I’m certain that the Epicurean Church, usually in her finest element when discussing prime restaurants to indulge her gourmet as well as gourmand appetites, would wholly concur with this biblical statement of fact: lukewarmness is revolting!
To this end, the Church and her Christ would be in complete and perfect agreement. There’d be no avenue for splitting interpretative or prophetic hairs here and no scope for creating rival theological camps.
Clearly and simply stated, the Lord loathes lukewarmness!
Now, while the meek among us may politely tolerate a lukewarm beverage served to them, and (the uncompromising) demand an immediate refill, ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ (WWJD) is the response that should actually terrify our smug souls.
‘I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.’ Revelations 3:15-16
Jesus will vomit, spew, spit, hurl, puke, throw up, retch, upchuck and eject the lukewarm from His mouth. It cannot get clearer or more graphic than this.
Actually, this whole segment in Rev 3:14-22 had been churning in my spirit and each time I read it, fresh dismay would percolate at the many similarities between Laodicea and us.
It seemed as though Jesus had telescoped the Church of Singapore millennia down the road, and then written a very personal epistle to us.
This behooves us to ponder carefully.
If our present preoccupation with wealth, influence, and worldly success is the natural precursor to the lukewarmness that Jesus is going to vomit out, then what are we going to do about it?
If we’ve already crossed the line from being ‘in’ the world to becoming ‘of’ it as well, how do we remedy this dire situation?
If we had to search deep within our soul, would we honestly be able to say, without hesitation, that Jesus is all we need? Or will it be more like, Jesus++ is what we’d really like?
Much has already been written and taught about the cold springs from Colossae and the hot springs from Hieropolis which ultimately arrived ‘tepid and nauseous by the time it was piped to Laodicea’, so I’ll not belabour that point in this short blog.
What I want to focus on is, which spring do you and I represent, and are we functioning at our optimal temperature?
In Jesus’ water analogy to the Laodicean Church, did you ever conclude that He was elevating the hot over the cold? I used to think He commended the cold water only to make a contrasting point, but in actuality, He wanted us to be HOT for Him all the time.
I was sincerely wrong in my conclusion.
The fact is, both hot and cold springs had their own unique purpose and function to fulfill. It was only when they leaked, or allowed something else to seep in, that their particular essence or anointing was diluted, and the end product ultimately rejected.
The parallelism is clear. If you were created to be the cold spring water of refreshing and revival, then please be that. And if you were created to be the hot spring water of healing and comfort, then please be just that.
Know who you are in Christ, love Him wholeheartedly, abide in Him completely, and then diligently perform the works you’ve been anointed and appointed to do.
Don’t let the world and its many distractions and temptations veer you off the narrow and on to the broad path. Stick in your lane.
Be hot for Jesus. Be cold for Jesus. But please, don’t be lukewarm.
Then, when Jesus knocks on the door of your heart to dine with you, you can proudly invite Him in to enjoy some delicious hot food and a refreshingly cold drink.
That’s so much better than being spat out, is it not?
