Revelation 3:14-22
Have you ever been confronted
with something with such gravity that time seems to slow down as you consider
its magnitude? These types of things consume your thoughts and can sometimes be
life-changing events. We have all faced such things. Sometimes the circumstances
of life and the reality of what we face seem to affect us this way.
I
have spent many nights considering such events. From God’s call to ministry to
things that would affect my life forever, there have been a number of them. But
in spite of situations that seem overwhelming at times, the longest night I
ever spent was in early March of 2003. The specific day has faded from my
memory over the years, but I think it was the 8th. That was the
night that I came face to face with the reality that my walk with God was
lukewarm.
That
evening I was in my dorm room, in Dearborn Hall at Edinboro University of
Pennsylvania. I was there to study music, but I did all the things a good
Christian is “supposed” to do. I read my Bible every day and prayed before my
meals, but that was the extent of my Christian walk. I was involved in a lot of
activities and stayed pretty busy. I had every excuse in the world not to be
involved in God’s work. But that night, as I read the third chapter of
Revelation I confronted the words, “because you are lukewarm, and neither hot
nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” What would cause such a rejection
by God? Surely it must be the result of a terribly sinful life. But the very
next verse showed me that this is not the case. “For you say, I am rich, I have
prospered, and I need nothing…”
That
verse is a precise description of the way I was living. Everything was great. I
was in college pursuing what I wanted to do with my life. My goals were
beginning to fall into place and everything was going just as I had hoped.
There was nothing more I needed. But was this really true? Could I really go
about my business expecting God to bless my plans without any input on His
part? I fully expected to live that way, but that night the gravity of this
letter to the Laodicean church was more than I could bear. The words of God’s
rejection of this lifestyle, and His judgment on those who live this way became
overwhelming. I looked back at the opportunities I had been given over the
course of my short life. I had taken advantage of every chance to advance as I
studied and pursued a career in music, but I avoided situations where I could
serve God like the plague. I didn’t want to be bothered with them because they
did not fit my plan. As I considered these verses I began to wonder how many
lives were affected by my unwillingness to submit to God.
The
epitome of lukewarm living is not some terrible sin. It is not characterized by
pornography addictions, or abuse. It is simply a refusal to take part in God’s
work. It is when we are willing to wholeheartedly do everything but His work.
Sadly, I was not the only person who has ever lived this way. This Laodicean
attitude continues to affect the work of God’s church, and the lives of His
people today. Lillie McCutcheon commented on the situation, “The striking
comparison between Laodicea of Asia Minor and the Laodiceans of the twentieth
century is too close for comfort. Our materialistic world must learn that money
may buy houses, but not homes; science may produce medicines but not health;
nuclear weapons may exert power but fail to bring peace; religious formality
may salve the conscience, but only true salvation can save the soul.”[1]
Like the Laodiceans, we must learn that it is not the things of the world that
are worth pursuing, but the work of God.
Laodicea
was a wealthy city, known for the fine purple linen they made. It was also
known for its hot springs. These familiar springs are what Jesus used to relay
His message to the church. The springs burst up from the earth, but the water
had to be used close to its source. If it was carried back to the city it was
lukewarm by the time it was used. It began to smell of sulfur, and was
nauseating. It was better to use this water cold than lukewarm. Incidentally,
the risen Christ says the same thing of the Christian life. It is better to be
cold than to be lukewarm. He would rather we be hot, fired by a heart that
cannot be quenched in its love for Him, but even cold is better than lukewarm.
Unfortunately, if there is anything that characterizes the church in our day,
it is this Laodicean infection of lukewarm living for God. Many congregations
struggle to find teachers, volunteers, and people who are willing to take time
away from other pursuits to do the work of the church. As Diane Leclerc wrote,
“Christian pastors and teachers find themselves increasingly in the position of
the first-century apostles. Their task is not simply to convert pagans or to
indoctrinate converts. It is to Christianize the Church.”[2]
It
would seem to us that this lukewarm lifestyle would not be extremely
detrimental to the church, but Scripture teaches otherwise. Not only is it
unhealthy for the church, but it is a disease that will eventually drag our
spiritual life to an unexpected death. Consider the character of lukewarm
living:
Lukewarm
Is an Easy Way to Live
I
spent that long night in college considering the fact that I had consistently
raised the bar in the things I wanted to do. I pushed myself to be a better
musician every day. But my spiritual life had been the same for a long time. I
learned little, and seldom did anything new for God. I was comfortable, just
like the people in that first century church. I knew what the Bible said, but I
didn’t know what God was revealing through what it said. My lukewarm life
required no commitment to God’s word. I knew about a life of salvation in
theory, but did not live such a life.
