The Overcomers--Revelation 3:15-16

Day 6

I think this prayer from a reader sums up how many of us feel about the upcoming election:

“Dear Lord be with this country in the days leading up to the election.  May we  accept the outcome  as your will.  Help us to remember that you are in control  and to trust you.  Amen  

A wise recognition that no matter who wins the election–the Lord is in control–and we will have to adjust accordingly.

So, again, half of the country will be whiny and miserable.  🙂

Another reader sent along a link to the Solemn Assembly on the National Mall in DC which happened yesterday.

The goal was to gather a million women (and men presumably) to “appeal to the Lord for mercy on our nation, and share hope for our future”.

Actually, I see now that A Million Women is an organization and that’s why in the video there doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to a million women at the mall event–so the goal to “gather A Million Women” is true.  Duh.  🙂

I’ve never participated in any kind of march or protest.  Not for or against anything.  I don’t like crowds much and I’m not much of a joiner–even if I wholeheartedly agree with whatever cause is being considered.

Is that me not taking a stand–for anything?

Does that make me a lukewarm Christian?

In The Overcomers:  God’s Vision For You to Thrive in an Age of Anxiety and Outrage, Matt Chandler explores the letters Jesus sent (through John) to the seven churches of Asia (present day Turkey) and one of the letters was addressed to the church in Laodicia–which is referenced in Revelation 3:

Revelation 3:15-16 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

I think this is the only place in the Bible that the word “lukewarm” is used.  (I didn’t do a word search for vomit, though).

In Jesus’ day, lukewarm water meant a miserable, slow death from whatever crap was in the water.  Cold water was likely from a spring and safe, hot water was boiled, probably and also safe. I don’t know if they knew the science behind all of this, but room temperature anything back then was shunned.

Jesus likens the Laodacians “lukewarmness” of faith to tepid, lukewarm, albeit DANGEROUS water.

Chandler writes:

“A faith that provides no healing or refreshment and is just there makes Him sick.  The believers in Laodicea had traded an intimate, loving relationship with Jesus for a respectful private faith with no worship for fuel or zeal for God’s heart.”

Would a Christian running hot with “zeal for God’s heart” be at a national march in DC?  I would think so.

But what about Christians, like Karen and I, who walked around the Myrtle Beach Greek Festival yesterday eating baklava instead of praying for atonement?

No zeal? Are we just lukewarm puke Christians?

Chandler continues:

“I find mild approval to be the most consistent form of Christianity almost everywhere I look.  This type of Christian gives lip service to Jesus.  There might be a Bible verse on their social media profile, but they attend church only semi-regularly and have little zeal for Him outside of a worship-gathering or conference.  They have no seriousness about holiness, little to no prayer life, and no love for His Word.”

Sometimes I feel like I know the Laodicians.  I could’ve been one of them.

No one I know does half-hearted, insincere, and self-indulgent like I can.

But looking at John Piper’s description of a lukewarm Christian in  Am I Lukewarm?, I don’t feel so convicted:

“The picture of the lukewarm person is a person in church who is self-satisfied: I am rich. I have prospered. I need nothing. I have arrived. And they are not desperate. They are not desperate. They don’t have a true view of themselves.”

I have been desperate.

With Karen’s surgery coming up at the end of this month, I feel little stabs of desperation daily.

The only way I’ve found to tamp those feelings down and scatter them is to pray for deliverance.

And like the Lord’s dominion over the upcoming election–let the Lord’s business be His.

I will be joyful and adjust accordingly.  🙂

Lord, forgive us for the times when we have been complacent, where we have allowed distractions or comfort to cool our zeal for You.  Help us be fervent in spirit and steadfast in our faith.

Lord, help us to be either hot–burning with desire to serve You–or cold–seeking refreshment from You, but never lukewarm or indifferent.

Amen.