Lessons from a Lukewarm Church
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Lessons from a Lukewarm Church
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Introduction
One Sunday during service, Jesus walks into the church. As a church, we see Him and we walk up to Him to welcome Him. He pauses, looks around and says, “You nauseate me!” “You make me sick!” “When I see you I want to vomit!” Not exactly words of compliment and praise are they? Tragically, these are the very words spoken by Christ to His church in the city of Laodicea. Their spiritual condition was nauseating. It made Christ ill. Sadly, they were unaware of their true, spiritual status. They believed things were fine. But, Jesus says no. You are like the lukewarm, unfit drinking water that your city is infamous for. You are not like the cold refreshing springs of Colossae or the hot healing waters of Hierapolis. You are lukewarm and I will not stomach this. For this kind of church there is not a single word of praise. Not one. Only criticism and condemnation comes from the mouth of “The Amen, the faithful and true Witness”
No church should be happy with itself, satisfied with who or where it thinks it is. There are some churches who say, “Well, we may not be much, but we are the best God has.” It is always dangerous when we think we are something special to God. We should continually remind ourselves that we are nothing apart from Him. We, in our sin, are easily deceived. Our God does not need us. In reality, we all desperately need Him. We all need to pursue His glory. Like the previous 6 letters in , this letter follows a similar pattern. The difference: minus any word of praise. Their condition is critical but not terminal. Christ has the spiritual medicine and remedies for their healing if they will listen and act on Jesus’ advice.
“Why is it that new Christians create problems in the church?” a young pastor once asked a much seasoned pastor. “They don’t create problems,” the much season pastor replied. “They reveal them. The problems have always been there, but we’ve gotten used to them. New Christians are like children in the home: they tell the truth about things!”
The Laodicean church was blind to its own needs and unwilling to face the truth. Yet honesty is the beginning of true blessing, as we admit what we are, confess our sins, and receive from God all that we need. If we want God’s best for our lives and churches, we must be honest with God and let God be honest with us.
The Lord demonstrated three areas of need in the church at Laodicea that we can learn from.
1. They had lost their strength (vv. 16–17).
In the Christian life, there are three “spiritual temperatures”: a burning heart, on fire for God (), a cold heart (), and a lukewarm heart (). Lukewarm Christians are comfortable, complacent, and do not realize their need. This allusion to the Laodicean water supply is a fitting metaphor for the activities of this church. Laodicea had always had a problem with its water supply. The city of Hierapolis, to the northwest, was famous for its hot mineral springs. An aqueduct had been built to bring water to the city from the hot springs. But by the time the water reached the city, it was neither hot nor refreshingly cool—only lukewarm and filled with minerals (impure), so it tasted terrible. According to Christ, these believers were neither hot nor cold; instead, they were merely lukewarm, as bland as the lukewarm water that came into the city.
Many have thought that this cold and hot refers to spirituality—and that Christ would rather have “cold” people (without faith at all, or without any sort of growth) than “lukewarm” believers (who believe some). They take the word “cold” to be negative and “hot” to be positive, with “lukewarm” in between. Instead, both “cold” and “hot” should be taken as positive. Christ wished that the church had cold, refreshing purity or hot, therapeutic value, but it had neither.
We enjoy a beverage that is either hot or cold, but one that is lukewarm is flat and stale. That’s why waitresses keep adding hot coffee to our cups and refilling our cold water glasses. The second law of thermodynamics requires that a “closed system” eventually moderates so that no more energy is being produced. Unless something is added from the outside, the system decays and dies. That is why, for example without added fuel, the hot water in the boiler becomes cool; without electricity, the refrigerant in the freezer becomes warm. That is why the church cannot be a “closed system.” Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
). The Laodicean church was independent, self-satisfied, and secure. “We have need of nothing!” But all the while, their spiritual power had been decaying; their material wealth and glowing statistics were but shrouds hiding a rotting corpse.
. The Laodicean church was independent, self-satisfied, and secure. “We have need of nothing!” But all the while, their spiritual power had been decaying; their material wealth and glowing statistics were but shrouds hiding a rotting corpse.
2. They had lost their values (vv. 17–18a).
We read Rev. 2:9
9 “ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
that the church at Smyrna thought itself poor, when in reality it was really rich. The Laodiceans boasted that they were rich, when in fact they were poor. Perhaps we have here a hint of why this church declined spiritually: they had become proud of their ministry and had begun to measure things by human standards instead of by spiritual values.
It is unclear whether the Laodiceans were claiming spiritual or material wealth. They may have been materially rich and assuming that riches were a sign of God’s blessing on them. With their wealth came an attitude of self-sufficiency—feeling that they did not need a thing. They were materially secure and felt spiritually safe—with no need for further growth. Unfortunately, that attitude made them blind to their own true condition—wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
It is unclear whether the Laodiceans were claiming spiritual or material wealth. They may have been materially rich and assuming that riches were a sign of God’s blessing on them. With their wealth came an attitude of self-sufficiency—feeling that they did not need a thing. They were materially secure and felt spiritually safe—with no need for further growth. Unfortunately, that attitude made them blind to their own true condition—wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
To give you context, Laodicea was a wealthy city and a banking center. The city was proud of its cloth and dyeing industries. They had developed a black wool that had become famous all over the Roman Empire and was bringing huge prices. Although they had wealth in their clothing, they were naked before God. They were self-centered. But Christ told them to purchase white garments (his righteousness) from him so they would not be shamed by their nakedness. Perhaps some of the spirit of the marketplace crept into the church so that their values became twisted. Have you wondered why some churches these days boast the size of their congregation, how many services they have on Sunday, or the number of programs they offer? Are these the only things that are most important to God? The board at the Laodicean church could proudly show you the latest annual report with its impressive statistics; yet Jesus said He was about to vomit them out of His mouth! As a church, do we want to grow exponentially, but people’s lives are not transformed, or do we want our church to grow in spiritual maturity and yet the numbers grow at a slow, steady pace?
