Is There Such Thing as a Lukewarm CHRISTIAN?
Most of us know the verses below:
Revelation 3:15-16
I know thy works, that thou are neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
I often hear people refer to the lukewarm person in this verse as the “lukewarm Christian”. The more I study the Bible, the more I hate this designation. I believe that the name “lukewarm Christian” is at best ignorant, and at worst, misleading. The term lukewarm as described in this verse is the opposite of Christian and therefore one cannot be both lukewarm and Christian.
If you are lukewarm, you are not a Christian and you are destined for hell. You may have once been a Christian, but you have rejected God.
So what is this lukewarm person? These are people who have no passion. They feel nothing. These are the apathetic people who attend church and pretend to be Christian. They go to church but the Gospel doesn’t actually change their lives at home.
We, as Christians, must be aware of this spiritual condition. It exists in our homes, our churches, and out in the world. It is a dangerous condition. While these people may seem good on the outside and perhaps they even say the right things, they belong to Satan. Despite their claims to be Christian, they are anything but. Because of their outward appearance and their easy to like message, they are often very successful at drawing people, especially young Christians, away from God.
Amazingly, these people may actually believe they are Christian. They have convinced themselves that they belong to God. Check out the next verse in Revelation 3:
Revelation 3:17
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Notice that these people think that they are blessed and have what they need but they don’t even know that they are sinners in need of God! As Jesus said, “…They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.” (Matthew 9:12).
This is such an easy situation to fall into. We all like the idea of our destination being heaven. We like feeling as though we belong to God. However, we don’t want to actually do the work of following God – this is where the passion is gone!
Here is a real life example. I have a vice that I am ashamed to admit here. I watch the ABC television show The Bachelorette. On this most recent season, I really disliked the bachelorette chosen, Hannah. I could tell she was fake from the start. I was tempted to abandon this season, but decided to watch despite my dislike for the bachelorette. However, the season proved to be more interesting than I thought it would be. The contestants breached the issue of Christian faith in a way that I don’t recall ever seeing before on the show, and I believe that it actually applies to what I am discussing here.
Hannah had claimed to be a Christian and to be a woman of faith since the previous season of The Bachelor. She continued to do so in this season. Of course, anyone who watches this television series knows that it is unlikely that a genuine Christian would go on the show. During the season, Hannah touted her faith as paramount in her life but in the show she cursed often, did things such as go bungee jumping naked, and admitted to having sex with one of the contestants.
Despite her actions, she claimed that she was a Christian and no one could judge her. After being confronted by a Christian contestant regarding the sanctity of marriage in Christianity and then admitting to having sex, she even said “and Jesus still loves me.”
So is this true? Can she be a Christian and actively sin against God? Does Jesus still love her?
I found this scenario interesting because this same spiritual condition is so common among supposed Christian people today. These are people who go to church. They know a little about God and like the idea of being a Christian. However, they don’t actually want to change their lives. They don’t want to have to follow God and obey Him. They don’t want to have passion for God.
The fact is, as a Christian, you MUST follow God. You cannot actively live in sin and then expect to go to heaven. Yes, Jesus still loves her – BUT HE DOESN’T LOVE HER SIN! Christ is holy and cannot be with sin. So, if you live in sin, you cannot be with Christ, and therefore, you cannot be Christian.
The result of this spiritual condition is hell. God will spue them out! Protect your heart against this apostasy and recognize those who claim to be Christian but are not. How do we do that?
Matthew 7:16-20
Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
The bottom line is you cannot be lukewarm and Christian. Examine yourself. Do you have passion for God? Do you go to church but never open your Bible in between services? Do you actively live in sin?