Ignorance or Indifference

When we are toddlers, our parents are charged with teaching us right from wrong. The degree of right and wrong changes as we grow in maturity. What is cute for a toddler is eventually wrong for a teenager, etc. When we are little, our poor behavior can be ignored simply because we don’t know better. When we grow, the same behavior can no longer be ignored because we know better.

The Lord said to the Jews who came to him, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard this, and they said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber; but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens; the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not heed them. I am the door; if any one enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

John 9:39-10:9

What becomes a problem as we grow in maturity is when we ignore our behavior, not just our parents. Sometimes we rationalize our behavior by even blaming our parents for allowing us to behave in a certain way when we were children. This can lead to indifference in our heart.

It is much worse to not care whether our behavior is good or bad, than to not know. As the old saying goes, ignorance is bliss. Indifference on the other hand leads to judgment. It may be cute to watch a one-year-old demand a toy saying, “MINE!” The same cannot be said for a teenager, or worse…an adult. Greed leads to all sorts of sin and destruction.

When we are indifferent to our behavior, it ‘runs over’ to our relationships with others. We become indifferent to the needs of others because we are greedy and demand our own needs. It was indifference that Christ was condemning in today’s Gospel lesson.

As Christians we can’t say we are ignorant. We know better. We cannot claim nobody told us how to behave. We’ve been hearing Christ through the Church since we were young. If we want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven when we die, we can get there claiming ignorance when it was really indifference.

Today is a new day. Today is a new opportunity to repent. Today offers a new path, one without indifference. Today is the day we shed ignorance in exchange for grace. We are still maturing. Consider today’s reminder part of our spiritual growth. What was ‘ok’ yesterday is no longer ‘ok’ today.