Op-Ed: Do we see our need for God’s refining fire?
By Dr. Billy Holland
God has always been disappointed when someone is more concerned with what they want to do than what He requires of them. Since mankind fell in the garden, our carnal nature has been persuading and influencing our decisions and specializes in the skills of compromising and justifying. Self-deception is common, and only a few realize our highest responsibility is to obey Him. Many believe that God is real and accept His blessings of love and forgiveness, but do not care about being accountable. Those who are serious about knowing God will develop a spiritual awareness that can discern if He is pleased with them. Do you know He is pleased with you?
There is an unpopular verse found in Revelation 3:16 where the writer relays what Jesus thinks about the church at Laodicea. “So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” We realize parables and analogies are common within the Bible, and we interpret this metaphor as relating to the attitudes and intentions of the heart; no one likes cold French fries or lukewarm coffee. He was saying their minds were in a state of being lackadaisical, apathetic, and lethargic. Spewing us out does not sound good. This letter to Laodicea is the harshest, but wait, it’s not just pertaining to this certain group; God is warning all Christians about the dangers of backsliding that can happen when we ignore His demands and willingly surrender to the temptations of sin.
I’ve heard a lot of sermons on these seven letters found in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, but it’s critical that we do not only comprehend this as a history lesson. Many church members might see this as someone else being more religious than spiritual without examining their own heart to discern if maybe this message is also being directed to them personally. Let us not forget that God was speaking to members of an established Christian church who were supposedly followers of Jesus and His teachings. There is no beating around the bush about His disappointment. He does not want His church or the Christian life to become a comfortable social club. This was a materialistic, selfish, and arrogant dead church, and sadly this lukewarm indifference is definitely happening today. He is calling for His people to walk holy as He is holy, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and manifesting His nature and character.
The Lord continues to be more specific, using cutting words such as “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.” Their lukewarm faith had become hypocritical. The lifeless atmosphere of the services was the result of a lack of enthusiasm and passion for Christ in their minds and hearts. They were caught up in the love for the world, and it’s very possible some individuals had not been genuinely converted and were just pretending to be Christians. It’s not an exciting topic, but there is such a thing as people who practice a form of religion, but their conscience is one of self-righteous complacency. They claim to be taking up their cross and following Jesus, and being renewed by allowing their minds to be transformed, but their hearts are far from Him. Their game-playing might be deceiving everyone around them, but God can clearly see they are impostors.
So how can we as Christians keep from falling into deception and spiritual coldness? We must realize there are dark forces trying to distract us from Jesus. If we choose to follow our fleshly desires and always place our relationship with Jesus on the back burner, we will remain lukewarm and backslidden. Only when we realize that we are being attacked through the entanglement of carnality, and then take the steps to remove these snare traps from our mind and conscience, can we press forward with making Christ our highest priority. Developing an awareness of God’s constant presence is the key to becoming a wise and powerful soldier for the Lord who is not wishy-washy, but will stand strong and faithful in times of persecution.
A common defense of being lukewarm is that it does not matter. This is a lie! Being backslidden is a huge deal. When we lose our love and passion to pray for others, when we stop repenting and no longer feel convicted by the Holy Spirit, we are in serious danger. Becoming spiritually numb causes us not to care about how our sins are offending God. We are forgetting the negative impact our halfhearted attempt to follow Christ has on everyone. If demonstrating God’s character and accomplishing His will is not our highest purpose, what is? Accepting Christ is not all there is to salvation; it’s just the beginning. Being saved provides a privilege to serve, worship, and know Him. Yes, our Creator is long-suffering toward the lukewarm, and forgiveness is available, but we must see our desperate need for His refining fire and cry out to Him to cleanse and transform us into what He requires us to be.
Dr. Holland is an ordained minister, chaplain, and Christian author. Read more about LIVING ON PURPOSE at billyhollandministries.com.