There
are countless thousands of Christians today who claim a belief in God, but do
not live in light of His word. They are committed to the idea that God is there
to provide our needs, bless us and take us to heaven, but they seldom examine
their own lives against the Scriptures. This superficial mindset dominates the
lukewarm life. In a society that pushes us to raise the bar in our education,
at the workplace, and even in our sports and hobbies, the bar is seldom raised
in the Christian life. Children go to school and memorize multiplication tables
– among many other things – but we will not ask them to memorize the
Beatitudes, the 23rd Psalm, or the Ten Commandments. The fact is,
many adults don’t know these things. We don’t want to overload anyone, but have
no problem filling our lives with every other worldly activity we can find. In
our lukewarm state we never even stop to think what priorities we are modeling
to others.
As
we live lives consumed by the world, our Christianity slowly fades into
oblivion. It is not opposition or suppression that will kill Christianity in
this country, it is apathy. Consider the words of John Oswalt, “If Christianity
ever dies in North America, it will not be because a jack-booted commissar
steals it from us. Rather, it will be that we blithely let go of the realities
of our faith as we reach for the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life. Then when we are prodded by some pressure, be it political,
social, or ethical, our faith will be revealed as a husk, hardly worth the pain
to defend.”[3]
Ray Dunning commented further on our state of mind in the American church, “You
can take away our jobs, you can close down the churches, you may tear apart our
families – but don’t ever try to restrict the play time of Americans. Many
adults devote greater concentration and efforts to making the most of their
leisure hours than they commit to their productivity on the job. Our philosophy
and practices related to leisure activity explain much about American
perspectives on life, happiness and values…Little League games, soccer
competitions, and similar activities that take children and parents out of
church can weaken the witness and spirituality of a congregation.”[4]
The
Christian whose life is fully focused on leisure and enjoyment is one who was
described by the Apostle Paul as, “having the appearance of godliness, but
denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5). In our desire to live like the world and enjoy
all that it offers, we have forgotten the power of a life lived in light of
Scripture. We have been blinded to what God will do through prayer. Our minds
have been numbed to the power of heaven that God’s Kingdom brings to our lives.
Scripture
tells us that it is through trials that we see the character of our Christian
lives. In fact, we are told that trials are something in which we should
rejoice. A lukewarm life will not pursue the work of God if it costs something.
This life will not give up social activities, hobbies, or anything else to
carry out God’s call. This is an easy life to live, but it is hardly what
Scripture teaches us is a Christian life. The life I lived for so many years
was easy, but it did not draw me any closer to Christ. It gave me nothing
eternal.
Lukewarm
Living Is Rejected By Christ
The
Laodicean lifestyle was rejected by Christ because it does not provide an
accurate portrayal of His work in the world. The people of that church relied
on their riches and wealth. The relied on the things they produce, but not what
God wanted to provide. They did not model a reliance on prayer, or a dependence
on God’s power, but a desire to live up to the standards of the world. The
responsibility of the church is to show these things to the society around us,
but this cannot happen when we are lukewarm.
It
is the spirit-filled life that models the nature and work of Christ. This life
in the Spirit can never be lukewarm. It is the Spirit that lived in Jesus
Christ who inhabits our lives and overcomes our depravity by teaching us what
it means to love God with all our hearts. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “Do not
get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit”
(Eph. 5:18). A Spirit-filled life cannot be rejected by Christ, but in spite of
this fact many claim the infilling of the Spirit while living a life apathetic
to God and His purposes. Lukewarm Christian and Spirit-filled believers are two
mutually exclusive things. “Now if some are compelled by their doctrinal
positions to insist that the Laodicean Christians were actually full of the
Holy Spirit – because they insist that to be a Christian is automatically to be
filled with the Spirit – then what they are saying is this: Jesus was vomiting
Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled believers out of his mouth. If that’s the case
then lukewarmness means nothing and the words of Scripture become meaningless.”[5]
Not
only do the lukewarm fail to exemplify the work of Christ in the world, they do
not even show His work in their lives. Jesus told the church, “I counsel you to
buy from me gold refined by the fire…and white garments…and slave to anoint
your eyes…” Lukewarm living hides our purity in our efforts to look like the
world. It compromises our witness as we fail to stand for God’s truth. It
blinds us to the realities of the work God does through our faith. We trust
more in ourselves and the sin-cursed world in which we live than we do in God’s
power working through us.
The
fact is, Jesus wants us to live a life filled with His power. He wants to
display God’s glory to the world through you and I. He came so that we could
live as His sanctified, holy people. He sent us into the world to witness a
commitment to His truth. He wants to reveal the eternal mercy and love of God
through each of our lives as a victorious church marches boldly through this
world with hearts set ablaze for the work of Jesus Christ.
Lukewarm
Living Creates a False Sense of Security
In
my lukewarm days, I believed everything was alright. I thought I lived a normal
Christian life, but as Henry Blackaby wrote, “Christians can grow so accustomed
to spiritual barrenness that we no longer realize how desperately we need fresh
dewdrops.”[6] We
rely so much on the wealth and comfort of this world that we forget about the
power of heaven. Leonard Ravenhill reminded us, “The New Testament Church did
not depend on a moral majority, but rather on the holy minority. The Church
right now has more fashion than passion, is more pathetic than prophetic, is
more superficial than supernatural.”[7]
A
lukewarm life leads us to believe that we stand in the proper place when, in
reality, we have not grown closer to God at all. We lead ourselves to believe
that as long as we are content everything is alright while forgetting about the
glory that God has called us to show the world – His glory!
