I recently came across a relatively new term regarding Christianity in America: “apatheism.” A play on the words “apathy” and “atheism,” apatheism describes the newest trend in Christianity in America. In some ways, it is its own form of religion, a weak religion which is a shadow of the true Christian faith it is unconsciously pushing out.
An apatheist doesn’t deny God’s existence. In fact, he or she probably sees God in a positive light. An apatheist has no problems with Jesus, and would probably agree with many of his moral teachings. In fact, unlike an atheist or an agnostic, an apatheist has no issue at all with the idea of God’s existence. The apatheist, however, just doesn’t care.
People who follow trends in society see this as an issue most prevalent among our youngest generations. They are probably right, given the many statistics about America’s youth moving away from church attendance and Biblical worldviews. However, the trend of apathy toward God didn’t begin with Millennials or Generation Z. It is a mindset these young people have learned from their elders, and from their society as a whole.
For many decades, Modernist philosophy fostered an anti-God attitude among Western elites. In academia or entertainment being religious was seen as naïve and childish. Science had advanced to such a degree that people didn’t “need” a God anymore. God went out of style.
As God went out of style, He was removed from our public life and then, more and more, from our private lives. God was less and less welcome in schools, courts, legislatures, universities, and laboratories. At some point this sea change in culture took on a life of its own, and we are now surprised when we actually do find examples of a public acknowledgement of God’s existence and sovereignty.
This is a process which has been happening throughout all of our lifetimes, to some degree or another. The resurgence of the Jesus Movement around 50 years ago brought God back into the spotlight, but by then the secularization of society was well underway. To some degree, God was allowed back into the public square, but only under secular terms. So we see a society that teaches God as all love and no judgement; Jesus as a moral teacher but not as a risen savior; and sin as an issue of psychology, not as a result of evil in our world.
With a watered-down God at every turn, it’s no surprise each generation has become more and more apathetic toward faith. We certainly can’t blame our youth today for not seeing faith as an important issue in their lives.
The job of the church is to stand up and be a counter-example to this trend. Our churches have enough apathy of their own to address. Why should a teenager in the pews care about church attendance when they watch adults of all ages show up one or two Sundays a month, or less? Why should they feel church is important when mom attends regularly but dad won’t join her? Why should they take their faith seriously when church means one hour a week, and the rest of their lives are untouched by what that hour means?
Believers need to shed their own apathy, however great or small, and recommit themselves, in order to fight this greater apathy which is robbing our next generation of any appreciation for the role of God in their lives. We need to recognize that our own apathy has been fostered by a society trying to drive a wedge between us and God. It’s been doing so for over a hundred years. We need to be strong enough, and aware enough, to stand up against those who want to water down our God, and to reclaim the church for the next generation.
The Rev. William E. Pike has pastored the United Methodist congregation in New Market since 2011. He also works for Myler Church Building Systems. He can be reached by email at williamedwardpike@gmail.com.
