The Danger Is Real

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul … And Gallio showed no concern whatever.
Acts 18:12,17

Apathy suffocates the church of Jesus Christ and paralyzes the work of truth. All that is necessary for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing. And nothing is precisely what indifference breeds.

What happens when unconcerned listeners encounter uncompromising truth? The apathetic person comes out the loser every time. H. A. Ironside elaborates.

WALK WITH H. A. IRONSIDE
“Gallio the Indifferent! History tells us that he was the brother of Seneca the philosopher, who exclaimed, ‘Few men are so agreeable about anything as my brother Gallio is about everything!’

“Yet this amiable man lost a marvelous opportunity to hear the gospel from the lips of Paul, and perhaps lost his soul as well, just because he did not consider eternal things worthy of his attention.

“To him the whole matter was beneath contempt, consisting only, as he supposed, of a quarrel about words and names and Jewish ceremonial observances. So he turned scornfully away without hearing that glad message which God was sending out in grace to a needy world.

“His attitude stands out as a warning to others not to treat lightly the privileges God gives, lest the day of doom find them still in their sins.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
If someone announced in words both clear and plain, “The building is on fire!” would you respond with a yawn and a shrug? Of course not! Life-threatening situations by demand life-saving steps. If the warning is true, then the danger is real. And only prompt action can avert certain disaster.

Think of the gospel as just such a call to action. The danger is real; the penalty for sin is sure; but the lifeboat is standing by in the person of Jesus Christ, the Savior. That’s good news indeed for all who take shelter in him. But not for those who—like Gallio—greet him with a yawn and a shrug.