A LUKEWARM dilemma

The Peculiar Disconnect In The American Church

BY MIKE MAZYCK

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Origin of the creation of God, says this: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:14–16)

Let’s summarize: God just told the church at Laodicea that He has taken the temperature of their hearts, and they are in grave danger. He’s telling them they make Him nauseous. Their version of Christianity made Him want to puke them out of His mouth. Their moderate, somewhere in the middle, response to the message of the Gospel disgusted Him. And He is warning them in the most serious way possible.

But what goes through your mind when you read those words? Do you, like many, fi nd yourself wondering; These words were written to His “church” at Laodicea, yet they will be vomited out of His mouth. How could this be so? What does this really mean? Surely, He isn’t telling His “church” they are in danger of Hell!

Maybe you say to yourself; These words were written to those Laodiceans two thousand years ago; they don’t apply to us today!

Or maybe this popular thought crosses your mind; These words must have come from the Father – that God of the Old Testament that was full of wrath and fury! They could not have come from my New Testament Jesus, the gentle and tender one, who is always longing for His children to come snuggle up in His lap. My loving New Testament Jesus will certainly keep me from this divine threat. I would like to address a few of these things…

One, it is clear from the Scriptures, and especially from the words of Jesus, that there is a visible church and an invisible church! The visible church is made up of all who profess to believe in Jesus. It’s made up of the wheat and the tares. (Matthew 13:24-30,36-43) They all profess His name… but many have deceived themselves. (Matthew 7:21-23) The invisible church is made up of only the true believers — the wheat! The fact that this passage is addressed to the “church” at Laodicea, in no way guarantees He is speaking to true believers!

Two, while it is my belief that He is speaking to a church full of false converts (tares), and that by using the word “vomit”, He is clearly speaking of everlasting damnation, I also know there are some theologians who would disagree with that position. Regardless of where one may stand on that topic though, there is one thing I believe we can all agree upon; This verse contains a threat! A divine threat! And due to the graphic imagery He used to illustrate that threat, we can only assume that it is extremely serious!

Three, the context is clear and obvious to any reader; These words came from the mouth of our New Testament Jesus — the soft and cuddly one!

Lastly, does this passage have application to our church today? Could He be speaking to us? To you? Or was this letter, that was sovereignly chosen to be included within the pages of Scripture, to be read by all believers for ages to come, only for those members of the Laodicean church two thousand years ago? I believe Jesus answered this question best in the very last sentence of this exact letter to the Laodiceans; “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:22)

But here is where things begin to get interesting. When I speak to Christians about this passage of Scripture, and the graphic threat it contains, they all tend to agree that it does in fact have application to us today. But they don’t stop there. When I ask the logical follow up question: Do you believe that our church — the one in America — is lukewarm? Do you know what their response is? Likely the same as yours would be: Yes, I do! I have yet to ask any professing Christian that question who has not responded by affi rming that the church in America is lukewarm!

Could this really be true? My friend, if I am understanding these words in Revelation correctly, then I fi nd this to be an astounding, and terrifying, indictment! The implications of such an accusation should surely drive us to a deep and sobering reflection; We are talking about the ones sitting next to us in church; our friends — our family!

But now I’d like to make a bold assumption; If all these same Christians — the ones who accuse our current church in America of being lukewarm — were gathered in one church building on Sunday morning, and the preacher had the audacity to ask the question; “Do you believe you are lukewarm?” I’ve come to the conclusion there would be very few who would say to themselves; Yes, I am lukewarm!

Do you see the peculiar disconnect? If the assumption I am making is true, then something must be wrong. If the vast majority of professing Christians in America believe the church is lukewarm, yet most of those same believers do not believe themselves to be lukewarm, there is a problem. Either they have made an incorrect assessment of the church, or they have made an incorrect assessment of themselves! I pray, for their sake, it is not the latter.

You may ask, “Mike, why do you assume they don’t believe they are lukewarm?” That is a fair question, and I will give you, my answer.

I’ve come to this conclusion for a very simple reason; I see no great concern in them. When I bring up this passage, and that word, lukewarm , and the state of our church, I see no signs of great distress. There is no fear or trembling. I look in their eyes. I see no tears. There is no anxiety and worry on the countenance of their face. I listen to their words. I hear the tone of their voice. Their response is casual and peaceful; With a bit of disappointment on their face, and a slight raising of the eyebrow, they give a nod of affi rmation that the church in America is indeed lukewarm — and then it’s on to the next topic of conversation.

Based on their response, I see only two options: They are either a fool who does not take seriously the threat being made by these graphic words of Jesus, or they do not believe they are in danger; they do not believe they are lukewarm. Based on the two options available, I choose to extend the same grace I would hope to receive and refuse to label them a fool. I choose to believe they have examined themselves and passed the test. Praise God!... if they have examined well!

What do you think about this passage? What do you think about the state of the church in America? What were the results of your own examination? Scan the QR code and leave me a comment on this article to let me know.

MikeMazyck.com

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