Lukewarm

To the Church in Laodicea

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodiceawrite:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. ¹⁵ I know your deeds,that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.²⁰ 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 that person, and they with me.

²¹ To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.²² Whoever has ears, let them hearwhat the Spirit says to the churches.”

Reading this,  I am more convinced than ever of the razor sharp relevance of the letters to the churches for us now. Especially in the UK.

How long has the church been lukewarm and largely indifferent to the gospel?

Don't get me wrong,  there are plenty of passionate saints in the UK.  Without a doubt.  Some doing amazing things for God. There is much to be hopefull about.

But I am talking in broader terms than that.  I am talking about church culture.  Sacrifice is so far from us.  We are,  on the whole,  affluent,  comfortable and complacent.

As Keith Green used to say,  the church is sleepwalking in the light.

I believe,  unless we as a church are refined,  our Gold tested by fire, we remain in serious danger of being spat out.

The church is either lazy or fully complacent in the sinfulness of the world.  Taking on its terminology,  advancing it's agenda and drifting away from the mission of Loving one another and spreading the Gospel. And I believe,  unless we are repentant and returning to our first love,  we only have decline to look forward to. 

We have thought ourselves rich,  and not needing anything 

. In our own eyes,  content and smug. But in reality we are poor, blind and naked. 

So the coming times of uncertainty for us here in Britain offer us an actual hope. They offer us a chance of repentance.  A chance to put Jesus mission and honour at the heart of our priorities. 

Better to be spiritually rich than materially. 

Better to be able to see the danger and do something,  than it is to be happy but ignorant in our blindness. 

Better to be clothed in purity,  and have your shame covered,  than to be naked. 

Jesus rebukes the church for her lukewarmness and complacency but that is because he loves her (19). And those he loves,  he disciplines. 

Be earnest and repent,  we are told. 

Trust me,  the chance to repent is the greatest gift you can ever have. 

Remember, and shudder when you do,  Esau,  who was not granted repentance,  though he sought the blessing with tears. 

Let us repent of our lukewarmness, while we may. 

Be earnest and repent. 

To the one who is victorious through the hardest of times,  he will give the right to sit with him on his throne. 

If you hear his voice,  open the door.  He himself will enter in and eat with you. 

Amen.