Near the end of each summer, our staff pulls away from daily responsibilities for two days of training—usually at an off campus location. I greatly look forward to this time and spend many hours preparing for it. Although we have staff meeting each week, this annual staff orientation is a time when we pause, evaluate, adjust, and move forward as a team with renewed focus and momentum.

At the age of sixty-two, I am irritated by perpetual updates to the functions on my phone which make me continually learn new methods and techniques. I recognize, however, that to be a “technophobe” would diminish my effectiveness in the work of God. It would also alienate me from a significant segment of society.

In the previous post I pointed out seven symptoms of one of the most dangerous spiritual diseases—apathy. A diagnose without a cure, however, is unhelpful. The direct counsel Christ Himself gave to the church at Laodicea was to humble themselves in repentance and recognize their need for Christ:

I almost drowned once. It was at a friend’s birthday party, of all places. I think I was six. Thankfully, I was rescued, but I still remember that sense of helplessness as I was engulfed in the water and knew I couldn’t swim.

For two thousand years, Christians have been persecuted in many places all over the world for teaching and practicing their faith. This is not new.

There are few things a pastor or spiritual leader fears more than apathy. (And if we’re wise, we fear it creeping into our own hearts as much as we fear it undermining the spiritual growth of those we lead.)

I believe that every Christian has a desire to lead others to Christ. From the moment of our salvation, this desire is wired into us. It is the fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Yet like most Christians, you must work to maintain an intensity in this area.

If you feel that God is calling you to the mission field, I want to thank you for your willingness to stand in the gap for the lost souls of this world. You are needed more than you can imagine.

None of us start out in leadership with the intention of failing. But we all know people who have disgraced the Lord and hurt the people they lead through unfaithfulness. We all want, when we come to the end of our race, to be able to say, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

Every Bible-believing Christian sees the need to pray for our nation and its leaders. But knowing we need to pray is not the same as praying.