I Hate Lukewarm Coffee - Ben Bailey

I hate Lukewarm Coffee…

                It happened to me recently and it reminded me of a powerful truth. I had just poured a piping hot cup of coffee and then several things happened. I lost track of time, and my coffee got cold. Without even thinking about it, I took a big swig of what I expected to be hot coffee, and it was terribly lukewarm. That lukewarm coffee did not appeal to me at all. In all honesty, it almost made me sick to my stomach and my initial reaction was to spit it out. At that moment I remembered how much God hates lukewarmness too. Scripture tells us that lukewarm Christianity makes God sick to His stomach. Our Lord said, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:16). Why does lukewarm Christianity make Jesus sick and what is wrong with being lukewarm? Consider these problems with lukewarm Christianity.

                Being lukewarm is in contradiction to the greatest command. When asked what the greatest of all commands was, Jesus said to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” was the greatest (Mark 12:30). Although very blunt, Francis Chan hit the nail on the head when he said this about the contradiction of lukewarm Christians: “As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there is no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are ‘lukewarm’ are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven.”

                Lukewarm Christianity does not openly and lovingly bear The Cross every day. The Lord asked his followers to do just that. He said, “If any man desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).  It was Teresa of Avila who stated it so vividly when she said, “The lukewarm do not embrace the cross; they merely drag it along.” Can we really embrace the Cross of Christ and be lukewarm?

                Lukewarm Christianity possesses an improper view of sin. The Bible teaches we should hate sin, like Jesus did (Heb. 1:9). He hated it so much that He gave his life so that all people in the world could be saved from sin (Heb. 2:9; 1 Peter 2:24). Francis Chan put it bluntly when he said, “Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.”  If my Christian Walk is only half-hearted, do I really have the proper view of sin?

                Roald Dahl, who is known as one of the greatest storytellers of the 2oth Century, really brought the idea of not being lukewarm home when he said, “I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed…Love it and above all become passionate about it.  Lukewarm is no good!”  If we are going to be followers of Christ do not be lukewarm, go at it full speed and embrace it with all our heart!                                                             --Ben Bailey