| Rising Above
Lukewarm Christianity — A. When Peter came face-to-face with the power of
Jesus, it prompted self-examination (Luke 5:1-11). B. “Examine yourselves, to see whether
you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor 13:5). C. In Revelation 2:14-22, Jesus diagnosed
Christians in Laodicea as “lukewarm.” D. Our question is a
practical one: What does lukewarm
Christianity look like? Why is it dangerous?
A Snapshot of a Lukewarm Christian. • Lukewarm Christians love God,
but not (Matt 6:24, 33; 22:37-38). • Lukewarm Christians believe religion is
a good and important thing to have in life, but think it shouldnot them (2
Tim 3:1-5; John 2:17). • Lukewarm Christians settle into a one-sided (2 Tim
4:3-5; Phil 1:9-10; Eph 1:18-23). • Lukewarm Christians “go to
church,” but they don’t live as people who are “of ” (Matt
15:8). • Lukewarm Christians bring their kids up “in church” but
not in (Deut 6:4-9). • Lukewarm Christians are most often silent about their
(Rom 1:16). • Lukewarm Christians love others in , but in practice do very
little for strangers, outcasts,or even their own brethren (Luke 14:12-14;
Matt 22:39-40). • Lukewarm Christians enjoy hearing stories about people who
live zealously for God, but the storiesnever inspire real and greater zeal in
their own lives (James 1:21-27; Heb 12:1-6).• Lukewarm Christians have good
intentions to participate in good deeds someday, but they don’tmake the best
use of their time or resources and take (Eph 5: 15-16; Tit 3: 14).• Lukewarm
Christians lean on their own strength instead of putting their full in
God(Prov 3:5-12; James 2:14-26; Luke 12:16-21). |
