Jump Start # 3384

Revelation 3:16 “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”

I don’t do the cooking in our house. Not my thing and my wife is an amazing cook. But one thing I can do is grill. I’m old fashioned. Give me the charcoal, the smoke, and watching the coals until they are just right to put some chicken or steaks on. That’s me. I can do that. I come in smelling smokey but I love it. Food tastes great. I’ve had many opportunities to get a gas grill. Fast. Clean. Easy. But, that’s not the way I like it.

And, having cooked this way for decades, I know how to get the charcoal white and hot and ready for some steaks. There is an art to it. You don’t just toss a match onto some charcoal nor put the meat and veggies on before the grill is heated up. You gotta know what you’re doing.

Our verse today is the sad description of Laodicea. They were lukewarm. Of the seven churches listed in the Revelation introduction, Ephesus and Laodicea are the only ones mentioned elsewhere. Laodicea did not start out lukewarm. No one starts a church that way, just as no one tries to cook food on the grill without having the charcoals hot and ready.

I heard about a place recently that was small and struggling. They are barely keeping the doors open. Some were leaving one place to go help that place. In their words, they were trying to revive the place. Not a bad idea, but without a plan and without the right people, it’s a wasted effort. You can’t light wet or green wood. Won’t work. Elijah’s great sacrifice truly put that before the people’s eyes. His altar was drenched with water. A trench was dug around and it was filled with water. There is no possible way that fire should have started, but it did. It did, because God did it.

One cannot help a struggling church when they are struggling themselves. Weak people cannot make a church stronger. Weak faith needs help itself.

Laodicea started out strong. That’s how churches begin. They have dreams, goals and plans. There is a lot of excitement at first. Worship is powerful and great. But, much too often, that spirit fades. Time passes. The coals in the grill cool down and now not much takes place.

So, how would one light the fire in a church? What needs to be done?

First, there must be a desire among the people who are at that congregation to get on fire. They must want to grow. Some don’t. Some like small. Some want to remain as they are. And, with that spirit, the coals quickly cool down. No new faces. No effort. No diligence. No accountability. No nothing. And, that’s what is generally the outcome, nothing. It all begins with a heart that wants to grow.

Second, someone needs to be brought in that knows what he is doing. If you wanted to turn a business around, you’d look to someone that knew what they were doing. When a team fires a coach, the search is on to find someone who can win games. Just filling pews with people who have no interest in doing any more than just showing up on a Sunday morning won’t get the job done. Some places are so small they there is no leadership or shepherds. That attracts some who do not want any accountability or responsibility.

Third, plans need to be discussed to get things moving. Better Bible classes. More passionate preaching. A drive to invite and teach the community. A look at what is currently being done and what more could be done. Without a plan, the same results will happen every time.

Fourth, patience and prayer are essential. It takes time to turn things around. Sometimes it is too late. When the boat is at the edge of the waterfall, it’s too late to be praying for oars. That should have happened upstream and a long time ago.

Grilling out and helping a church has a lot in common. There’s a right way to do it. And, when it’s done right, great results follow.

Roger

Jump Start # 1746

Revelation 3:16 “So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot; I will spit you out of My mouth.”

The image that our verse gives us isn’t very pleasant. Most of us have tasted things that didn’t taste well. Maybe it was sour milk. Maybe it was something too spicy for you. I don’t like mushy bananas. Especially the kind that has black parts on it. UGH! Food that is supposed to be hot, ought to be hot. It’s kind of odd what we say about things. We can leave a piece of pizza on the counter overnight with a glass of coke. In the morning, we’d say that the pizza was cold and the coke was warm, even though they are the same temperature. Some things ought to be hot. Some things are supposed to be cold. The Lord is using the illustration of food or drink in our mouths to describe the temperature of a congregation. Things ought to be a certain way. That’s true with food and it’s also true with a church.

This week we are looking at the various ways that Satan tempts a church. He has more than one idea. He attacks a church in obvious ways but also in ways that are not so obvious. Sharp eyes, steady hands, and a faith that is rock solid, will not only recognize Satan’s tricks, but it will chart a course clear of the dangers that Satan presents.

Laodicea, the church talked about in our verse today, was blindsided with the spirit of apathy. Lukewarmness kills a church. It happens so gradually that most don’t even recognize it until it’s too late. Indifferent, lukewarm, an atmosphere of “who cares,” will allow Satan to walk right in the front doors. Some who still have enough faith to see things as they are, will excuse themselves by saying, “It’s not my problem.” Problems are ignored in a lukewarm church. Folks fall through the cracks in a lukewarm church. Things ought to be done, but no one wants to do it. The lukewarm church is hopelessly stuck doing the same things over and over. What they need is a good swift kick to get them back to where they ought to be. The problem is, no one is around to do that kicking.

