In the conclusion of Sunday’s sermon, I said, “Long for God to use you for His glory. Be confident that He will. But be indifferent to whether He uses you through pain and sorrow, or through success and fame.”

In my notes, I set off the word “indifferent,” and put a question mark next to it. Was it really the right word? Biblically, should we be indifferent to these outcomes?

The answer is yes or no – depending upon how we frame the question. So consider these different situations, and whether or not we are indifferent in each one:

In looking at the present circumstances others are facing, we must never be indifferent to their pain and sorrow. As we noted last week when discussing the Haiti earthquake, we must weep with those who weep, and mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15). In this way, we are like Jesus Himself (John 11:35).

In considering those who do not know Christ, we must never be indifferent to whether or not they come to faith in Him. Paul has “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in [his] heart” when he thinks of the unsaved state of most of his fellow Jews (Romans 9:2). This is not indifference! Our hearts similarly should long for the salvation of those around us.

In the midst of our present circumstances, we must rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). Paul writes those words while in prison. He goes on to say, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” (Philippians 4:11). Note that some of those reading this letter may have seen him live this out when he and Silas, beaten and bruised, praised God in song while in a Philippian jail (Acts 16:25). Now, I am sure that, other things being equal, Paul would have preferred to be out of prison rather than in prison. But he was content, he was rejoicing in the Lord, while confined. He knew God was at work. He was confident that God was in control. He was entrusting Himself to God in those circumstances (1 Peter 4:19) – and so his circumstances did not matter. In that sense, he was indifferent to them.

In looking to the future, we desire God’s glory above all else. We pray and long for His Kingdom to come, His will to be done on earth itself, and not only in heaven (Matthew 6:10). We desire the earth to be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14). We are not indifferent to this outcome!

In looking to the eternal state, we long to see Jesus face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). We do look forward to living with perfected humanity without sorrow, without pain, with every tear wiped from our eyes (Hebrews 12:23, Revelation 21:4). But God Himself is our hope; all other joys of heaven pale before being with Him (Psalm 73:25). We are certainly not indifferent to that outcome.

In contemplating our personal future on earth, we want to be used by God in whatever role He chooses to bring about the coming of His Kingdom. This is the sense in which I was using the word in the sermon. God may grant us success or failure. We may be known or unknown. We may see a clear response to our ministries or no response. Our goal is not success, or fame, or even a response to our ministry. Our goal is God’s glory.

We could say that this attitude is Philippians 4:11 prospectively. We are content not only in our present circumstances, but in any possible future circumstances – if those future circumstances are part of God’s plan to fill the earth with the knowledge of His glory.

As in the case of present circumstances, we certainly will have personal preferences about what those future circumstances look like. I would rather be able to walk all my life than to lie in a hospital bed from tomorrow until the day I die. I would rather live with a roof over my head than to have an earthquake devastate my city and be forced to sleep in the open with thousands of others for days on end. And I would rather be the means hundreds come to faith than to speak to those of hard and stubborn hearts who never listen (Ezekiel 3:7).

But there is a sense in which I should be indifferent to these outcomes. For Jesus was indifferent to outcomes over which he had a personal preference. When faced with the immediate threat of the cross, of taking on Himself the punishment for all the sin of all redeemed humanity, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). In that sense, He wasn’t indifferent. However, He continues, “Not as I will, but as You will.” Or as He says elsewhere when His heart is troubled at the prospect of the cross, “For this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27-28).

He was indifferent in the sense that the joy of glorifying the Name of God so outweighed the pain that there was no comparison (Hebrews 12:2). Paul says our attitude should be similar: our terrible sorrows, real as they are, become “light momentary afflictions” when compared to the “eternal weight of glory” that they produce (2 Corinthians 4:18).

So will you have the indifference of Jesus? Will you pray, “Lord, I naturally want an easy life. And I naturally want to be used by You in ways that yield clear, obvious responses. But You are filling the earth with the knowledge of Your glory as the waters cover the sea. Above all else, I want You to use me in whatever way will bring that end about. So here I am. You choose. Enable me to serve you faithfully – in whatever way you choose: in sorrow and pain or in earthly joy and happiness; in success and fame or in obscurity and dishonor. Just glorify Your Name through me, Your slave.”

As Laurence Tuttiett wrote:

Father, let me dedicate all this year to Thee,
In whatever worldly state Thou wilt have me be:
Not from sorrow, pain or care, freedom dare I claim;
This alone shall be my prayer: glorify Thy Name.

My He do so. And may we always rejoice in Him. Amen.