In Revelation, Jesus warns the church in Laodicea with these sobering words:
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me."
What are examples of being lukewarm as a Christian or as a church today? And what are ways we can avoid this pitfall?
This passage always hits me pretty hard because the Laodiceans weren’t “rebellious”, they were comfortable. And that’s the part that feels so relevant today.
For me, being “lukewarm” looks less like outright sin and more like drift:
• When faith becomes a background accessory instead of a lived relationship.
I can go through the motions — church, a quick prayer before bed — but my heart isn’t really engaged.
• When self-reliance replaces dependence on God.
Laodicea was wealthy and self-sufficient, and I think that’s the danger for us too. When life is going fine, it’s easy to stop turning to God or believing we need Him daily.
• When a church becomes more about comfort than transformation.
Lots of activity, programs, and positivity — but little repentance, little honesty about sin, little room for the Spirit to convict.
Avoiding that “lukewarm” drift seems to come back to exactly what Jesus says:
“Be earnest and repent… open the door.”
For me that looks like:
• Regularly asking God to search my heart (Psalm 139)
• Staying rooted in Scripture even when I don’t “feel it”
• Being part of a community that encourages honesty, not performance
• Letting God interrupt my comfort, especially in how I serve, give, or love people who stretch me
And maybe most of all, remembering Jesus’ tone in this passage:
He rebukes because He loves.
He’s not slamming the door, He’s knocking.
That’s such a comforting picture to me. Even when I drift, He’s still inviting me back into something real and alive.
The context in the Revelation is the situation of the Church in Laodicea. When we look at the other six letters to the other churches each one is facing a crisis; and there is a call to endure the hardship faithfully. There are criticisms and encouragements. Laodicea, however, is facing a different sort of crisis, a crisis of comfort. The Christians of Laodicea are not facing hardships, they are living comfortably, the Faithful appear to even be doing quite well financially. They have an easy life compared to their brothers and sisters. This actually has led them to become complacent, even boastful of their comfortable ease. And this is the substance of the rebuke made against them, they have grown so comfortable in their easiness, in their prosperity, in their lack of hardship that they have become utterly worthless. Jesus compares them to tepid or lukewarm water. If you have ever drank lukewarm water you know just how unpalatable it is, compared to a glass of cool refreshing water on a hot day, or how useful hot water is (for bathing, but even for cooking, or making tea, or any number of applications). But tepid, lukewarm water is gross, it is unpalatable.
For a 21st century westerner perhaps it may be useful to compare this to coffee: I can enjoy my coffee hot, or my coffee ice cold–but give me a cup of lukewarm coffee and I’m spitting it out immediately. That’s what being lukewarm means here: being utterly unpalatable, the believers of Laodicea have become unpalatable because they have grown easy. Instead Jesus tells them to come to Him and ask for silver and gold refined in fire. True wealth is not in material comforts, but is found in the difficulty of discipleship–refined in fire means to go through the trial and testing which purifies, it is a purifying fire that burns away what is useless and leaves only the worthwhile. It is preferable to face hardship and adversity than it is to be so easy and comfortable that you forget Who matters most (Jesus).
The Lord is always there, desiring to retake His seat at the Table–so He stands at the door and knocks; we must be a Church that opens the door and gives Him His Seat of authority and prominence at the Table. Let us desire that which is worthwhile, and forsake what is useless–even if it means a harder life and harder choices to make.