A friend of mine asked me this question after worship today: “Why does your blog focus on the West?” And when I gave him this answer, he immediately nodded in agreement: “Because the West is lukewarm.” No, I’m not talking about a wash cycle (although we could use a good cleaning). I’m talking about how Western countries have become so comfortable in their sin that they have forgotten their desperate need for a savior. Life in the West has become so convenient that we don’t need to rely on God for aour daily bread…just on the hours of operation at the local drive thru. And the justice systems we enjoy in the West, particularly in the United States, give us such a feeling of safety and security that we fail to focus on the greatest Judge of all – the One before Whom we will all stand one day. Okay, enough pontificating. Let’s get into this.
When John was isolated on the Greek Isle of Patmos (now a tourist stop for Mediterranean cruise ships), he was taken up in the Spirit and given powerful visions of what would happen to the 1st century church if they didn’t clean up their act. For our purposes here, let’s focus on the vision John had for the Laodicean church. God admonishes Laodicean believers in the third chapter of Revelation for having neither a hot nor a cold relationship with Him. So disgusted was the Lord by their lukewarm commitment that He said in verse 16: “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (ESV). He goes on to say in verse 17: “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” Sound familiar anyone?
The United States of America is one of the most free, just, rich, and prosperous countries in the West. Indeed, we are truly blessed. Areas in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, on the other hand, suffer a great deal of injustice, enslavement, and poverty. It should not surprise you, then, that the people most on fire for the Gospel are located in Ethiopia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, China, India, and other Eastern nations. In fact, it’s so bad in the East that missionaries literally risk their lives smuggling bibles into the underground churches. For the many secret worshipers, getting caught with a bible could mean imprisonment, torture, or death…but they are not deterred. Now, let’s travel back west. Can we Westerners say we are willing to die in order to follow Jesus? Or, that if push came to shove, and something happened in our nations that made Christianity illegal, would we pick up our crosses and follow Him? And before you accuse me of riding my high horse too high, I ask myself these questions first and foremost.
All you’ve just read above is the reason for this little blog ministry of mine. Let us all grow in spiritual maturity until we are on fire for Jesus once again. Let us excitedly wait outside our church’s doors, desperate to get in. Let our hunger for the Word exceed hungers of the world. And let us welcome God’s anger not as something to fear, rather something to be grateful for. It is a clear sign that there is still time to repent and come back home.
Beloved, there are false teachers and watered-down theologies everywhere around us. These “Christians” play fast and loose with Scripture in order to suit their own desires. So, what can we do to beat back the falsehoods that threaten our relationships with Jesus? Seek spiritual maturity. As the church universal, we must mature together in the Word so we may avoid the deception warned against in Galatians chapter 6 verses 7-8: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (ESV)