Photo by Getty Images on UnsplashJesus asked his disciples a troubling question that has challenged me for many years.
In the New Testament book of Luke, he tells a story about a persistent woman and an unjust judge. The woman’s persistence finally prompts the judge to step in and help her. He then compares the story to the Father, saying if an unjust judge will do the right thing, how much more will the righteous Father do the right thing for his righteous servants?
His next question is the one that has puzzled me. He asks,
“But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?”
Luke 18:8 The Message
My oldest daughter and I recently had a conversation about faith, which opened my eyes to what Jesus might have meant.
In the early days of our walk with God, we were white-hot on fire to walk with God, obey him, and lay it all on the line to follow him.
Today, we hear raunchy conversations, vulgar script writing, and outright sinful practices, and shrug them off as not so bad.
Our thought is that it doesn’t impact our walk with God, so deal with it.
What I have described is not necessarily sin (it could be, depending on the circumstances), but it is undoubtedly a sign of a lukewarm relationship.
The point isn’t to justify the naïve actions of new Christ-followers, but to point out a (not-so-obvious) complacency in our walk with God?
It reminds me of the story of the frog in a pot of water. If you put a frog into a pot of hot boiling water, it will immediately jump out. However, if the water is tepid, the frog will stay in the pot. The frog hardly notices as the water temperature slowly increases. Only once it becomes unbearable will the frog try to get out.
I adhered to a saying from a motivational speaker that went something like this:
Repetition is the mother of learning, which makes it the Father of action, and the architect of accomplishment. (The late Zig Ziglar).
However, what if the opposite is true?
What happens if the repetition is a small amount of negativism that is repeated on an ongoing basis?
Will it have a negative impact on how you feel, talk, and act?
The answer is yes.
If you hear it enough, is it possible that the action becomes an adverse action (one you would not have made earlier in your walk with God)?
The answer is yes.
Is the accomplishment a negative mindset and a complacent lifestyle?
The answer is yes.
In other words,
A once white-hot active faith (belief and assurance that God is, and will do what he says) becomes a lukewarm, well, maybe.
The Apostle John
In his revelation to the seven churches, the Apostle John speaks about this. While I am not addressing the scholarly insight of the churches, I do point out that the keynote of the seventh (Laodicea) church is lukewarmness.
Is lukewarmness the lack of faith Jesus is speaking about?
The answer is yes.
If that is the case, the next question is, what do we do about it?
Examine your heart
Are you allowing things into your life that you once ran away from?
Are you keeping company with people who drag you down in your walk with God?
Are you excited about meeting with a like-faith community, or do you tolerate it?
Your answers could indicate a lukewarm heart.
Listen to the words coming out of your mouth.
“A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.”
Matthew 12:35 New Living Translation
If bad or unrighteous words are coming out of your heart, it is an indication that bad or unrighteous things are being stored in your inner being. It could signal a lukewarm life.
Pay attention to what you are pursuing
“The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars.”
I Timothy 4:1 The Message
The Apostle Paul tells Timothy to pay attention to the things a Christ-follower is pursuing. If it is not rooted in faith, run the other direction.
If you are doing things in your life to increase your faith and belief in God, it could be an indicator that you are being lukewarm.
The Apostle John says (in his Revelation writings), ” Return to your first love.
How do you do that?
“There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise, how will we find our way? Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh! Keep me from stupid sins, from thinking I can take over your work; Then I can start this day sun-washed, scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth; these are what I chew on and pray. Accept them when I place them on the morning altar, O God, my Altar-Rock, God, Priest-of-My-Altar.”
Psalms 19:11–14 The Message
King David knew something about sin and a pure heart.
In this Psalm, he prays to God, “Clean the slate.”
In other words, you pray to God to give you a good “spiritual” bath each day so you can begin each day fresh and clean.
The call of the Spirit is going out across the land for light bearers and (wisdom-speaking) truth givers to bring the words of life to a lost and dying world — one person at a time.
The journey is exciting and scary, and I am thankful to everyone willing to follow along as I take it.