The solution that Jesus offers? Pay the price to get true “gold refined in the fire.” This suggests that the church needed some persecution; they were too comfortable “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed (
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
). Nothing makes God’s people examine their priorities faster than suffering!
Nothing makes God’s people examine their priorities faster than suffering!
3. They had lost their vision (v. 18b).
The Laodiceans were “blind.” They could not see reality. They were living in a fool’s paradise, proud of a church that was about to be rejected. Peter teaches that when a believer is not growing in the Lord, his spiritual vision is affected “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,
7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
).
These people could not see themselves as they really were. Nor could they see their Lord as He stood outside the door of the church. Nor could they see the open doors of opportunity. They were so wrapped up in building their own kingdom that they had become lukewarm in their concern for a lost world.
The solution that Jesus offers? Apply the heavenly eye ointment! Laodicea prided itself on a precious eye ointment that healed many eye problems, but its people were spiritually blind. Christ told them to get ointment from him to heal their eyes so they could see the truth. Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
. Christ was showing the Laodiceans that true value is not in material possessions but in a right relationship with God. Their possessions and achievements were valueless compared with the everlasting future of Christ’s Kingdom. The eye is one of the body’s most sensitive areas, and only God can “operate” on it and make it what it ought to be. As He did with the man , He might even irritate before He illuminates! But we must submit to His treatment, and then maintain good spiritual “health habits” so that our vision grows keener.
Christ was showing the Laodiceans that true value is not in material possessions but in a right relationship with God. Their possessions and achievements were valueless compared with the everlasting future of Christ’s Kingdom. The eye is one of the body’s most sensitive areas, and only God can “operate” on it and make it what it ought to be. As He did with the man , He might even irritate before He illuminates! But we must submit to His treatment, and then maintain good spiritual “health habits” so that our vision grows keener.
Even though it seems that all is lost with this church, Jesus gives them a second chance. The Lord closed this letter with three special statements:
First, an explanation: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline” (
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
). He still loved them, even though their love for Him had grown cold. He planned to punish them as proof of His love. “And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (). Sometimes God permits churches to go through times of trial so that they might become what He wants them to become.
Second, an exhortation: “So be earnest and repent”
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
. The church at Laodicea had to repent of their pride and humble themselves before the Lord. They had to “stir up that inner fire” and cultivate a burning heart.
. The church at Laodicea had to repent of their pride and humble themselves before the Lord. They had to “stir up that inner fire” and cultivate a burning heart.
Finally, an invitation (). 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. 21To 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 hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Christ was not impatient. “I have taken My stand” is the sense of the verb. He “knocks” through circumstances and He calls through His Word. For what is He appealing? Fellowship and communion, the people’s desire to accept in Him. The Laodiceans were an independent church that had need of nothing, but they were not following Christ nor drawing their power from Him. Christ knocked at the door of their hearts, but they were so busy enjoying worldly pleasures that they didn’t notice him trying to enter. The pleasures of this world—money, security, material possessions—can be dangerous because their temporary satisfaction can make people—even believers—indifferent to God’s offer of lasting satisfaction. They had a “successful program” but it was not fruit that comes from abiding in Christ. We need to understand that no matter how much we possess or how much money we make, we have nothing if we don’t have a vital relationship with Christ. We need to ask ourselves, how does out current level of wealth affect our spiritual desire. We need to focus our lives on finding the riches in Christ, instead of centering our lives on comfort and luxury.
When we invite Him in, the supper room becomes a throne room! This promise that everyone who is victorious will sit with Christ on his throne refers to the heavenly Kingdom. This promise is certain because Christ won that right for believers through his own victory on the cross.
Many have taken verse 20 as a help in evangelism, picturing Christ wanting to enter an individual’s heart. The context is actually Christ speaking to an entire church. The people in the church in Laodicea needed to accept Christ for the first time, for some of them had never made that commitment. Others needed to return to wholehearted faith in him. Christ is knocking on their door, desiring that the Laodicean church remember its need for him and open the door. He would come in and share a meal with the believers, picturing table fellowship. In Biblical fashion, this “eating” referred to the main meal of the day in which intimate friends would share together. Such a meal portrays the kind of fellowship that will exist in the coming Kingdom of the Messiah. The church needed to repent of its self-sufficiency and compromise and return to Christ.
Jesus continually knocks, but only we can open. Opening can be scary. This may be why Jesus says, “If you hear my voice … open the door.” We may hear the call (knock) of love, but it is powerless unless we open to its invasion. To open to love is to jeopardize our comfort zones. It is much more comfortable to stay safe behind our closed doors. To open to love is to endanger the entire false self we have constructed out of the world’s false values and perspectives. If we open, however, we experience the invasion of love. Christ comes in and nurtures us toward wholeness. He enters into the most intimate fellowship (eating) with us and we with him. It is the sacramental presence of Christ who cleanses us, liberates us, heals us, and nurtures us to wholeness in his own image.
Conclusion
The letters to the seven churches are God’s X rays, given to us so that we might examine our own lives and ministries. Judgment is going to come to this world, but it first begins at God’s house “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? (). In these letters we find encouragement as well as rebuke. Although a different message was addressed to each church, all the messages contain warnings and principles for everyone. Which letter speaks most directly to your church? Which has the greatest bearing on your own spiritual condition at this time? How will you respond? “The big question today is not “Is God speaking?” The really big question is, “Are you listening?” May the Lord help us to hear what the Spirit is saying today to the church, and to the individuals in the churches!