Today I want us to finish our examination of our lives to determine if we are lukewarm. We have been using the criteria that Francis Chan set forth in his book, Crazy Love. This is the third, and final post in this series and if you missed the first two, please go here and here to read them so you can see the entire picture.
While I am firmly convinced that I am not lukewarm at this season of my life, these criteria have reminded me that I need to always be vigilant in my walk with Christ and not fall into lukewarmness. In our culture of greed and selfishness, it would be very easy to slip into the mode of the lukewarm and find ourselves moving away from Christ rather than toward Him.
Here are the final few descriptors of a lukewarm people:
Lukewarm people do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty. They want to do the bare minimum, to be ‘good enough’ without it requiring too much of them. They ask questions like, “How far can I go before it’s considered a sin?” instead of “How can I keep myself pure as a temple of the Holy Spirit?” or perhaps they ask “How much do I have to give?” instead of “How much can I give?”. P.76
Lukewarm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. This focus on safe living keeps them from sacrificing and risking for God. p.77
Lukewarm people feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, were baptized, come from a Christian family, vote Republican, or live in America. Just as the prophets in the Old Testament warned Israel that they were not safe just because they lived in the land of Israel, so we are not safe just because we wear the label Christian or because some people persist in calling us a ‘Christian nation’. P. 78
Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so they never have to. They don’t have to trust God if something unexpected happens—they have their savings account. They don’t need God to help them—they have their retirement plan in place. They don’t
genuinely seek out what life God would have them live—they have life figured and mapped out. They don’t depend on God on a daily basis—their refrigerators are full and, for the most part, they are in good health. The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God. p.78 Ouch, ouch, ouch (emphasis mine)
Lukewarm people probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever. They equate their partially sanitized lives with holiness, but they couldn’t be more wrong. p.79
In the chapter that follows this one on lukewarm people, Chan argues that lukewarm people are not really saved at all (p.83 and 84). I don’t agree with him on that, although I understand his argument using the scripture in Revelation 3: 15-18 where Jesus says he will spit the lukewarm church out of His mouth. Chan argues that if you are in need of being spit out of the mouth of Christ, there is little possibility that you have been saved. I simply don’t agree.
I know without a doubt in my teeny little mind that I was saved at the age of 15—no doubt. However, I lived in a pit of sin during my mid and late 20’s the likes of which would have caused one to think that I was not saved. I chose that lifestyle despite the fact that I had the Lord Jesus living in my life. I wasn’t unsaved, I was rebellious. Just like the prodigal son, I never ceased being a child of the King, I just walked away and tried it my own way. I was the prodigal daughter, but I was still His daughter.
I hope this series of posts has caused you to take a moment and examine your life and pinpoint areas where Holy Spirit is saying, “We could make some improvements here.” Perhaps you have heard Holy Spirit saying, “We are doing well, just stay the course!!” Stay faithful, dear friend!
