The Spiritual Danger of Being Bored to Death

The other day a middle-aged “mature” Christian blurted out a statement that shot like a rocket through my spirit. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, “I am so bored with life. I’m fed up with everything.”

Why did his words have such an impact on my life? Why should these words refuse to flow from the life of any follower of Jesus? What happens when a message such as this lands on the ears of a nonbeliever?

Allow me to share with you some valuable lessons that should remain signed and sealed for eternity in your heart.

First of all, this man was not speaking of a temporary season of frustration. He was sick of his Christian life, and he didn’t care who was aware of his pitiful plight.

This statement as a Christian should be impermissible. We have trained our children, now adults, to never, ever utter these words. As a Christian, with all the promises of Christ—in a blessed nation with unspeakable freedoms—where does boredom come from?

Relax. In just a minute, we will navigate our way out of this sad state of mind, but first let’s establish the why and how of this spiritual sickness.

Perhaps you are bored because you are boring! That’s right—your life has nothing to show for it. Before pelting me with rocks, let me ask you a pointed question: What are you doing, or what have you done, for Jesus? Are you fulfilling any part of the Great Commission? Are you so boring that people avoid being in your presence? Is your life so eventless that you have no stories to tell?

The quickest way to take care of your mood is to find out why someone else is at a place of despair. That’s right; climb out of your pitiful pool and make a swan dive into someone else’s. Look around. You’ll find others are drowning. They’re cutting themselves over a relationship gone sour; they’re now considering suicide after receiving counsel from a nonbeliever; another could be wrapped in the web of pornography, alcoholism, false religion or drug addiction; and so goes on the endless list. You don’t have to look far and wide; many are right by your side.

Nowadays nobody wants anyone to invade their space. Switch that around! Why not welcome the invasion? Watch boredom flee as you help someone else be set free. Dive in! Begin swimming, helping and possibly saving someone from pointless self-destruction. Your bored life will quickly take on the character of a believer’s life of bounty, equipped with everything to help others.

My wife and I started our ministry by filling up our tiny Datsun pickup truck on Saturday mornings with neighborhood kids. Our desire was to flood their lost little lives with the gospel. Nobody paid us. Nobody really cared but God and the kids. There was one thing for certain: We had no time to be bored! This small, unnoticeable backyard ministry quickly spread to their families. No time to be bored! We began to help drug addicts and those in jails and prisons. No time to be bored! Later we moved to Costa Rica and learned Spanish. No time to be bored! Then we were on to church planting in Argentina, Chile, Spain, Russia and too many other unboring adventures to mention. Too many revival meetings to mention—some on street corners, others in churches, both big and small. No time to be bored!

Oh, did I mention casting out devils, praying for the sick, and taking care of widows and orphans in their affliction?

How about a ministry next door? All these will keep you unbored and full of future opportunities.

It all started from a little orange pickup truck with two ex-drug addicts who refused to live a boring life destined by the devil to be destroyed. The unbored story continues.

I hope you’ve dropped your rocks and joined with me in this exciting Christian life. Sure, there’ll be seasons of difficulties, times when life doesn’t go your way, but these will pass. Remember, Jesus promised us life in abundance (John 10:10).

At our Bible school graduation ceremony, the president, David Wilkerson, shared a message entitled “Thou Shalt Have Spells.” Wow! It was just what this young, green cadet needed. Now, with more than 35 years of ministry, I have leaned on that message hundreds of times. The devil has plenty of tricks in his nasty bag. He has all kinds of spells. He wants to bore you to death. What a way to spiritually die. Get back on board and refuse to be bored to death.

Evangelist Steve Hill preached the Brownsville Revival for five years, is pastor emeritus of Heartland World Ministries Church and has authored 13 books, including Spiritual Avalanche.