Last 5 Days
The Danger of Being Lukewarm
14 “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. 15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Laodicea is a city that was important due to its geographical location. It sat on the major and important road in Asia which connected Ephesus to the East and to Syria, and its location was sufficient to make it one of the great commercial and strategic centres of the ancient world. It was a great banking and financial centre and one of the richest cities in the world at that time. Even after a devastating earthquake in AD61, the citizens were able to rebuild their city without the intervention of the Roman government. Scriptures tells us that they were so rich that they did not even need God (v17).
It was also a centre of clothing manufacturing. They were famous for their soft, black and glossy wool which was used to produce outer garments known as Trimitaria. Textile trading and cloth manufacturing had made them popular, and they were so proud of the garment they produced that they never realised they were naked in the sight of God (v18).
To the north, Hierapolis had hot springs that could be used for medical purposes. To the south, Colossae had cold springs that was cold and refreshing for consumption. However, Laodicea has a long lasting problem with its water supply, and so the water had to be brought in by aqueduct 6 miles from the south. By the time it reached the city, it had become lukewarm. It was tepid, unclean and undrinkable, the kind of water that makes you sick, that you might spit or vomit out of your mouth. The lukewarm water was used to describe the spiritual condition of the church in Laodicea. They were neither hot or cold, and ready to be spit out (v16).
It was one of the churches which Christ has nothing good to say about it. The church of Laodicea was blessed with much richness and resources, so much so that their self-sufficiency sickened God and was ready to be spit out. Despite their material wealth, they have lost their spiritual fervour and the cause of its existence as a church. Yet, despite all these, Christ continued to pursue and love them. He called them to repentance. Christ says that he stands at the door and knock. If anyone hears his voice and opens the door, he will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Christ.
Success and wealth in our present life are graced by God alone but these material riches can be a stumbling block to ourselves when we are fixated on these pursuits. The danger of such pursuit is that it is so subtly blinding we can lie to ourselves thinking that we are pursuing these successes for the purpose of God. As time goes by, slowly but surely, we exchange our trust in God with the trust in our ability and giftings. We devote our energy in the pursuit of things that helps us climb the ladder of success, and care less about the kingdom of God. We care more about what we do in the market place and less about our community in church. We are still doing church, we are physically present but our hearts are somewhere else.
My dear brothers and sisters, do not fall into the trap of falling into lukewarm condition, but be faithful to draw close to Christ and to devote to Him. Love your God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul, and be single minded in following Christ. Search ourselves daily that we may please Him with our hands and our heart.
