I Hate Lukewarm Coffee - Ben Bailey

I hate Lukewarm Coffee…

                It happened to me recently and it reminded me of a powerful truth. I had just poured a piping hot cup of coffee and then several things happened. I lost track of time, and my coffee got cold. Without even thinking about it, I took a big swig of what I expected to be hot coffee, and it was terribly lukewarm. That lukewarm coffee did not appeal to me at all. In all honesty, it almost made me sick to my stomach and my initial reaction was to spit it out. At that moment I remembered how much God hates lukewarmness too. Scripture tells us that lukewarm Christianity makes God sick to His stomach. Our Lord said, “So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Rev. 3:16). Why does lukewarm Christianity make Jesus sick and what is wrong with being lukewarm? Consider these problems with lukewarm Christianity.

                Being lukewarm is in contradiction to the greatest command. When asked what the greatest of all commands was, Jesus said to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength” was the greatest (Mark 12:30). Although very blunt, Francis Chan hit the nail on the head when he said this about the contradiction of lukewarm Christians: “As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there is no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are ‘lukewarm’ are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven.”

                Lukewarm Christianity does not openly and lovingly bear The Cross every day. The Lord asked his followers to do just that. He said, “If any man desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).  It was Teresa of Avila who stated it so vividly when she said, “The lukewarm do not embrace the cross; they merely drag it along.” Can we really embrace the Cross of Christ and be lukewarm?

                Lukewarm Christianity possesses an improper view of sin. The Bible teaches we should hate sin, like Jesus did (Heb. 1:9). He hated it so much that He gave his life so that all people in the world could be saved from sin (Heb. 2:9; 1 Peter 2:24). Francis Chan put it bluntly when he said, “Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.”  If my Christian Walk is only half-hearted, do I really have the proper view of sin?

                Roald Dahl, who is known as one of the greatest storytellers of the 2oth Century, really brought the idea of not being lukewarm home when he said, “I began to realize how important it was to be an enthusiast in life. If you are interested in something, no matter what it is, go at it full speed…Love it and above all become passionate about it.  Lukewarm is no good!”  If we are going to be followers of Christ do not be lukewarm, go at it full speed and embrace it with all our heart!                                                             --Ben Bailey

"Go to church or the devil will get ya!" - Joey Ferrell

*Disclaimer: I do not own this sign or this image. It was found on the internet with dozens of others taken on I-65 North just outside of Montgomery Alabama.

Go to church or the devil will get ya! Well….sort of. I remember passing this sign probably 10-11 years ago coming back from a family trip to Florida. We were on I-65 north just outside of Montgomery. We had stopped at this sweets store that had a pink cow…yes, a real pink cow (It closed a few years afterwards) and had been laughing about that for miles…and then…there it was! I was like “WOW, did you see that sign?”

The sign was originally placed at this locaton by a local “Christian and Patriot” businessman using a metal devil from a former gas station in Prattville according to an article also found on the internet. It was toppled in a storm in 2016 and remained down until 2019 when it made a new appearance. It still stands today with the sons of the creator maintaining it. It catches a lot of attention and has been shared on social media sites for years.

Enough about the sign though…let’s get to the message! Let’s dissect it a bit:

“Go to church” - the world sees this as a valid statement. Even those in the church will use the phrase often. I am just as guilty in tradition as most others are too. But, we need to think about this a bit. We ARE the church. Certainly, we go to be WITH the church, and the semantics of the phrase can certainly make sense thinking about it that way.
In Acts 2, the Bible says that about 3,000 were added to “the church” and they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine - and it said that they met daily from house to house.

Throughout Acts, we see the church growing because they were hearing the truth and being added to the church…and then they would go AS the church.

When Paul instructed Timothy and Titus, and others, they were told to go TO the church in different areas, and of course, John records the words of Jesus TO the churches in Asia, each identified geographically.

So…in reality, we go WITH the church, TO the church and semantically TO church.

But what is there about “going to church” that will keep the devil from getting you? Well, nothing really…or almost nothing…with the wrong attitude at least. Hebrews 10:19-25 gives us a very good reasoning why we should come together. Ephesians 4 talks about the varying roles of those in the church and how the function of the teaching of the church is to increase growth, edify the saints, and strengthen our faith.

So, how does that keep the devil from getting you? Well, it doesn’t, but it does make it much harder as you are surrounded by like-minded people that care about your soul when you are with the saints of the church. In the book of Job, the devil was said to have been going to and fro across the earth. He is seeking those who he can devour, so how do we stop him from getting us? We increase our faith, we draw near to God, we flee from the devil, and what better way to do that than to be with the church?

While it is true that many feel that technology has opened new doors in “going to church,” but truly, there is nothing like being with the saints, worshiping, singing, praying together, communing, getting and giving handshakes and hugs, crying with one another, rejoicing with one another and lifting one another up as is described in Hebrews 10.

Maybe you or someone you know needs a little encouragement….let me invite you to “go to church” and find that encouragement. These are our people. They love you and me. They need you and me. And we need them!

Go to church…..or the devil will get you!