How Cold-Case Christianity has become lukewarm

The water in that image was crystal clear as was God's point when He stated, "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth." God has a remarkable distaste for lukewarm water, as should us all, when putting the term "lukewarm" into the right perspective.

Most of you will know me personally and my family from reading our blogs in the past, and some of you could have googled a topic similar to that of this post and found its content to be of interest. Either way, you will understand in this post that Christianity is a term often taken too lightly. True, it allows the freedom to speak Christ's name, but it also comes with a guidebook of what many non-Christians and atheists term as "the book of limits". Unfortunately, many of these people are also the young people who have taken advantage of the free-choice culture of doing whatever they please to get what they want and what they believe to be owed to them.

Okay, put a pot of water on to boil and add about a fourth a cup of salt. The salt represents the essence of Christianity and the water represents the world. You could take such an analogy two different directions. #1, we are the salt of the earth #2, the ways of the world are absorbing the essence of Christianity and watering it down. Though the first analogy is also true, we'll be going with the second.

God has placed his disciples in a cesspool of an unbelieving culture that clutches to anything that opposes the ideology behind Christ-like living. It boils down to the limits that seemingly come with a saving faith in Christ. First of all, let's debunk that infamous and limiting description of Christian standards. The term "limits" is a false interpretation of what living your faith really is. Living your faith is practicing the standards set in place so that a Christian is easily able to interpret what is of God and what is not. When someone has a true desire to seek out Jesus and pursue faith, then they will not hesitate to do what it takes to release themselves from a feeling of worldly entrapment. Sounds severe, but when comparing this description to the world itself, you'll find it surprisingly mild.

Even the term Christianity has been, in a sense, watered down by what I prefer to call a "merciful" culture. Whether they like the idea or not, they have taken on a term from scripture used to describe someone granting mercy on behalf of someone's mistakes. They have passively allowed sin to creep into the Christian belief system which is a tool in creating various strongholds that taint the conscience and allow for a more liberal belief system. MASSIVE REWIND: take a look at the beginning of this post. You will see the verse in Revelations describing how exactly God feels about these liberal-minded "Christians".

You are probably beginning to wonder if there are those that share such a severe perspective on the modern Christian religion. Take a look at the following quote.

 

"It is one thing for me to claim that God has changed me;

It is quite another for those around me

To acknowledge that I have truly changed."

-Dr. Voddie Baucham-

 

When you experience new life in Christ, you will be given a hunger for knowledge of all things pertaining to Him. You will want to know him, and though it will take time, you will also change the face of your lifestyle to match the image of Christ and not the image of the world. While the quote is not necessarily a severe attack against the lukewarm Christianity mentality, it does indicate the importance of valuing the ministry opportunity that just your life can be if you are truly changed. The way you live your life and your attitude will indicate what is existing in your personal walk with Christ. You can walk the walk and talk the talk, but can you live and breathe Christ and finally die to selfish pleasures? These pleasures breed discontent with Biblical standards, and the face of your faith will become altered. It is a frightening reality of the Christian culture. Can it be changed?

 

It can, but not without extreme difficulty. It is much harder than changing the course of a simple bad habit. This is altering a whole worldview. A worldview that takes only the most pleasurable aspects of Christianity and displays them in Pinterest memes to proclaim your faith (sorry meme lovers). Or in the YouTube video of a Christian artist singing about how much they just "love Jesus" with drums and electric guitars that mimic the style of a rock band or pop star. There is essentially nothing wrong with some of the theology in much of today's contemporary styled Christian music, but you can't take half of God's word and let the rest sit in Lamentations and Revelations to rot. Your faith isn't what you put on Facebook. It can't be described by posting a photo of yourself in a swimsuit on the beach with Philippians 4:13 as your caption. You can't live part of the Gospel and believe part of the Gospel and speak only half of the Gospel and forget that the convicting passages in Scripture don't exist. They exist for your good, and to bring about a change in your life. It's taking away from scripture that is serious. Don't starve your life and others by not living and preaching the complete word of God.

 

"Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it."

-Deuteronomy 12:32-

 

 

Lukewarm Christianity isn't just a term...it's reality. It's the reality of life all over the world. I heard the terminology once used in describing the Christian culture in America. "While the underground Churches in China are about a mile deep and an inch wide, the American Church is a mile wide and an inch deep." This isn't a biased comparison.

 

True, your nationality and interests define you (according to some standards), but are you allowing Christ to take over? Are you holding back what you value as most important, or are you giving up what is pleasurable to you? Teens, I know what it is like to have to give up something I enjoy for the sake of One. Does a flag or skin color define you? What about the number of comments you get on your latest selfie (Hey, I love selfies. They are fun, but do you define yourself by this?)? Or are you already or going to surrender everything you value, every item in your cabinet of personal idolatry, and submit them on the altar of prayer?

 

I offer up a personal challenge. I wrote this post not out of a desire to accuse or put down, but as a challenge to myself and others to live a life of hope instead of insecurity. I personally have many of these same struggles, do you? How much do you love Christ and do you love Him enough to give up everything you value? You cannot truly love Christ, if you value something more than a relationship with Him.

 

It's not an ultimatum. He presents you with a choice.

 

 And it will be the most important one you will ever make.