359 of 365 - Lukewarm

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write… 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 3:14-16

Of all the letters to the churches, the one to Laodicea often seems to hit closest to home in our culture today. There is no middle ground in God’s Kingdom…no fence-straddling is permitted. Jesus isn’t just disappointed with our lack of wholeheartedness, He says He will reject it.

In his book, Crazy Love, Francis Chan says too many of us are “lukewarm and loving it.” He summarizes the lukewarm Christian today as having the following traits:

• Attend church fairly regularly. It is what is expected of them, what they believe “good Christians” do, so they go.
• Give money to charity and to the church… as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living
• Desire to fit in both at church and outside of church; they care more about what people think of their actions than what God thinks of their hearts and lives.
• Don’t really want to turn away from or be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.
• Are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ – things Jesus calls His followers to do – yet they do not act.
• Rarely share their faith with their neighbors, coworkers, or friends.
• Gauge their morality or “goodness” by comparing themselves to the world around them. They feel satisfied that they are nowhere as horrible as the guy down the street.
• Do not live by faith, instead structure their lives so they don’t have to. They give God a section of their time, money, thoughts, but He isn’t allowed to control their lives.
• Love God and others, but neither as much as they love themselves.

​Question: Which lukewarm traits resonate most with you? What changes can you make today?