Who Cares?

It’s a good question, but sometimes asked in a flippant or sarcastic tone. A good friend starts to tell you how bad their day has been, you zone out, and find yourself saying to yourself ‘who cares’ anyway. The classroom know-it-all starts to explain the finer points of the previous lesson, and you think or even say, ‘who cares’?

In Scotland we have mastered the fine art of sarcasm (and some see it as a humorous artform) but the same cannot be said about speaking encouraging pleasantries. These are pushed aside, out of the way, because they are seen as soft, and show a caring, sensitive side and we can’t be having that now, can we? Anyway, who cares if you are offended by that sarcasm?

Church is different for the most part, with people being nice, and showing that they care. Whoa! Back up! Sure the Bible tells us to love one another, and by that characteristic all will know you are Jesus’ disciples. Ah, I hear you say, but can’t we be sarcastic at the same time as being loving and caring? I suggest not.

Take it a step further. Something a Christian can do that no other group can do, is pray. We can pray for the sick, the hurting, the lonely, the unsaved, and that is all good and shows our concern, and that we really do care. But can’t we pray at the same time as we are sarcastic? Of course not!

The real problem for me, is not when there is an absence of sarcasm, encouraging words, or even prayer. It’s the silence. That’s what hits and hurts the most. I remember clearly being in Christian company in church when one of the ladies said to my late wife. “You do know we are praying for you?” Neither she nor I knew that they were praying. No one said. There was silence. My wife had cancer and didn’t survive the disease, so lost out from the knowledge that people in the church at that time were praying. Silence. There were two lessons for me in that short conversation. The first is to pray when you say you will pray. Don’t talk about it to your friends, but do it. That brings me to the second lesson, which is to tell them you are praying for them right in their time of need. They need to hear it. Trust me on this. The person you are praying for needs to know you care enough to pray. They need to know you care. We need to care, and be seen to care!