right leg in, right leg out - lukewarm

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.

-Revelation 3:15

I first heard a sermon about lukewarm Christianity when I was about fifteen or sixteen. It was during a Christmas service and the pastor likened lukewarm Christianity to the Hokey Pokey. If you don’t know what lukewarm Christianity is, don’t worry, I will go into that more in a moment. If you don’t know what the Hokey Pokey is, I will not be explaining it, so you should look it up. At the time of the service, I was ready to go home to open my Christmas presents so I wasn’t paying much attention, but the word “lukewarm” has stuck with me since then.

The adjective lukewarm has two meanings (I looked them up on Google to give an accurate definition of each).

1.     (of liquid or food that should be hot) only moderately warm.

2.     (of a person, attitude, or action) unenthusiastic.

I want to highlight some key words from these definitions. In the first definition, it is defined as something that should be hot but is only moderately warm. From those three words, we can take away that something that is lukewarm is not behaving as it should be and it is lacking something (in this case, heat) that causes it to be mediocre or not very good. The second definition is unenthusiastic and some synonyms for this are lackluster, apathetic, half-hearted and casual. Therefore, a lukewarm Christian is a “believer” who is half in and half out of their faith. If I could use one word that truly captures the essence of this, it would be “meh”. So, what exactly does lukewarm (or hokey pokey) Christianity look like?

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”

-Matthew 7:21-23

In the above verse, Jesus tells his disciples that there are people who call on his name but don’t do the will of God. These are people who claim to be followers of Christ but are not living like it. In a sense, they are two-faced. They have one face towards God and one face towards evil things. They have one foot in the Kingdom and on foot in the world. We know from John 17:16 that we are not of the world, we are just in it. We do not partake in the things of this world but rather bring the light of Jesus to the world.

They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

-Titus 1:16

Someone who is lukewarm should be doing the will of God but is only saying that he/she is a follower of Christ and acting in opposition to the Word of God. We go to church on Sunday, get drunk of Tuesday, watch pornography on Friday and then go back to church on Sunday. I think it’s important to remember that we are all sinners but the difference between a lukewarm Christian and someone who is ON FIRE for Christ, is that lukewarm Christians think that it’s okay to be unenthusiastic and lackluster in their faith and to contradict their faith through their ungodly actions. If you are not with Jesus, you are simply AGAINST him (Matthew 12:30). There is no in between when it comes to the Christian faith.

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.

-Revelation 3:15

Jesus does not condone this wishy-washy Christianity and though it may be hard to hear, he says that he will spit us out of his mouth if we choose to be only moderately warm. Our culture today teaches us that it’s okay to kill someone and it’s okay to have sex before marriage because all you have to do is say, “Sorry Jesus,” and all will be well. We are seeing evidence of people rewriting the rules of the Bible so that they can sin and not feel as though they are being condemned. We are taught that it is okay to knowingly sin. If you apologize each time you do it, it’s okay. That is a lie from the enemy.

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

-Hebrew 10:26

The Bible tells us that when you know that something is a sin and you continue to do it, you will become an enemy of God! There will be no sacrifice for your forgiveness anymore. You will be left to be condemned. These harsh words are the truth. Today, I pray that you will persevere in your faith and that you will say no to this moderately warm, hokey pokey, unenthusiastic, casual Christianity that has become the norm today. I pray that you find strength to stay with Christ and to reject the things of this world. When you do fall into sin, SINCERELY turn to God and ask for His forgiveness. Ask Him to cleanse you in the name of Jesus Christ and to help you stop sinning and to follow him with your whole heart. Be HOT for Christ.

God truly loves you.

With love,

Mandile.