Hot, Cold, or Lukewarm?

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of My mouth.”  Revelation 3:14-16

The church at Laodicea was the last of the seven churches which John wrote about as he obeyed Jesus in presenting the condition of churches at that time.  However, as with much of scripture, what was written for a prior era is still just as applicable today.  The city of Laodicea was located in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey).  In 62 A.D. it was destroyed by an earthquake but rebuilt by its citizens who had grown wealthy from the manufacture of rare black wool.  It was also known for its medical school which developed an eye salve and known as a financial center.  The main drawback was an insufficient water supply; thus, a six-mile aqueduct was built to bring in water.  These physical facts about Laodicea Jesus would use in His condemnation of the local church there.

Jesus told them that He knew their works:  insincere worship, hypocrisy, and selfish motives.  He described the believers at Laodicea as being neither cold nor hot.  A cold church is a dead church.  It is easily recognizable by those who stand outside looking in.  Any believer who examines a “cold”, dead church knows to stay away.  However, there is always a chance that the members of the dead church will become so miserable that when Holy Spirit conviction comes upon them, they will recognize their “deadness”, repent, and turn to Christ to bring life into their members.

A “hot” church is just the opposite.  To be “hot” in this case is to be “on fire” for the Lord.  The members are joyous in their service, they have a real burden for seeing the lost come to faith in Christ, and they are zealous for the integrity, reputation, and character of the church body.  Their love for Christ and others is outwardly manifested by their works and words of faith.  In truth, they are exhibiting what God considers their “reasonable service” (Romans 12:1), i.e., the basic standard by which their love is measured.  However, even the most exuberant church can “lose its saltiness”.  It only takes one person, backed by the devil, to come in, bring controversy, and cause division.  Jesus desired for this church to be either cold or hot, which indicated that they were neither but fell somewhere in between.  Jesus would prefer for all churches who name the name of Christ and preach the gospel to be hot, on fire for the Lord.  But why would he wish this church, if they won’t be hot, to be cold?

The answer to that question is found by examining the condition of the Laodicean church.  Jesus described them as “lukewarm”, meaning that they were neither on fire for the Lord nor completely devoid of spiritual life.  They had just enough “religion” to call themselves a “church”, yet were so far from being true members of the body of Christ.  They just “went through the motions” of worship.  They were playing church.  They had a false sense of security.  A cold church would have more hope of a turnaround to the truth of the gospel than a lukewarm church which assumed righteousness, yet whose hearts were far from the Lord (Isaiah 29:13).  A person who believes his or her religion with its rituals and traditions will make him or her acceptable before God is deceived by the devil.

Jesus said that their lukewarmness would cause Him to spit them out of His mouth.  Because of the way that the Laodiceans received their water, it was lukewarm by the time it reached them, so they would understand what it was like to drink lukewarm water and hopefully would grasp the truth of Jesus’ words to them.  The Laodiceans also depended upon their wealth, but Jesus desired for them to know that no one would see God’s kingdom on their own merit.  They could not buy or earn their way to heaven.  They may have thought that they were “on top of the world”, but spiritually there was no life in them.  God created man for Himself, and there is no real joy of life apart from Him.

Fast forward to today.  In my lifetime, so far, I have been a member of three different churches, all of which were and still are Bible-preaching, Christ-honoring, and filled with folks who love Jesus.  Were any of them perfect?  Of course not.  Any organization compiled with humans is going to be imperfect because we are all people who have a sin nature.  But God doesn’t look for perfect people to make up His church; He looks for humble, obedient, loving, compassionate, and sincere believers in Jesus Christ to carry on His work on earth.  As I spend time reading articles online, I am shocked at what is written about the state of the church today.  It seems that, if what is written is actually fact, and I don’t really doubt that it is judging by the state of our nation, more and more churches are becoming like the church in Laodicea or perhaps even further from the true gospel.  From what folks have told me, it seems to be more difficult to find a church now that is true to the word of God than at any other time in history.  Peter wrote in I Peter 4:17a that judgment must begin at the house of God, so don’t think churches are off the hook.  Entrusted with the spreading of the gospel is a responsibility not to be taken lightly.  The more believers know, the more for which we will answer.