Lukewarm Christianity

This is a lesson I taught on a Wednesday night at Rossville, and much of it comes from a book I read entitled Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes: Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible by E. Randolph Richards and Brandon J. O'Brien. It's an easy read, and chock-full of great information. You probably won't agree with everything it says, but it is an enlightening read. 

Part of our understanding of scriptures comes from our culture and what goes without being said for us. That can cause us to read something into a passage that isn't there or miss something that is there that would go without being said for first century Jews, Greeks, Romans, Schythians, Parthians, etc. As much as we study their cultures, we will never know their culture like they did. The best we can do is be aware of our cultural blinders and try to see through them. 

Let's begin by reading Revelation 3:15,16

"I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth."

Have any of you ever looked at this and were confused? It says there in plain 21st century American English that God would rather you be cold, completely lost,  than lukewarm and on your way to being on fire for him. That doesn't make sense. 

Part of that comes from our cultural blinders. For us, if you are cold to someone, you are emotionally detached or even rude. If you are warm to someone, you are emotionally connected and friendly. When you are looking for something and someone says that you are hotter or colder, hotter always means that you are getting closer to whatever it is that you are looking for, BUT would God rather we be completely lost than close to him? What about the people who are on their way? Would God really spew them out of his mouth?

This doesn't make sense because there is something we don't know that went without being said for the city of Laodicea. John/God used this analogy because it was something they would have immediately understood. It required no explanation. 

A few miles Northwest of Laodicea is the city of Hieropolis. Hieropolis was, and still is, known for its hot springs. You can see Hierapolos from Laodicea, and the mineral deposits look like ice cascading down the hill. They called them Pamukkale, which translates to "cotton castle". The hot springs were great to bathe in and were rumored to possess healing qualities. 

A few miles Southeast of Laodicea is the city of Colossae. Even though Colossae was not as important as Laodicea, it had one thing that Laodicea did not, a fresh, cold water spring. Any time of the year, Colossae had access to cold, clean water that was refreshing to drink and could cool you off on a hot day.  

Laodicea had no springs at all and had to get all of its water via aqueduct, but by the time it reached them, the water had lost the quality that had made it remarkable. They had no refrigeration or ice to cool it down. They could warm it over a fire, but that takes work. They probably just got used to drinking lukewarm water. They accepted it. What is wrong with Lukewarm water? Doesn't lukewarm coffee taste good? Don't you just love a lukewarm bath? It served no purpose, and it tasted terrible.  

God was not telling the church in Laodicea that he would rather them turn away from him completely. His meaning was clear to them. It didn't need explaining. Their discipleship was unremarkable. Their worship tasted bad to God as their water tasted bad to them. They served no Godly purpose. 

This makes me look at my church family, and I am confident that the letter to the Laodiceans could never be addressed to Rossville. We have so many things that we are involved in. There's the food pantry, inner city ministry, ladies ministry, widows ministry, bible classes, the youth group, VBS, and a couple of others. But God wants us to be useful collectively AND individually. This isn't just a pew to sit on 3 times a week. Get out there and be useful. Get involved in a ministry or, if you have scheduling conflicts like I often do, find something or someone that you care about and serve them. 

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16