Friday, April 12, 2013

Amiable indifference

We all know that person (or persons). Those you would call charming and amiable. They are popular because they give no offense. They cause no problems, speak softly, never step out of line. They work their jobs, pay their taxes, obey the speed limit and raise their children to be just like them. The do not question the “status quo”, they follow their parents faith and are content with all things just as they are. To society, they are the perfect image of a good and peaceful person. Actually, because they care so deeply about doing nothing wrong, they are not necessarily good, they are simply indifferent.

Is this a life we should try to emulate? Is it a life Christ call us to lead?

It is a great mistake to present Christ and Christianity as something charming and popular giving no offense. Jesus was, at times, gentle, meek and mild. But He was also so stiff in his opinions and so inflammatory in his language that he was thrown out of church, stoned, hunted from place to place, and finally gibbeted as a firebrand and a public danger. 

Whatever His peace was, it was not the peace of amiable indifference.

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