As a teenager among other teenagers, apathy seems common. Ask any teen what they want to do today and it's usually "I don't know. There's nothing to do here." Ask most people what they like to do, and they generally have to think before listing off a couple things like "Listen to music... cook..." Ask almost any teenager what direction they're headed in, and you get a blank stare. Ask most people what their strengths and talents are, and most will say they have no talent and many will have to carefully consider their strengths.
I have been curious about this lately. Why are we so apathetic and bland these days? Personally, I have found to difficult to conceive bordom in this world. Sure, driver's ed was pretty hard to sit through, but everything is full of different sights, sounds, flavors, and experiences. How could we be bored?
I have a theory on apathy: It becomes rampant when we are not living for Christ and focused on Him. We live in a world of beauty tarnished by sin, a constant battle of good versus evil-- one that we are knights in. More than that, as sons and daughters of the king, we are royalty and should live as such. I watched one of The Chronicles of Narnia movies today, and it reminded me of what it means to be royalty. We have lost sight of our identity by losing sight of Christ, and in doing so, have lost sight of ourselves. He is the one who gives us our personalities, strengths, gifts, etc. Don't believe me? Well, why would a talented Artist triumphantly present a blank canvas to the world and call it art? If you can't see what a beautiful creation you are, seek the source of beauty and start living for Him. Our spiritual muscles have atrophied. We need to stretch and use them again before we can be stong in Him and know what our strengths are. When we see the beauty in Him, we'll see the beauty in us. But we'll also see the wretchedness in our lives, which is what happens when we stand in the light. But we can't clean a mess on the floor until we can see it, right? Don't be afraid to look. "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." -- 2 Timothy 1:7.
O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths,a you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
When I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious tob me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and abhor those who rise up against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting." -- Psalm 139
Only you can be you. An eye can not be a foot or a nose. But do not be afraid to be you-- we need you. You are the missing piece to the puzzle. You are the one part of a body that the others rely on in some way. Know who you are and act like it!
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. -- 1 Corinthians 12:4-31
Go out there and live an adventure!
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