Before January first came around this year, I felt being pulled to lay aside anything that could be a distraction in my life. Instead of giving my attention and energy to unimportant little things that can be nothing but timewasters if we let them, I have been purposefully taking time to get still and quiet so that I can really hear from God.

He speaks to me the loudest through His Word, books, music, and quiet time alone with Him in nature. He’s been putting His finger on a some things in my personal life that have been holding me back from closest intimacy with Him, and from achieving the things He created me to achieve in both the secular and church world.

Lukewarmness is yet again one of the areas He’s shown me has creeped into my life. And it’s a HUGE problem. His Word says it doesn’t just bother Him, it makes Him want to spew even His own people out of His mouth. That is a such a harsh reality to admit I could be one of those He’s refering to in Reveletion 3:16 when He plainly says: “So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

There’s no wondering what He meant in that verse. So, yesterday, I really got nailed with one of my own blogs I had written back in March of 2008. Here’s how it read:

I read this quote at the beginning chapter of “Profile of The Lukewarm” in the book “Crazy Love” the other night and it stopped me dead in my tracks.

Here are some thoughts that what I read caused me to ponder in my own life. Maybe you’ll recognize yourself in some of these too:

• Has my relationship with God actually changed the way I live?
• Am I satisfied with being “good enough” or looking good in comparison to others?
• Am I more concerned with having a balanced life that I can control and that is safe? Or am I willing to be uncomfortable or even suffer for the cause of Christ?
• Am I totally in love and obsessed with Jesus? Or do the words, half-hearted, lukewarm, or partially committed fit better?
• Am I serving left overs to a holy God? Leftovers of my time, energy, money, worship, ect.
• Am I willing to make changes and decisions in my life that seem totally senseless and even irresponsible to others around me, maybe even family members to follow Christ?
• Am I filling myself up with other things and then giving what’s left to God?
• Am I a crazy in love, passionate, our of my mind follower of Christ? Or am I just a good person that believes in and has accepted Christ, and goes to church on Sundays to fulfill a moral and spiritual obligation to ease my own conscience, and not tick God off?
• Do I long for the next time I can spend time in the presence of God? Or do I see it as a chore or an obligation to fulfill to read a few chapters here and there when I can find the extra time?
• Have I bought into the lie than unless I am actively pursuing God and following Him, I’m not really being swept downstream at breakneck speed?

We are on a never-ending downward escalator. In order to grow, we have to turn around and sprint up the escalator, putting up with perturbed looks from everyone else who is gradually moving downward. If we’re not constantly growing, evolving and changing, we’re dying. There is no middle ground. There is no place for lukewarm when we call ourselves followers of Christ.

Revelation 3:15-18 says; I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm- neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

That pretty much means that there is really no such thing as a true follower of Christ that is lukewarm. Those kinds of religious wantabees”, are even more abhorrent to God than the worst of sinners. Basically, lukewarm “Christians” make God want to the throw up. And I don’t think people that make God want to throw up will be welcome at God’s banqueting table, spending the rest of eternity with Him.

The raw reality of this is, I believe there will be alot of people that “got their fire insurance” and had an emotional experience one time when they were 12 by making a profession of faith, that will simply be shocked when they open their eyes one day and the gates before them aren’t the pearly ones, and St. Peter isn’t the one inviting them in to the joy of their Lord.

You either do or don’t serve a God that wants all or nothing. Quite frankly doesn’t NEED any of us. And certainly doesn’t need our leftovers.

It’s time for the church (yes, I said the church) to stop standing in the way of the message and the power of the gospel by parading around in our lukewarmness and allowing HIS message of salvation to be watered down by our attempts to never be seen as the “religious crowd”.

If we can’t burn for God, then for the sake of all that is holy and upright, we need to sit down and shut up with our lukewarm, stagnated, stinking selves or we need to repent before a righteous God and relight our torch so it can burn HOT for Him, without compromise.

Because lukewarm will just never do.
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So after reading this post over and over again, my own spirit cringes from the rawness of truth written here. But ya know, all I can say is, It’s tight…..but it’s right. I’m thankful that when I start to let the awful state of lukewarmness and compromise creep back into my own life, I have a daddy who loves me enough to put His finger on it and say, “Get it outa there.” So that I can repent and be nearer to Him again.

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