{"id":18126,"date":"2017-11-20T20:04:26","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T20:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/?p=18126"},"modified":"2022-05-16T19:00:51","modified_gmt":"2022-05-16T19:00:51","slug":"how-not-to-stay-lukewarm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/?p=18126","title":{"rendered":"How (Not) to Stay Lukewarm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"\"I thought I was a Christian for years.<\/p>\n

I swore I had a relationship with God.<\/p>\n

I believed I could die at any moment and be welcomed into heaven.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t. I didn\u2019t. I wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

I did not have a category for someone thinking they were a follower of Christ and not actually being one. I assumed that if I had any desire to be a Christian, God should welcome me with shouts of joy. I had never read that there would be people on judgment day who would emphatically greet Jesus, calling him \u201cLord, Lord,\u201d and yet be rejected by him (Matthew 7:21\u201323). No one ever told me that people could do a lot of mighty works for God and yet still be lost.<\/p>\n

I convinced myself that I was safe from the wrath of God. No one told me that the lukewarm \u201cChristian\u201d gets spit out of God\u2019s mouth (Revelation 3:16). No one informed me that if God was not first in my heart, I was either in urgent need of repentance, or I was lost. In the words of Francis Chan, I was lukewarm and lovin\u2019 it.<\/p>\n

Lukewarm and Lovin\u2019 It<\/h4>\n

I did not have a category for someone thinking they were a follower of Christ and not actually being one.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I didn\u2019t cuss much. I wasn\u2019t sleeping around. I went to church most Sundays. I must be a Christian.<\/em><\/p>\n

I said that Jesus died for my sins. I sang the lyrics on the screen. I prayed before meals. I gave God props for my athletic achievements. I must be a Christian.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sure, God wasn\u2019t my all in all. Sure, I never read his word. Sure, I didn\u2019t pray very much. Sure, I secretly loved sin. Sure, holiness seemed dreadfully boring. Sure, I rarely owned him in public or spent time with him in private. But he understood. I was only human after all. No one is perfect.<\/p>\n

If God had not intervened, I would have awoken from my delusion to a lake of fire. I imagined I feasted at the table of grace, drank from the chalice of eternal life, but I was eating garbage and drinking sewer water. I was dreaming, like those described in Isaiah,<\/p>\n

As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating, and awakes with his hunger not satisfied, or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking, and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched (Isaiah 29:8).<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I would have been the most miserable creature in all of perdition.<\/p>\n

And I kept myself in my delusion, muting my conscience and convincing myself that I was right with God by this simple strategy: I refused to read God\u2019s book and measured myself by the people around me.<\/em><\/p>\n

How to Stay Lukewarm<\/h4>\n

Comparing my faith with others around me (including non-Christians) was the easiest way, as C.S. Lewis says, to travel down the gentle slope into hell.<\/p>\n

The Downward Glance<\/h4>\n

I looked down on those who were \u201clesser\u201d Christians to confirm my complacency. My assurance of salvation largely came from the fact that I was outwardly better than many of the other goats who claimed to be sheep.<\/p>\n

I prayed like the Pharisee: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, fornicators, liars, adulterers \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t know I was a Christian without them.<\/em><\/p>\n

When a duck compares himself with other ducks, he crowns himself a swan.<\/p>\n

The Upward Glance<\/h4>\n

When I would come across real believers, I would feel moments of deep conviction. But to stay lukewarm, I concluded that these were simply Christian all-stars.<\/p>\n

Instead of having them in the \u201cliving\u201d category while I was in the \u201cdead\u201d category, I reasoned that they were the Avengers. They were A+ Christians, I was the C\/C- Christian \u2014 but both were passing. Just because I wasn\u2019t on the Christian all-conference team didn\u2019t mean I wasn\u2019t on the team. Right?<\/p>\n

And once I established the superhero Christian category, I would search for reasons to put believers who made me uncomfortable into it. Oh<\/em>, he wants to be a pastor! Oh<\/em>, they were missionaries for several years. Oh<\/em>, they grew up in a Christian home all their lives. Oh<\/em>, they just have a personality that gets excited about everything. That explains it<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I gladly resigned myself to being a spiritual hobbit \u2014 they too were included in the Fellowship afterall.<\/p>\n

