Ice-Cold, Lukewarm or On Fire?

Anyone who listens to classic rock music knows there’s a Highway to Hell and a Stairway to Heaven.

We know Van Halen is Runnin with the Devil.

The Stones have Sympathy for the Devil.

The Dead are a Friend of the Devil.

And, according to Charlie Daniels, The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

It seems hell is alive and well. Even for that lady who is trying to buy the Stairway to Heaven.

But today on this fine Easter Monday, here’s a little number you may not have heard: Revelations 3:16. And no, it’s not an Iron Maiden song.

Now, Revelations 3 doesn’t really say “room temp church coffee.” But rather,

“¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (NIV)

Kind of understandable if you really think about the implications of the term, lukewarm:

Hot water is useful for bathing, food preparation, cleaning.

Cold water sustains us and quenches our thirst.

But lukewarm?

“Wow. It’s been a tough day. Think I’ll go home and take a lukewarm shower.”

“Man! I can’t wait to hear the keynote speaker. I really hope he’s lukewarm.”

“I’m head-over-heels in love, and luckily he feels completely lukewarm about me.” (Best said, of course, without emotion.) Sounds like a match made in, well, purgatory, eh?

Who wants a nice lukewarm drink? Not this chick.

And I don’t want to make God vomit either–as in, “..I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

So what’s the take-away?

For the last few weeks, I’ve been reading Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World by Eric Metaxas.

It’s been a rather slow read because I’m learning to use my new Kindle. Plus, the book is pretty dense and meticulously researched.

But I’m not going to review the book here--I mention it only because Luther’s own words can inspire us to deepen our own relationships with God.

“Faith is a living, daring confidence in God’s grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times.”

Luther did just that. He had been sentenced to death as a heretic–for much of his life he expected to die for standing on God’s word against the religious and political powers of the day. It’s one reason he didn’t marry until he was in his forties. It wouldn’t be fair to get married and then be burned at the stake. Kind of puts a pall over the honeymoon.

How about us? How are we doing in our walk with God?

Isn’t it enough to punch the old church ticket once a week and then go about our business?
Isn’t it enough to pray just when the manure is hitting the old thrashing machine?
How about the old, “I go to church. Or not. I’m a good person. God will save me. I think.”

Oh really. You call that a relationship? It certainly isn’t a passionate one. Or one in which you approach God with a childlike faith. Luther also wrote:

“Faith must trample under foot all reason, sense, and understanding.”

So what can you do? Start here: