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? 

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?” 

Legacy of a Lukewarm Life

You’ve probably heard about the guy that was asked, “What’s the greater problem, ignorance or apathy?” His response: “I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Many people today could say the same. If it doesn’t directly affect their lives, they have no interest. But is this as it should be?

Since I don’t know much about ignorance, I’ll focus on apathy – whether you care much about it or not. (Wink, wink.)

Despite the shouting, arguing and carryings-on we see and hear about in our society today, in reality we seem beset with an epidemic of apathy. We get this term from the Greek: “apathy” – “a” (without) and “pathos” (passion). We might get fired up about our favorite football team, whether we’re winning (“I love my team!”) or losing (“Fire the coach!”) But rarely does such passion spill over into our everyday lives and routines.

Sadly, this applies to too many who convene within the walls of what we commonly call “the church.” We sing the songs – or hymns, depending on how contemporary or traditional your congregation happens to be. Some raise hands, or sway, or shout “Amen” at appropriate times. There are those who even dance a bit in response to the music. But soon after exiting the doors and retreating to our real lives, the apathy – without passion – resets.

Imagine Jesus having to knock to receive
admittance into our hearts and homes.

This isn’t a new dilemma. In the book of Revelation, we read this listless, lethargic malady afflicted the ancient church. Addressing the church in the city of Laodicea, God says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one of the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:14-16).

Another translation says, “I will spew you out of my mouth.” I like that wording better. It pictures someone drinking or biting into something very distasteful and without hesitation, spewing it out, no matter where it happens to land. Like unpleasant food, or sour milk.

But “spewing” was the effect. The cause was the Laodicean church’s apathy, being “lukewarm” – neither cold nor hot toward things that matter to God. During worship services, or small group meetings, the men and women might have expressed their love and devotion to the Lord, but outside of those gatherings, it was hard to find evidence of Him at work in their lives.

“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Tough words – but apparently directed to a bunch of folks going through the motions, whose hearts weren’t really in it.

We hear about children coming from “Christian homes” that go to college or get out on their own and, before long, disavow the faith they once professed. There’s much to be said about this, but perhaps in many instances it’s largely because their families were “neither cold nor hot” toward Christ in an everyday sense. Biblical values and virtues got lip service, but weren’t lived out on a genuine, consistent basis. Maybe kids who later reject the faith are living out that legacy.

Why is this? Even though followers of Jesus are increasingly targets of antagonism in the U.S.A., we’ve not yet approached the levels of persecution believers face in other lands. It’s easy, therefore, to feel comfortable – complacent – in our faith, never needing to count the cost and take a bold stand that might bear serious consequences. We’ve grown apathetic, “lukewarm” toward God.

I’m one that doesn’t like lukewarm food and drink. I prefer ice-cold beverages, and if my meal at home cools off, I’m prone to stick it in the microwave and “nuke” it for 15-20 seconds until it’s hot again. God feels the same way about us. He doesn’t want us to grow cold toward Him, but neither is He satisfied with lukewarm belief.

In the same chapter of Revelation, we find a verse we typically apply it to those who haven’t yet made commitments to Jesus Christ. However, the context shows it’s directed to people who already claim to be members of His family. “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). I’ve seen paintings of this passage showing Jesus knocking on a door without an outside handle. Imagine Jesus needing to ask to be invited into our homes and our hearts?

How can we “heat up,” getting past lukewarm-ness? Sometimes it helps to hear someone tell a powerful story of what God has done in their life. We can read an inspiring book, or listen to heart-tugging spiritual music. But the best way is to spend time with the Lord in the Scriptures, as well as reflect on all He’s already performed in our lives.

The worst thing we can do is follow the example described in Psalm 78:9-11, which tells of, “The men of Ephraim, though armed with bows, turned back on the day of battle; they did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law. They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.” Let’s not be like them. Let’s say no to “lukewarm.”