Colleen Orchanian

A few blog posts ago, I talked about the letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. One of the letters was to Laodicea, who Jesus said was lukewarm. The most frequent comment I heard from people who read or listened to that episode was – I wonder if I’m lukewarm. And that made me want to dig a little deeper into what that word means because in every case, the people who wondered if they were lukewarm were not. So why do we sometimes accuse ourselves and what exactly does it mean to be lukewarm?

I’ll start with the text of Revelation 3:15-20, the letter to the church in Laodicea.

I know your work: you are neither cold nor hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me.

Given that passage, what does it mean to be lukewarm? Many of us – maybe most of us – have to admit that there are times when we are spiritually lazy. We watch an hour of TV when we could be reading a spiritual book. We scroll through social media when we should be spending time in prayer. We fail to do an act of charity because we just don’t feel like it at the moment. Each of these faults – by themselves – doesn’t mean that we are lukewarm. We may be weak and lacking in willpower, but we are not necessarily lukewarm.

The rebuke to the people of Laodicea was that they thought they were doing great when they were blind. Life was good, they had everything they needed – or so they thought. But they didn’t have God and that wasn’t a concern for them. They were living their lives as if God didn’t exist even though they claimed to believe. It was chronic lukewarmness.

So my friends who worried that they were lukewarm are not like the Laodiceans. They want more of God. They know how important that relationship is. They aren’t lukewarm – just normal.

So who is lukewarm? Jesus gives a few hints in some of his teachings.

In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus says, Not everyone who says Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of Heaven. Only those who do the will of my Father.

In Luke 13:22-30, Jesus tells a parable about the narrow door. He tells us that some will knock and say, We ate in your presence and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know where you come from; depart from me.

In Matthew 25:12, Jesus tells the parable of the Wise and Foolish virgins. They ask him to open the door and he says, I do not know you.

These few passages tell us that people who think they have a ticket to heaven don’t. Jesus is not talking to those who have no faith – he’s talking about those who are considered part of the church. The Laodiceans were part of the church. They joined the church when it wasn’t safe to do that. There was great persecution.

So why might they be rejected by Jesus? Because they don’t have a relationship with God, they have not made God a priority, they have put their faith in riches and prosperity. They actually live as if God is not real. That is lukewarm.

I was that way for 20 years, from my college days until my early 40s. If you had asked my religion, I would have claimed to be Catholic. I never doubted the existence of God. I knew He was real. It’s just that His existence didn’t have an impact on my life. And I was not interested in making a change. I didn’t pray much at all, I never read the Bible, I didn’t go to church. Except for a couple of years, I wasn’t engaged in serious sin. I knew lots of others who behaved as I did and were atheists or without any religious affiliation. My life was no different from theirs. When it came to God, I was lukewarm.

But, by God’s grace, he came after me and called me back to the fold. He did the same for the Laodiceans. He told them, I’m standing at the door, waiting for you to open it. You don’t have to be lukewarm. Recognize your poverty! Come back to me! I love you! I want you to be saved!

I suspect that the people in that church were not always that way. After all, at some point, they were converted. They were baptized. They attended church at a time in history when it was dangerous. So how did they get from the initial conversion to being lukewarm? Here are some possibilities for them and for us.

They neglected their prayer life. When we neglect our prayer life, it’s all downhill from there. Even if we’re feeling tired, bored, or uninspired, we should still keep our appointment with God. Without it, we will become very weak and the devil can attack with ease.

They began to follow the values of the world rather than God. Lots of things in the world can distract us from God. When we have a life of ease, we begin to think we did it ourselves. We forget that God is the giver of all good gifts. We no longer need God because we are in control.

Their consciences were weakened when it came to sin. It begins with small venial sins, which become more frequent and then lead to bigger and bigger sins. We justify our sins and that leads us further and further from God.

They still wanted to look like good Christians, so they kept going to church, but their heart was not in it. When we are just going through the motions, the graces available through worship are not being received. We become like the Pharisees who Jesus described as whitewashed tombs – looking good on the outside but dead on the inside.

So, if you are wondering if you’re lukewarm, I suspect that you are not. The fact that you’re reading this blog post indicates that you are paying attention to your spiritual life – that you long for more of God. When you are in a time of desolation – when you struggle to keep your spiritual habits, you are under attack. You can respond by getting back to prayer. Don’t worry about how fruitful it is. Just make an appointment with God every day and keep it. When you get distracted, come back. Don’t dwell on the distraction or your weakness in allowing the distraction. Tell God – Sorry. I’m back.

We don’t want to be lukewarm. And it’s good to question whether we have fallen into spiritual laziness. If we find ourselves slacking off, we simply turn back to God. He is always waiting for us, knocking on the door of our heart – so open the door and let him in. Let the fire fall!

Questions for prayer:

1. Have you experienced a season of lukewarmness? How did it come about, and what brought you back to God?

2. How does Satan attack you when you want to grow closer to God?

3. How is God calling you today into a deeper relationship with Him? What obstacles do you face?