March 4th and 5th of this year will be remembered for the massive winter storm that gripped most of the nation in snow, ice, and record cold temperatures. Yesterday morning, at 2:30 a.m. Eastern Time, I began my journey home from North Carolina. Normally, when I have made the trip in the past, it has taken me between ten and eleven hours to make it home. Yesterday’s trip was different. It took me fifteen and a half hours. The first third of the trip was fairly normal. There was no ice or snow – just rain. But as I began to cross the Smoky Mountains, gradually the rain was replaced with a wintry mix, then sleet and freezing rain. Halfway between Nashville and Knoxville everything changed over to snow. The last half of the trip, which normally takes five hours, would be close to ten hours long.
As the weather continued to deteriorate, I began to really become aware of the situation around me. When the rain began to turn to freezing rain and sleet, I decided to slow down, turn off the radio, and to pay attention to what was going on around me. With all the distractions out-of-the-way, I became more aware of how dangerous the situation actually was. Ice and slush covered the interstate, there was low visibility in some places, and already there were many of accidents on both sides of the road. I also became more aware of the actions of the other drivers; many of them were acting as if it were a normal day – they continued to drive at higher than safe speeds, talking on cell phones, and zipping down the highway. They were unaware of the real danger of inattention as they continued on their journey.
There were a few times I watched cars pass by me at high rates of speed, just to be passed by me a little while later. Where I had been slower, more deliberate in my driving, they had become victims of the danger to inattention – a couple had slid off the road into the median and there were a couple that had come upon an accident too fast to avoid becoming part of it. As I watched and continued to make my way slowly across the state of Tennessee, a verse came to mind: And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares (Luke 21:34). As I continued my slow pace through the ice and snow, I began to think that just as these drivers had not even considered the danger of inattention that morning during their trip, there are many people who are unaware of the spiritual danger of inattention.
Spiritual danger of inattention
There are a number of phrases used throughout the Bible that are designed and crafted by the Holy Spirit that reminds us of the importance of paying attention and being aware of what is happening us around us. Take heed, consider, regard, watch, and be vigilant are found throughout the Bible and remind us that we are to be aware of what is going on around us and what we are doing. There are a lot of Christians today who are now experiencing problems, trials, and even temptations because of the spiritual danger of inattention. There are churches who are experiencing hardships because of the danger of inattention. If we just take the one phrase, take heed, there are sixty-four verses where the Holy Spirit instructs us to do just that – to take heed, to be aware, to be cautious, to be observant of what is going on around us. On my trip to and from North Carolina, I listened to a lot of AM Christian radio stations because the CD player in my car no longer works. I was listening to the sermon of a local church broadcasting out of Nashville and heard the pastor say that there were a number of young teenage girls in their congregation had went on a trip and now found themselves pregnant. He was bemoaning that how could this happen at the church – and the answer that the Holy Spirit gives is the danger of inattention.
Using the church broadcasting on the radio as an example, its problems did not begin with a field trip taken by a local group. The problems did not begin when the teenage girls engaged in premarital and unwed sex – this was the result of the problem. The problem is that this church and these families had not been aware of what was going on around the young girls. There is a very real spiritual danger of inattention. I once heard a sermon while living in Louisiana where the pastor said a simple but profound statement: “there are people who are so heavenly minded they do no earthly good!” It is not enough to preach against immorality and sin, it is not enough to ignore the taunting and teasing of the world and somehow expect our young people to go through life unscathed by sin. There is no reward for being inattentive to the things the world offers. Simply believing “not my daughter” or “not my son” is not enough to prevent them from falling into temptation – and it is not just about how they face sex, but alcohol, drugs, and any number of conversations we often choose to ignore because of the sensitivity of the topic. There are real spiritual dangers out there; we compound them when we are not paying attention to what is going on around us, our families, and the members of the congregation.
