Soon many people will have to stop being lukewarm believers. It will be a time of choosing what side of the fence you want to be on. Middle ground will no longer be acceptable.
When my children were smaller they loved the movie “Harry Potter,” And while many Christians see this movie as promoting witchcraft. This movie has some pretty good lessons about life. One of my favorites lines the movie was when Albus Dumbledore says was “Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what it right. I believe this is the time to choose which path you want to be on and go for it.
In Revelation 3:15-16 Jesus says, “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..”
With these words, Jesus gave both a frightening threat and an appeal. And though it was originally directed to one group of believers, the principle behind it applies to every believer.
When I was young in my faith, I didn’t really understand the consequences of being lukewarm. Now I see how my spiritual “temperature” can affect not only me, but people I come in contact with.
The Webster’s dictionary defines lukewarm as ‘moderately warm or tepid; lacking conviction or being half-hearted.‘ The synonyms for the word are also revealing: dull, apathetic, and moderate.
When our faith is described this way, it means a kind of angst or doldrums has set into our spirit about the things of God. We begin not to have eagerness to be in His Word or look forward as much to fellowship with other believers. Our prayer time can feel stale and routine. And we lose our passion for obeying God’s laws.
I see this lukewarm temperature every where I look in society. And it’s being more and more pronounced.
Being lukewarm in our faith is a red flag signaling that our hearts are not where they should be. In fact, God makes a strong statement about those who go down this path in the Old Testament book of Isaiah.
“The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught” – Isaiah 29:13
The passage is an attempt by Jesus to get the attention of the Laodicean church’s congregation. And He made several points about having lukewarm faith. Some bible scholars say that the Laodicean church mentioned in Revelation is the church age of today.
Lukewarm faith limits the impact we can have for God.
People of Jesus’s day understood that lukewarm water was not a pure as either cold or hot water. It was stagnant, less healthy and not as useful. Jesus was saying that those who settle for less than full devotion to God will end up listless, even idle.
Lukewarm faith leads us to rule our own lives.
If we are devoted to the Lord,we become aligned with Him. If we stand against Him, we can be persuaded to turn towards Him. But Jesus claimed that tepid Faith leaves somewhere in the middle -halfway seeking God, and halfway trying to hold on to control of our own lives. And we end up with a compromised form of Christianity.
Lukewarm faith leaves us and others deceived.
When believers are either fully for or fully against Jesus, they are usually honest to themselves and others about where they stand-no pretending or hiding. But when believers are apathetic, they consider themselves to be more God-centered than they really are. Those around them can become fooled as well.
Jesus also stated the consequences for believers who are or become lukewarm:
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father Whois in heaven. Many will say tome on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers” – Matthew 7:21-23.
Scripture tells us that Christians have a part in helping the Kingdom grow. To do that, we are to be set apart from the rest of the culture around us. When the world sees we live and carry ourselves differently, they will wonder why. Then we get a chance to show them love and share the gospel.
But those who are lukewarm aren’t effective witnesses for Christ because they don’t stand out. Since it truly is a heart attitude, a tepid faith may not be visible right away. But it reveals itself as time goes on in our priorities, choices and how we behave towards the things of God.
Many people begin their faith walk with fervor, but lose it over time. Some can seem excited about being a follower of Jesus during church services, but let that passion fade as they navigate their daily life through the week. Others decide they will only read certain parts of the Bible, or resist going where God wants to lead them.
When our faith walk feels dull, becoming more aware can help us back to a more passionate place. By taking some time to do a kind of “spiritual inventory,, we can gain clarity about any ways our faith has cooled down.
Ask yourself some questions:
- Is God first in my life?
- Am I trying to please God or other people?
- Do I accept all of God’s Word, or just parts of it?
- How often do I read and study my Bible?
- Do I talk about Christ to others during the week?
- Am I stuck in any habitual sins?
Our responsibilities going forward include staying faithful in prayer. And keeping active, whether in our church disciplines, like doing a Bible study and fellowship, or going out and doing some good works. It’s important to understand that we are no saved by good works, but if your a believer you will want to do them. Having others to keep us accountable and offering to do that for them builds a spiritual support system. I go to a weekly prayer meeting and the people who come has become my accountability group. We hold each other accountable so we have a close support system. You could do this with a weekly bible study as well. Any group that can build each other up and keep each other on track of what we are doing for Christ.
From Pity to Praise 