price. |