Nothing Cool About Being Lukewarm

Have you ever experienced trying to eat a bowl of ice cream after it’s been sitting out at room temperature for a while? Who likes soupy ice cream that has lost its “cool refresher” properties? Definitely not the remedy for a hot day.

 

How about going to a restaurant for an eagerly anticipated meal and being disappointed to discover that when the food’s served, it’s barely warm? You’re tempted to spit it out of your mouth. I don’t know about you, but I like my cold food and drinks cold, and hot food and drinks hot. Not lukewarm or barely chilled.

 

'Jesus Knocking on the Door'
by William Holman Hunt

It’s the same with relationships. Ideally the time we spend with our loved ones is characterized by enthusiasm. We enjoy being together. We don’t have to feel excitement all the time – that’s unrealistic – but should look forward to hanging out with one another. It can be disheartening for a parent to return from a long business trip and instead of a warm ’welcome back!’ from spouse and kids, to receive nothing more than a collective shrug. Someone even coined the term, “Meh.”

This can be problematic from a spiritual perspective as well. During my young adult years, I attended church, but it didn’t take a lot of persuasion or rationalizing for me to skip a Sunday. I believed in God, but my religious practices were little more than routines or rituals, hardly devotion. And during the week you would have been hard-pressed to discern any spiritual convictions based on how I conducted my life. My “faith,” if I could have called it that, was lukewarm at best.

 

We find this kind of attitude vividly illustrated in Revelation, the final book of the Bible’s New Testament. The apostle John was instructed to write letters of both commendation and rebuke to major churches in the province of Asia. Among them was the church in the city of Laodicea. 

 

Unlike other assemblies of believers that were commended for their commitment to the Lord, the Laodiceans received no figurative pats on the back. Instead, speaking through John, God chastised them: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of My mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16).

 

These folks were “lukewarm – neither hot nor cold.” They didn’t offer strong opposition, but neither did they exhibit a zealous commitment to the Lord. If charged with being followers of Jesus Christ there probably wouldn’t have been enough evidence to convict them.

 

Sadly, 2,000 years later things haven’t changed much. Many churches are filled with individuals going through the motions, half-hearted in their convictions, impatiently waiting for the worship service to end so they can get on with their lives. Is it any wonder that despite the high percentage of people categorizing themselves as “Christians,” the impact of biblical values and principles in our nation has been low?

 

Reading further in the brief passage directed toward the Laodiceans, there’s some encouraging news. After this stern reproof, the lukewarm believers were given a compassionate admonition: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent” (Revelation 3:19). The love and kindness God extends toward His children – even wayward, complacent ones – are limitless. He longs for us to return to Him, using discipline when needed to correct us and regain our attention. He doesn’t want to spit us out of His mouth.

 

Toward the end of this message, we find words that many of us have heard applied to evangelizing non-believers. However, the context clearly indicates it’s directed primarily toward tepid believers who have closed the Lord off from their lives. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

 

This evokes the image of Jesus Christ standing outside a door waiting to be invited inside. There are even numerous paintings of this scene, some depicting Him rapping on a door having no outside handle. If the door is to open, it will have to be opened from the inside.

 

In my case, the Lord kept knocking on my heart’s door for years before I came to a clear understanding of my sinfulness and need for His forgiveness and redemption. I can’t point to a specific day and hour when I came to saving faith in Christ but can recall a time when I knew that I knew that I knew – no more doubts – that I was a child of God, eternally secure in my relationship with Him. As Jesus said, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out” (John 6:37).

 

It's never a bad thing to reassess where we stand with Jesus. Have we invited Him to stay, to have continual fellowship with us, or is He still knocking at the door of our hearts while we settle for a casual, lukewarm existence? 

WWJW: What Would Jesus Write?

Remember years ago, when WWJD was the craze? Books were written, sermons given, T-shirts printed, and bracelets produced with those letters that represented the question, “What Would Jesus Do?” People responded with a wide variety of answers. Some were drawn from what the Bible teaches, others were shaped primarily by, “Well, if I were Jesus, here’s what I would do….”

 

Not wanting to revive that fad, or spark another for that matter, but I’m thinking there’s a similar question worth considering: What Would Jesus Write?

 

You might be thinking, “Whaddya mean?” Before offering my explanation, first I must give credit where it’s due. This idea was sparked while listening to Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth’s “Revive Our Hearts” radio program. 

She was wrapping up a series on the book of Revelation, which includes letters the Lord directed the apostle John to write to seven churches in Asia Minor. John was instructed, “To the church in Ephesus write…,” and then to Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. As with the rest of the Bible, God used human hands to record His thoughts, teachings, and commandments.

 

However, the Scriptures recount one occasion when Jesus paused to write literally, although it’s up for debate what He actually wrote. It happened after Jewish teachers of the law and Pharisees had caught a woman in the act of adultery. They brought her to Jesus, asking Him, “In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (John 8:3-5). 

 

Why did they do this? Feeling threatened by His growing following and fearful that He would usurp their authority, they were hoping to trap Jesus, using His response to discredit Him and His teachings.

 

Rather than giving an oral answer, however, Jesus did something they didn’t expect: “…But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. When they kept questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first…” (John 8:6-9).

 

What a curious thing to do when confronted by hostile accusers, right? Granted, no one knows for certain what Jesus wrote in the dirt, but here’s a conjecture: Perhaps He was jotting down sins each of the religious leaders was guilty of committing. Being God incarnate, Jesus might even have written so that every one of them saw their own sins exposed. I don’t know, but maybe?

