I Don't Care

♪You all laugh at me like I'm not happy with anything, any time, anywhere. And the half of me's all about apathy, and the other half just doesn't care...What matters to you does not matter to me. Cause I don't care♫ Relient K "Apathetic Way to Be"

Let's go on a journey...back to high school. "The best days of our life" right? Psssssh, heck no. According to Urbandictionary (an opinionated dictionary), high school is "the place where the stress of growing up and the stress of fitting in join forces to destroy even the strongest among us." The definition then defines all the stresses of fitting in. As a high schooler, I began the never ending process of fitting in and trying to find my place. I tried hanging out with the "populars" because I had a few friends in that group...but trust me, even if you are in that group, it can be one of the most miserable things ever. Then I tried with the "jocks" since I played volleyball and softball, but that was uninteresting as well. My junior year, I eventually found myself in a group that I will categorize as the "wannabes."  Some of the people in my group wanted to be popular but were stunted by the glass ceiling. Others wanted to be the leader of a group, and they just needed some people to push around. And even others were more than willing to be those pushovers. Me? I was just stuck. I had my athlete friends, my FCA friends, my popular friends, and my super smart friends, but fate had plopped me into the middle of this group. And by my 3rd year of high school, I was tired of jumping groups so I just stayed. I just didn't care what I was categorized as anymore. It was then that I was content. I was completely apathetic as to how I was seen by others, and I couldn't have been happier.

It was also at this point that God began working in my life greatly. I came to the point where I didn't care what others thought about my faith either.  The above song is about not caring. The Bible speaks a few times against apathy; however, Relient K takes a different perspective on apathy. Instead of not caring about the doing the work of God, they use this song to promote apathy for the hindrances that the world puts in front of us, whether those hindrances be conformity, sin, or other circumstances. Basically, we should not have the same desires of the world, and we should not care about anything the world is doing. We should focus on the task God has put in front of us...to be the vessel of saving the world.

The famous DC Talk song "Jesus Freak" says, "I don't really care if they label me a Jesus Freak, there ain't no disguising the truth." We should not care what we are labeled as, only that we are noticed in this world, and that we are standing out and standing up for the Lord Jesus Christ.  The bottom line is that we were made to stand out, so conforming to the standards of this world is compromising everything that God has enabled us to be.

Now the challenge. I could tell you to break the barriers of your social scene and act like a freak, but let's be real, none of you (nor myself) are going to do that. Whether you are in high school are not, the challenge is to show a bit of apathy and be who God made you to be, not who the world wants you to be.



*Disclaimer-not everyone in the "wannabe" group actually fit one of the descriptions of the people of that group. A few others were like myself and were just stuck in the group.