In lukewarm churches people settle for substandard service. The singing could be better, but that takes effort and no one really wants to do anything about it. It’s easier to complain and remain miserable. In Malachi’s days, the people were offering God diseased sacrifices. They were weary of worship. They were indifferent to what God said. Just put in the time and then go do the fun things that we want to do. Their attitude toward the Lord was shameful and disrespectful.

All through life, we have seen heroes who rise above the call of duty. These are the ones who go out of their way. They help a neighbor, even when he didn’t ask. They stay late at work to finish a project, when everyone else has gone home. They go the extra mile to help a new student, a new co-worker, a new church member to feel welcome. They are patient to explain things and answer questions. Heroes who do what they didn’t have to do. They see what needs to be done and they jump in. Heroes in battle. Heroes in the police and fire departments. Heroes in school. Heroes in the neighborhood. Heroes in the church. Without these few heroes, most would follow the example of the indifferent. “I don’t know,” and “I don’t care,” are the ugly twins that opens the door to allow Satan to march right in.

Every congregation started by the hard work of a few. Some donated land. Some donated a lot of time and energy to get a church off the ground. They poured hours and dollars into getting a foothold started. Many of these congregations started in someone’s living room. Others, started in rented hotel rooms or store fronts. People carried in song books every week. They put out chairs. First to come, then these same people, gathered up the song books and chairs at the end of services. They were the last to leave. They did this for a long time. Today, those congregations have grown up and moved into church buildings. They got men to move to be preachers. They appointed men to lead them as shepherds. They spread the word in that community and the church grew and grew. In time, that little group became large and powerful. People have moved in. It’s easy to see how smoothly everything runs. It’s easy to sit back and enjoy the ride. It’s easy to allow lukewarmness to take over. “Why, they don’t need me to do anything,” becomes a ready answer for our lukewarmness. The example of those early folks who started the congregation has become lost to a new generation.

Lukewarm—no one intends to be that way. It just happens. Without careful attention, we get so busy doing things in this world that we lose sight. We take things for granted. We forget the most important things. Lukewarm can describe marriages. You don’t find lukewarm as a young couple is saying their wedding vows. But put a dozen years into that marriage. Add some kids, a mountain of bills, stressful jobs, and the fire of romance has sizzled out. Falling asleep watching ESPN each night becomes the norm. The couple have not fallen out of love, they simply lost touch with each other. What happens in a marriage, can happen in our relationship with the Lord. No one intends to be lukewarm in their faith. Things just happen. Then it happens. Before long, a person is going to church out of habit and not out of love. Talk to the same people. Do the same things. Little change. Little challenge. Our hearts drift. We have become lukewarm. We still attend but the passion has leaked out of us.

It won’t take much to push a lukewarm faith down. The death of a parent, the loss of a job, a rebellious teen—and before long, the lukewarm person has just quit all together. There wasn’t much flame burning, and now it seems to have burned out. The lukewarm finds it so easy to just stop. They usually do.

Get a church full of lukewarm and Satan has won the battle there. His banner flies proudly from the roof top. No one is going to do anything special, unique or challenging. No one is going to turn the tide, at least no one in their lukewarm state. Preachers come and go and little changes. Another year passes, and all remains about the same. Once in a while a baby is born. The young move away and most no longer worship the Lord. One by one, the elderly pass on. It’s sad to see this, but we ought to be used to it. These pitiful situations are the state of so many congregations today. Every state, every where, they are found. These folks are convinced that Satan isn’t among them because they have studied all the “isms” in Bible classes. They have talked about premillennnialism, Calvinism, materialism, humanism—if there is an “ism” to it, they have talked about it. No error is taking place. Not there. But, what they have failed to recognize is that the spirit of indifference has conquered them. Do nothing is the course that they are following. No plans. No vision. No life.

The lukewarm church does little evangelism. The lukewarm church makes little impact in people’s lives. The lukewarm church looks like a fish tank that desperately needs it’s water changed. Dark. Murky. Not very healthy. And to be honest, it smells.

What can be done? How does one change the spirit of lukewarmness? It takes leadership. It takes energy. It takes a plan. It can be done. Get folks involved. Give folks a job to do. Don’t be satisfied with the way things are. Give God your best. That begins with your attitude. Then it trickles into worship. Give God your best. Each person doing the best that they can do. The song leader, leading the best that he can. The preacher preaching the best that he can. Pick it up. Raise the bar. Get into each other’s homes. Invite others. Clean the place up. Make it bright and attractive. Never settle. Always strive to do better. Always.

Lukewarm doesn’t stand a chance when giving God our best is our spirit.

Roger