 

We do know the Lord is fond of the written word. He inspired and guided the writing of the Scriptures, commonly referred to as the Word of God. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

 

The Gospel of John opens by declaring, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:2). Expanding on this, Hebrews 1:3 tells us, "The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” Jesus Christ, the Word of God in the flesh, is incomparable in using words to communicate His truth.

 

Then we have Hebrews 4:12 which asserts, “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Again, we see how God uses the written word to convey His eternal, life-changing message.

 

Getting back to Revelation and the letters to the seven ancient churches, to each one God stated, “I know your deeds,” or “I know your afflictions and your poverty,” or “I know where you live.” The Lord is saying He knows each one personally and intimately. For most of them, then came words of encouragement, followed by a warning or an admonition.

 

The exception, expressed in what God directed John to write to the church in Laodicea, were these strong words of condemnation: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot…. So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15-16).

 

How would you like the Lord to write that – or something similar – about you? Not me! Professing believers in Laodicea weren’t zealous for God, but neither were they intentionally rejecting Him. They were, in a single word, apathetic. That’s the worst condition of all; they thought well of themselves but were indifferent to the Lord they claimed to believe in.

 

Still, God was not ready to wash His hands of them. He closed His letter to them by declaring, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am: I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

 

Many of us are familiar with the “I stand at the door and knock” statement. It’s often viewed as an evangelistic invitation. However, the context shows Jesus is speaking to His church, people who would have answered affirmatively to the term “Christian.” Yet they were lukewarm toward Him. In the slang of today, their reaction would be, “Meh,” accompanied by a shrug.

Let’s bring this home by asking ourselves, ‘WWJW: What Would Jesus Write’ about each of us? Might be a tough question to consider. But it’s one we should ponder and pray about, asking the Lord what He would write about us right now. 

Present, Prominent, or Preeminent?

Courtship, to use an old-fashioned term, can be an intriguing process. Boy meets girl, they look into each other’s eyes and sense a strong connection. So, they go out on a date for the first time, to get acquainted and see if there’s “chemistry.” At that moment we could say they are “present” in one another’s lives.

 

They agree to move to stage 2, which involves going out together on a regular basis. If they continue to enjoy one another’s company, they may decide to make the other person “prominent,” even though there’s no formalized commitment. They can still see others if they wish, but are moving toward becoming a “couple.”

 

In stage 3, things get serious. They become exclusive to one another, perhaps become engaged, and when they feel the time’s right, exchange “I do’s” and marry, hopefully to begin what will become a lifelong journey together. At this point they’ve shifted from prominent to “preeminent,” seeing each other as the one and only, fully committed to each other.

 

This serves as a simple metaphor for the kind of relationships people have with God – present, prominent, and preeminent. It’s not always easy to identify which of these three stages others are in; we might even struggle to discern in which we ourselves fit. But I’d like to offer some observations to at least give us something to think about. The Bible has much to say about this, but the examples of three churches described in the book of Revelation might be especially instructive.

 

For many people, God is present. They believe in him, at least in an intellectual sense. They might be “C and E’ers,” going to services every Christmas and Easter without fail. Or they may attend church with some consistency, aiming to give the Lord an hour or two of their time as often as is convenient. The rest of the time, however, they may or may not look and act as if they believe in Him at all.

 

That described me for the first 30-plus years of my life. Unless I could think of something better to do, or if I was too tired from the night before, I’d show up, figuratively punching my attendance card. Then after an hour or two, I’d walk out the doors back into “the real world” where I felt I was pretty much on my own.

 

The ancient church in the city of Laodicea, addressed in Revelation 3:15-16, might fit this category: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Not a very flattering description. God doesn’t much like complacent, apathetic people.

 

Far fewer people have a relationship with God in which He is prominent. For them, this might involve aiming to attend church on a weekly basis, or even more often. They might also participate in prayer meetings or Bible studies. For them, worshipping the Lord is a significant part of their lives. One important question for them is, what role does God play in their lives when they’re not in religious gatherings?

 

For an example of this, we can consider the church at Ephesus, described in Revelation 2:3-5, where God declares, “You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you. You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.”

 

At first glance, we might think the folks in the Ephesian church weren’t doing too badly. They had persevered, clung to their faith despite unspecified hardships. But then come the crushing words, “You have forsaken your first love.” Maybe early on they were filled with zeal, but over time other concerns and interests had captured their attention, relegating Jesus Christ to second place – or lower – in their lives. Kind of the way some folks are after the honeymoon stage of marriage.

 

Then there is the last group of Christ followers, ones we could classify as making the Lord preeminent in their lives. There are many ways of looking at this. For some it means answering a call to full-time vocational ministry, such as pastors, worship leaders, missionaries, or parachurch ministry. But it doesn’t necessarily require such a step. 

 

I’ve known many people of incredibly strong, unwavering faith who lived for Him in the so-called “secular world.” They understand that from God’s perspective, there’s no distinction between sacred and secular. As His followers, we’re all called to serve Him, not just on Sundays but seven days a week, 24 hours a day. “Full-time Christian service” can apply no matter where we work or live.

 

Meeting this description, it seems, was the ancient Greek church in Philadelphia. God says in Revelation 3:8-10, “I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you and open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name…. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.”

 

Present. Prominent. Preeminent. Three very different types of relationship with the Lord. The question for each of us is simple: “Which one describes mine?”