Apathy

apathy noun \'a-pə-thē\

1  : lack of feeling or emotion : impassiveness

2  : lack of interest or concern : indifference

It's a poverty so deep that those enslaved by it don't even know they're trapped in it. It consumes you, gives you the illusion of happiness and control. 

When you cease to care. When you leave your kin, your brothers and sisters, just because they are poor and you do not want to help them. 

That is called apathy and that is a scary type of poverty that is hard to climb out of.

It's the impression that you're too cool to care. That the marginalized don't deserve your help. 

But as Ann Voskamp so eloquently points out in this must-read, the marginalized are your kindred. 

And how could you not care about your kindred? Your family. 

Another question: Where in the Bible does it say that it's okay to be apathetic?

More specific: Where in the Bible does it say it's okay to hoard everything for yourself and ignore the fact that your brothers and sisters are starving? Where does Jesus command you to climb the success ladder while your kin starves at the bottom?

Don't go digging in your Bibles to answer my questions. I'll give you the answer for free.

As far as I know, Jesus never says "practice apathy".

What he does say, is sell everything and give it to the poor.

Wait, what... Sell everything?

Take a look at this:

It's not about how much you do or do not give. It's your heart.

Jesus is all about your heart.

And I guess the point of this ramblin', get-all-this-out blog post is to say this: please, please, please. Apathy is an endless first-world trap. Don't fall into it.