Where I Didn\u2019t Glance: the Bible<\/h4>\n

My lukewarm churchianity was consumed by living faith in the consuming God of the Bible.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When I was lukewarm, God\u2019s book was collecting dust in my room, unopened.<\/p>\n

Then God led me to his word and saved me. God met a miserable, 6\u20195\u201d hobbit in his cold, dank, dorm room, making him alive through his Spirit and his word. The lukewarm churchianity was consumed by living faith in the consuming God of the Bible.<\/p>\n

There I read<\/em> that you must be born again to enter the kingdom (John 3:3). There I read<\/em> that loving Jesus above all others \u2014 father, mother, son, daughter, spouse \u2014 wasn\u2019t just for super Christians but for all who would follow Jesus (Matthew 10:37\u201339). There I read<\/em> that God was disgusted with me for drawing near with my mouth before meals and on Sunday morning, while my heart remained far from him (Isaiah 29:13\u201314). There I read<\/em> that I could search the Scriptures in a thousand Bible studies and yet refuse to truly go to Jesus and have life (John 5:39\u201340).<\/p>\n

There I read<\/em> that I couldn\u2019t be good enough to put God in my debt (Luke 17:10). That in no way could I please him while I lived in the flesh (Romans 8:8). There I read<\/em> that I was rightfully cursed for not loving Jesus (1 Corinthians 16:22) and that the punishment would be everlasting torment (Revelation 14:11).<\/p>\n

There I read<\/em> that God wasn\u2019t a socially awkward kid in the lunchroom desperate for anyone to sit with him. There I read<\/em> that his very name is \u201cKing of kings and Lord of lords<\/em>\u201d (Revelation 19:16) to whom every single knee in creation will bow (Philippians 2:10). There I read<\/em> that he did not need me (Acts 17:25); that if I refused to worship him, rocks would (Luke 19:40). There I read<\/em> that I was created for his glory, not he for mine (Isaiah 43:7).<\/p>\n

There I read<\/em> that if I was lackadaisical about treasuring Christ, about repenting of sin, and refused to surrender in joyful submission, he would spit me out of his mouth (Revelation 3:15\u201316).<\/p>\n

Great News for the Lukewarm<\/h4>\n

But there I also read<\/em> that while we were worse than lukewarm, the King of kings died for us (Romans 5:8). That although my sin and apathy had earned me death, the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ (Romans 6:23). There I also read<\/em> that Jesus didn\u2019t come for those who are well, but his compassion and grace are for those who are sick in their sin (Luke 5:31).<\/p>\n

There I also read<\/em> that if I was thirsty, if I had no money, God invited me to come and be satisfied in him<\/em> (Isaiah 55:1). There I also read<\/em> that if I was tired of laboring for that which left me empty and turned to him, he would feed me with rich food, give me life, and make an everlasting covenant with me through his Son (Isaiah 55:2\u20133).<\/p>\n

There I also read<\/em> that the Lord is near to anyone who would return to him for pardon. That he offers to the most vile \u2014 and lukewarm \u2014 sinner absolute pardon and pleasure beyond what he could dare to hope (Isaiah 55:6\u20139). There I read<\/em> that this invitation was purchased at the cost of the Son of God (Isaiah 53:1\u201312).<\/p>\n

If you are lukewarm and reading this, there is great news for you: There is still time. Repent. Believe. Rejoice. Live.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2017, Greg Morse, Content Strategist<\/span><\/a> Desiring God.com<\/span><\/a>-All rights reserved<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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I thought I was a Christian for years. I swore I had a relationship with God. I believed I could die at any moment and be welcomed into heaven. I wasn\u2019t. I didn\u2019t. I wouldn\u2019t. I did not have a category for someone thinking they were a follower of Christ and not actually being one. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":18172,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18126","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-discipleship","8":"wp-image-borders","9":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/how-to-stay-lukewarm-lhedb7l7-912a368beb7dd9e582fd1aa8eeaa636b.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4bgnN-4Im","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18126"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18173,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18126\/revisions\/18173"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18172"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/watchmanmedia.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}