I once heard a speaker talk about how no one really enjoys lukewarm drinks. His point was that people prefer either a steaming cup coffee, a tall glass of iced tea, chilled soft drinks or hot chocolate. Solid, but he obviously never drank coffee all day long. I finish off a half cup of room temperature brew in the afternoon and enjoy the dregs. But perhaps I’m an outlier.

Lukewarm fares poorly when applied to our faith. Jesus spoke through John, castigating a church in Laodicea as they practiced an ambivalent form of Christianity:

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

The problem appears to be in their wealth. Expanding economic success drove a wedge between them and God. The phrase I need nothing tells us all we need to know. Faith in God felt necessary when struggling, but while flying high God became an afterthought. They hadn’t grown cold and left the faith, but merely allowed their faith to fade. They became Christmas & Easter Christians, going to church on special days, but living secular lives the rest of the year.

I’m guilty of the same. When life is easy, I attribute success to my talents and hard work. When things get tough, I turn to the Lord for help. I suppose it’s our human condition. But when I drift away during times of comfort, I’m like a man suffering from extreme hypothermia, peeling off my clothes and wandering deeper and deeper into a frigid wilderness.

While lukewarm might be comfortable, it certainly ain’t safe. Rather, it’s a precursor to disaster. I don’t want the Lord spewing me out like a rancid swallow of curdled milk. Christmas season makes for a good time to remember God’s work and ask him to turn up the heat. True wealth and prosperity lie only in Him, making lukewarm a condition to avoid.

Revelation 3:15-17

Photo by Izz R