Revelation 3:14-21 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”
How many of us are truly on fire, “hot” for the Father? Are you? Now… how many of us just answered that question by comparing ourselves to the world, instead of the church? And how many of us answered it by taking into account all of the “bad” things that we don’t do instead of good things that we do do?
I would like to propose a soul-searching time. The Word says to examine ourselves to see if we truly are in the faith. I believe that lukewarmness is running rampant in the church today… we must aggressively, strategically, and intentionally root it out from our own hearts and from the body of Christ if we are to have the impact we are supposed to have! Do you grow weary of seeing so little good in this world? Then let’s do something about it. Starting with you and me. I present you with a short profile of a lukewarm “Christian”. As we go through these characterizations, let’s be painfully honest with ourselves and give God room to convict, change, and mold us.
- - Lukewarm people attend church fairly regularly. After all, that is what “good Christian people” are supposed to do, so they go. Food for thought… the only place you will find the Scriptural “wolves in sheep’s clothing” is among sheep. Wolves don’t dress up like sheep when they’re with other wolves.
- - Lukewarm people give money to charity and the church as long as it doesn’t hurt their lifestyle. After all, God loves a cheerful giver, and this is what they can give while remaining cheerful about it. They won’t likely give up that daily coffee stop to support an overseas orphan… even though they may be able to support that same orphan from their excess.
- - Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin. They do, however, want to be saved from the penalty of their sin. Because they don’t really believe that what Jesus has to offer is really better than the pleasures of this life, they may continually visit the altar to ask for forgiveness while never really expecting or wanting to be delivered from the power of that sin.
- - Lukewarm people do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty. They ask themselves “How much must I do?” Instead of “How much can I do?” Avoiding guilt is important enough to cause them to read a chapter of the Word a day, give a tenth of their income, or volunteer one day a week. But because that much is enough to make them feel good, that’s where the doing good stops. Until hearing about someone else doing more makes them feel guilty again…
- - Lukewarm people love God, but they do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. Their heart is divided between God, whom they love because they should, and things, which they love because… well, because they just do… other people, because they’re so much fun, and any number of other things which vie for their attention. Their soul is God’s, they claim, despite the fact that their mind thinks of other things more. Their strength is used in building their own kingdom more often than the Kingdom of God.
- - Lukewarm people are moved, sometimes to tears, by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not do radical things themselves. That is for the “extreme” Christians. “Normal” Christians aren’t called to that kind of action.
- Lukewarm people gauge their morality, “goodness”, and even salvation, by comparing themselves to the secular world. Or, at the very highest, to Christian’s of similar commitment as they are. After all, if they compare themselves to the “radical” Christians, they would end up feeling guilty and have to do more to escape that feeling.
Is our faith real? It is a startling and terrifying possibility… that we are simply living a code passed down to us by our parents, riding the coattails of their faith because it is what we know. That we could be this engrained in a lifestyle not our own seems unthinkable. Yet I have seen dozens of young “Christian” adults suddenly realize that they were living a life dictated by what others thought. That that life happened to be a Christian one seemed like a good thing… until they realized that it is impossible to live a Christian life that is not your own. It is simply not real.
The simplicity of the Gospel has certainly not been lost in the church today. My concern is that the depth of it has. The seriousness of our commitment to Christ is smothered in messages of forgiveness, grace, and faith… these are wonderful necessities of course, but are never seen alone. They are present in a life of true Christianity, along with sacrifice, hardship, commitment, and perseverance. Where there is heat, where there is fire… there! There is forgiveness, grace, and faith!
That fading depth is seen clearly in light of the scriptural teaching of two specific things; discipleship and covenant. Those two topics will be what I address next. I will be using notes from the teachings of a couple of specially gifted women I have sat under in Bible studies and retreats, Kay Arthur and Jen Hatmaker. Please feel free to pass on through email, facebook, twitter, or any other means the things which speak to you.
Note: I want to credit many of my notes to both Francis Chan (Author of Crazy Love) and my husband, who compiled notes of his own for teaching he has done in the past.
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