Apatheism: How We Share When They Don't Care
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- Create Date：2021-06-13 07:51:50
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Kyle Beshears
- ISBN：1535991526
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Summary
How can you share the gospel with someone who doesn’t care？ As Western culture becomes increasingly indifferent to questions of faith， diverted by secularism， comfort， and distraction， believers encounter many people who don’t so much doubt God as they are apathetic toward him。 In Apatheism， Kyle Beshears urges us to recapture the joy of our salvation and demonstrates how to faithfully display the love of Christ to apatheist friends and neighbors。
Reviews
Mitch Wiley
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（Audible audiobook）A good Kellerian model of evangelism in post-Christian America。 A lot of the book is anecdotal which has its pros and cons。 A lot of it was not original material， but parroting what the author has read in preparation to writing the book。 Which is always kind of annoying to me。
Mark Nichols
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Timely and helpful。 Probably longer than it needed to be， given its core message and proposed means of engagement。 Well worth the read！
George P。
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When I became a pastor in 1990， seeker was the term of art for a nonbeliever。 Churches such as Willow Creek and Saddleback had popularized the term as part of their attractional ministry model。 Rather than emphasizing that a person lacked faith， the word emphasized that a person possessed spiritual curiosity。Using seeker this way made sense at that time。 The share of Americans who self-identified as evangelical Christians hit its high watermark in 1993。 According to the General Social Survey， th When I became a pastor in 1990， seeker was the term of art for a nonbeliever。 Churches such as Willow Creek and Saddleback had popularized the term as part of their attractional ministry model。 Rather than emphasizing that a person lacked faith， the word emphasized that a person possessed spiritual curiosity。Using seeker this way made sense at that time。 The share of Americans who self-identified as evangelical Christians hit its high watermark in 1993。 According to the General Social Survey， the evangelical share of the population grew 76%， from 17% of the population in 1972 to 29。9% in 1993。 No wonder evangelicals thought nonbelievers were seekers！ A lot of them were。They aren’t any longer， though。 Since 1993， the evangelical share of the U。S。 population has declined more than a quarter， from 29。9% in 1993 to 21。6% in 2018。 Nones — people who claim no religious affiliation — are now more numerous than evangelicals。 Their share of the population has grown 465%， from 5。1% in 1972 to 23。7% in 2018。Just as evangelicals were wrong to attribute spiritual curiosity to all nonbelievers in 1993， we would be wrong to attribute spiritual hostility to all nonbelievers today。 Nonbelievers are not necessarily would-be theists， but they’re not necessarily ticked-off atheists either。 Instead， they’re what Kyle Beshears calls apatheists。 They’re “cognitively indifferent and emotionally apathetic” about God。 They don’t know， and they don’t care。According to Beshears， apatheism’s “dual aspect” springs from four sources。 Cognitively， apatheism becomes widespread when belief in God is “contestable” and “diverse。” Emotionally， it happens when status in life is “comfortable” and “distracted。” Let’s take a brief look at each of these four sources。1。 Contestable。 The statistics cited above indicate that American society is becoming less religious， more secular， and more skeptical。 In that sense， secularism is a story of subtraction。 People believe less than they used to。 They’ve taken away the super from supernaturalism。2。 Diverse。 However， secularism isn’t just a subtraction story。 It’s also an addition story。 Think of the quotation （wrongly） attributed to G。K。 Chesterton: “When men choose not to believe in God， they do not thereafter believe in nothing; they then become capable of believing in anything。” Secularism doesn’t present a binary choice between belief and nonbelief。 It adds — even multiplies！ — intellectual options。Because belief is now contestable and diverse， Beshears argues， “some people lack the reason to care about God。”Now let’s consider the emotional sources:3。 Comfortable。 Psychologists Ara Norenzayan and Will Gervais argue， “Where life is safe and predictable， people are less motivated to turn to gods for succor。” Apatheism grows in “conditions of existential security，” they write。 We need God only when we get into trouble， in other words。 This is bad theology， of course， but nevertheless a good description of how many Americans operate， spiritually speaking。4。 Distracted。 Not only are secular people safe， but their faces are also aglow in screens that glitter 24/7/365。 Today， we have access through our cellphones to more information than all previous generations combined， but social media keeps notifying us that more info has arrived and demands our immediate attention。 Consequently， Beshears argues， “It feels nearly impossible to meditate on any one thing at a time。 This includes the most worthy object of our meditation — God。The upshot of these two additional forces is that “people lack the motivation to care about God because of affluence and technology，” writes Beshears。So， how do we evangelize apatheists？ It’s one thing to share the gospel with people deeply invested in spiritual matters， even if they’re on the other side （such as atheists or adherents of non-Christian religions）。 But what do you do with people who don’t know and don’t care？According to Beshears， you lean into joy。The first way you lean into joy is by being authentically joyful yourself。 “Apatheists need a credible witness of God’s person and work，” he writes。 “If apathy is the opposite of affection， and a faithful affection is where we want to help apatheists go， then we need first to show them what they’re missing out on。” In other words， first show nonbelievers that faith in Christ is desirable。Then show them it’s true。 All people desire to be happy， to live joyfully。 Biblical joy is paradoxical， however。 “We rejoice because of God and his redemptive action，” Beshears writes， “and we rejoice in spite of circumstances that bring grief and sorrow。”This because of/in spite of paradox applies to apatheists， too。 The crucial question is whether the sources of their happiness （their because ofs） can sustain them through difficult times （their in spite ofs）。 Beshears argues that they can’t， because our creaturely circumstances inevitably disappoint。Instead， we must look outside ourselves， our relationships， and our things to a more transcendent， permanent source of joy。 This is God。 As Augustine prayed， “You have made us for yourself， and our heart is restless until it comes to rest in you。”I highly recommend Apatheism to Christian leaders struggling to figure out how to bring the joy of the gospel to bear on a culture that doesn’t know and doesn’t care。 May we， like the angel of the Lord in Luke 2:10， bring our culture “good news that will cause great joy for all the people。”Book ReviewedKyle Beshears， Apatheism: How We Share When They Don’t Care （Nashville， TN: B&H Academic， 2021）。P。S。 If you liked my review， please click “Helpful” on my Amazon review page。P。P。S。 I wrote this review for InfluenceMagazine。com。 It is posted here by permission。 。。。more
Brad
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This is a needed and helpful resource for those of us involved in disciple-making and preaching。 If we primarily approach skeptics and non-believers with reasonable arguments for God， we will be frustrated。 Instead， Beshears tell us to lead with the human pursuit of joy。 So good。
Steven DiSebastian
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Kyle Beshears’ book tackles an extremely problematic question that is often overlooked in discussions on evangelism: How do you share your faith with those who simply don’t care about God？ Even if you share your faith， how do you get the person to care enough to consider what you said？When you get down to it， it's actually easy to get into conversations with ardent atheists。 Ardent atheists have strong beliefs and they want to talk—or at least debate—about those beliefs。 In the same way， it’s ea Kyle Beshears’ book tackles an extremely problematic question that is often overlooked in discussions on evangelism: How do you share your faith with those who simply don’t care about God？ Even if you share your faith， how do you get the person to care enough to consider what you said？When you get down to it， it's actually easy to get into conversations with ardent atheists。 Ardent atheists have strong beliefs and they want to talk—or at least debate—about those beliefs。 In the same way， it’s easy to get into a spiritual conversation with a religious non-Christian because they care about spiritual things。 But how do we engage the “apatheist”—someone who believes God is irrelevant？ Beshears lays out the symptoms in a society that lead to apatheism: secular， comfortable， and distracted—all aspects of American culture。 Further， radical individualism feeds it， where it’s believed we can create our own meaning to life。 Additionally， mix in pluralism and the internet age of too many options。 Not that exposure to other beliefs is bad within itself， but too many options leads to many experiencing a mental fatigue， so they don’t hold to any belief all that strongly or simply don’t wish to engage with anyone about them。 Keep in mind， even a professed Christian can still be an apatheist。 This is the “practical atheist” （or what I often call a “functional atheist”） in your pews whose Christian identity has no impact on their lives。Since the “apatheist” is one who both “believes God is irrelevant and feels apathetic towards him，” Beshears proposes that we have to hit them first emotionally to wake them up。 How do we do this？ We go after their idols。 We make them aware that anything other than God that they find their happiness in can be taken away; it will ultimately let them down。 Then， once we jolt them enough to listen， we point them to Christ as the only lasting source of joy。 Augustine wrote of God， “You have made us for yourself， and our heart is restless until it comes to rest in you。”Beshears points out another important point many would overlook: Before doing this effectively， we can’t be apatheists ourselves！ We have to ask ourselves， Have I lost my joy in Christ？ What must I do to recapture it？ Does my life display the joy and hope I have in Christ？ After all， we don’t just want them to know Christianity is true， but we want them to want it to be true。 Anselm once stated that an emotional desire for Christianity to be true is a necessary step before someone could be intellectually convinced of the gospel。At barely 100 pages， Apatheism: How We Share When They Don’t Care is certainly worth the read。 Whenever I read a book like this， I always end by wishing it had more practical advice and real-world examples， but Beshears has written a book with both those things that is a great help to anyone hoping to share their faith。 Beshears has written a much-needed book that is a welcomed gift to the church。 I hope this book will start a conversation and lead to more Christian thinkers tackling this topic。*B & H provided me with a free copy for review。 。。。more
Sophie Miller
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So， so helpful， concise， focused， and extremely practical。 A necessary book on evangelism in our present culture。 Convicting and challenging and so beneficial。 Cannot recommend enough。
Derek DeMars
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