LAODICEA

THE LUKEWARM CHURCH

& Lazy Leaders

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth…”

Revelation 3:14-16

LAODICEA

There are times when I can clearly see that we are living in a Laodicean Age when it comes to the modern Church. Sadly, I can speak firsthand about the seeker-sensitive Church in America, and I am certain that the pattern is the same in other westernized countries that have local churches that focus on pleasing the people more than God. Churches that use Scripture loosely to create an emotional message, more than a message that convicts the soul and that will lead to a stronger relationship with the Creator of the universe.

These are lukewarm churches. The messages that people hear are feel-good messages and they are never offensive. This type of church keeps people happy so that their parishioners come back for more. This is where nominal (in name only) Christians are the most complacent. Their beliefs do not veer far from the secular humanist’s worldview and in some cases are the same. This is dangerous. This is the mindset that creates serious misunderstandings of what God requires.

I realize that I harp on this topic often, but I have a reason for this. The lukewarm church produces lukewarm “disciples.” They are not prepared to defend their faith in a culture that has a visceral reaction to Jesus and his absoluteness (John 14:6). There is also a false sense of security with the nominal Christian. Paul taught his disciples and church leaders that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord…you will be saved, (Rom. 10:9). We can stop right there.

Jesus told the Pharisees that out of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:33-35). Saying that you believe something and actually believing it are two entirely different things. Although many in the lukewarm church confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord, but they do not actually believe it fully or live like it. If they truly are convicted that Jesus is Lord, they will live life on fire for God and their focus will be filled with the desire to know God more. What I have witnessed, however, is that these lukewarm disciples do not understand what it means to call Jesus “Lord.” This begs the question; are these souls truly saved?

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits (Matthew 5:15-17)

I realize that I am preaching to the choir here, but I was triggered by something that a young adult shared with me about a friend’s young adult’s small group and their leaders. This young adult (25 yrs to 30 yrs) small group was formed about three years ago out of a very popular lukewarm, seeker sensitive church. During the group’s weekly gathering, last week, the wife of this husband and wife team, decided to use Chat GPT to help her form a closing prayer for the group. After her prayer, the husband, of this husband-and-wife team, proudly let the group know that he used Chat GPT to create their lesson plan and topics for their current 6-to-8-week session.

I found this to be appalling. Where is the intervention of God’s Spirit? Why did these appointed “leaders” not seek God’s desire for this group of young people? These leaders are the perfect example of what a lukewarm church produces. This is a warning sign for all of us. The artificial intelligence algorithms of a computer program will never be a substitute for the guidance and promptings of God’s Spirit.

Conversely, there are enough churches out there that honor God’s word and pastors who teach with great conviction to give me hope for the future. Parishioners hear messages that are personally convicting and they leave understanding that they have work to do in their own soul. God promises that his word, when shared rightly, would not return void (Is. 55:11). These are churches that are focused on raising true disciples and leaders for God’s kingdom. Leaders that speak to honor God even if causes anger. Leaders that know how to seek the face of God and his direction.

I hope that you are blessed with a church that has a pastor who cares enough about you to speak even the hard truths that are counter-cultural by their very nature. A church that takes the time to raise up leaders with conviction.

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