October 13th, 2016

...now browsing by day

 

The”L”Word

Thursday, October 13th, 2016

7banner

Yeah…not that “L” word.

Many churches have their wings clipped. What I mean by that is many churches stop dreaming or they tell themselves “we can’t do that.” You have probably heard the old ditty about The 7 last words of the church: “We never did it that way before.”

The “L” word I’m speaking about this Sunday as I wrap up the series on the 7 churches of Revelation is

LUKEWARM

We have Instagram these days; this short letter is a Nastygram. Laodicea holds the distinction of being the only church of the seven in which Jesus has absolutely nothing good to say. And that negativity is centered around one major problem: Laodicea is inflicted with the “L” disease…it is lukewarm. Not cold. Not hot. Lukewarm. Like water left in a car. Like water in a water bottle after a long bike ride…long after the ice has melted.

The word used for cold in this passage is “icy cold.”

The word used for hot in this passage is “boiling hot.”

Laodicea was tepid. They would have known exactly what Jesus was talking about. They lived near two special sources of water. One was a pool of medicinal springs and the other was pure, cold water.

Laodicea was doing just enough to get by. You know…minimum requirement stuff for being “acceptably” Christian. The result was a spiritual farce. Just enough to ease the guilty conscience but certainly not enough to set the world on fire or to make a difference in lives.

I’m praying OVCF avoids that. I’m praying I avoid that. What about you?