The
Old Testament teaches us that the glory of God followed the Ark of the
Covenant. When the Ark was brought to the temple the presence of God settled in
that place. As the years went on, the people became so accustomed to the
presence that they ceased to notice it. They came to believe that it was their
ritual and routine that displayed God’s glory. And when the glory left many
never even noticed! The Laodicean church did the same thing. “They did not have
enough piety nor zeal to cause them to do anything for the honor of Christ and
his cause, neither were they open enemies. They were merely lukewarm, insincere
friends, and, as such, were in a position to do the greatest harm.”[8]
The
Apostle Paul taught to the contrary. He wrote to the Ephesians that all glory
should be ascribed to God. “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly
than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him
be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever
and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:20, 21).
Lukewarm
Living Distorts Our Perception of Reality
We live our lives based on what we believe about
reality. When we are on fire for God, and actively seeking His will we see the
realities of His power. When we are lukewarm we see only the reality of the
temporal world. Jesus told the church, “you say, I am rich, I have prospered,
and I need nothing.” It is this attitude that leads us away from Christ. “The
lukewarmness of Laodicea is the worst condition to which a church can sink. It
is worse even than Sardis, where a glimmer of life remained. The only good
thing in Laodicea is the church’s thoroughly good opinion of herself – and that
is false.”[9]
Our word is never the final word. It is always against God’s word against which
our lives, our ideas, and our actions, and our commitment to Christ are
measured.
When
we assess the realities of our lives there are always things that we do not
know. Jesus pointed this out, “Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable,
poor, blind, and naked.” God sees things that we do not. When we walk in
relationship with Him these things are revealed to us. When we rely only on our
own understanding we make decisions that are not based on reality.
Pastors
generally receive complaints. Sometimes people voice them privately, and other
times they come up in public places. Scripture tells us that if we have an
issue with someone (including pastors) we should first go to that person. The
reason is because we do not know all the circumstances surrounding things. It
seem like complaints in the church often come from people who are involved in
the church work the least. They don’t know why decisions are made, or what
circumstances surround them, but they have no problem voicing them publicly.
The reason Jesus said to go to the person with whom you have the trouble first
is because it gives us a chance to better understand circumstances. It keeps us
from jumping to conclusions, or getting other people unsettled, before we know
the facts.
Lukewarm
lives tend to be lived based on a distorted reality. Facts are not necessary,
and perception is the driving force behind action. Those who hold a staunch
commitment to Christ will heed His word and obey His commands out of love for
Him, and for His work.
When
we look to the world for our reality, we find ourselves using worldly methods
to carry out the supernatural work of God. The reason a triumphant church can
never be lukewarm is because they understand that no worldly works will ever
adequately substitute for God’s heavenly power.
Lukewarm
Living Drowns Out the Voice of Jesus
The
church of Laodicea, like every other church of their day and this day, was
called to “hear what the Spirit says…” To hear
carries with it the implication to act on the call of the Spirit. We act on a
lot of things, but how often is it the voice of God’s Spirit? It is never
enough to simply hear the words, but we must understand how God is teaching us
to act. Failure to discern this leads us to say “amen” when we listen to
sermons but disregard them when we go to meetings. It leads us to weep over the
revelation of God’s word while ignoring our opportunities to apply it.
It
takes effort to discern the voice of the Spirit. The type of effort the
lukewarm are not willing to make. It takes fervent prayer, persistent study,
and discernment through consideration and meditation on Scripture. This is the
greatest hindrance to the lukewarm, they cannot hear the voice of the Spirit!
They do not hear the call of Christ as He knocks at the door of our hearts!
They hear only the countless voices of a sinful world as they vie for our
constant attention.
In
spite of all the things that draw our attention, Jesus Christ stands at the
door today, knocking and calling out to us. His Spirit longs for our attention
and commitment. God desires our love and waits patiently to show us His mercy
and grace, but we go on, day by day, consumed with worldly interests. We
acknowledge God in a token effort to ease our conscience and soothe our soul,
but peace and power will never result from lukewarm Christianity. It comes only
from a soul that burns to know God.
[1]
Lillie McCutcheon, The Symbols Speak
(28)
[2]
Diane Leclerc, Discovering Christian
Holiness (71)
[3]
John Oswalt, Where Are You, God? (24)
[4] H.
Ray Dunning, Abraham (110)
[5]
Jim Cymbala, Holy Spirit Rising (39)
[6]
Henry Blackaby, Fresh Encounter (5)
[7]
Leonard Ravenhill, Why Revival Tarries
(57)
[8]
F.G. Smith, The Revelation Explained
(66)
[9]
Michael Wilcock, The Message of
Revelation (57)
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