By Martha Bush

Lynn recently held a video Seminar on The End Times. Part of her teaching was about the seven letters John wrote to the churches as recorded in the book of Revelation. In Friday’s blog, (January 28,) she asked us to, “Read all the letters to the churches. Come back and share what you think Jesus is revealing to us through them as a whole. And share your thoughts about what kind of church we are looking at today in and among these letters.”

Today, I want to take a look at The Church at Laodicea. Through my years of Bible study, this church has always been my "go to" for a personal self-examination. And so, as I once again started reading through these letters as Lynn suggested, I did a little more research on The Church at Laodicea with thoughts on today's church as a whole in 2022, and a whole lot of self-examination that needed to be done once again.

Let’s start with Revelation 3:15-17: 

¹⁵ “I know your works - that you are neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold or hot.
¹⁶ So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,
I will vomit you out of My mouth."  (NKJV)

Note: Some translations use spit and spew out of His mouth.

 Whoa—back up! Let me read that again! “I wish you were hot or cold, but you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth.” I don’t know about you, but that word lukewarm grabbed my attention. Why, that’s the same thing I with a mouth full of lukewarm coffee! It is so disgusting to me that I immediately spit it out of my mouth! Would God really do that to me if I were a lukewarm Christian?

Questions buzzed around in my brain. What precisely does lukewarm mean? A quick Goggle search yields this definition as it pertained to a person’s attitude or action:  unenthusiastic, mediocre, halfhearted, not fully into what they are doing.

My next buzz question was:  What caused The Church of Laodicea to become unenthusiastic that produced a lukewarm attitude in regard to their relationship with God? I believe we find the answer to that in verses 15 and 17:

Vs 15 says: “I know your works.”  We can’t hide anything from the Lord, can we? He knows our hearts, motives, sins of omission---the whole nine yards of us. And yes, our unenthusiastic, mediocre, halfhearted attitude.

Vs 17: “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” Is Jesus scolding the Laodiceans for being wealthy? It was then that I had my “Aha moment.” Could it be that The Church of Laodicea had become so secure and self-reliant in their natural habitat and had no need of anything, that the same self-reliant attitude had spilled over into their spiritual life and their relationship with God?

It took me back to my early years of being a Christian when I was totally dependent upon God to supply every piece of clothing I wore, food for my family, and His guidance to solve all my problems. I jumped out of bed in the early morning hours to talk with the King of Kings before rushing off to work. Oh yeah, the two of us were engrossed in a very intimate relationship with one another, and I relied totally upon Him for everything.

Had I now developed an attitude that seemed to be apparent of the believers at Laodicea? You are no longer hot and enthused in your pursuit of me; you are not excited and on fire about the faith. You are not cold either, because you have not left the faith; you still go to church, call me your Savior, but------ I know your works; I know how you are living.  You want my benefits and blessings, but you are being led by the world standards. (My words)

“No, no, Lord; I cried out to Him. Please don’t spit me out of your mouth.”

Good news!! We are God’s children: He has provided a way out of being lukewarm.

Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.
(Rev. 3:19 NIV)

His rebuking and discipling are so gentle; it made warm tears flow down my cheeks that I could hurt the heart of God, but at the same time, I felt His love surrounding me, as He loved me back to His heart.

“I already feel my spiritual temperature warming up.” 

_______

And so, my friends, let’s have a little discussion in the comments.

1. How does The Church of Laodicea speak to you personally? 
2. How do you think The Church of Laodicea compares with The Church as a whole in 2022?