Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Lukewarm Christianity! (By Cortney Johnson)

Ice cubes, lukewarm, or hot coals?

If you were to ask me what the greatest thing I dislike is, I would most likely quickly answer you, lukewarm Christianity! Because lukewarm christians neither hate God nor are they “on fire “ for him. So they are in a stale chip state.
Or should we call it a sleeping mode ?Many want the benefits of being a Christian, but they want what the world has to offer as well, in my opinion those two things don’t mix!
I think this is one thing that Christ hates most as well!
Lets look at what he says about these kind of people in Revelation 3:15-16. He says “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot, I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth .” I’m sure that we have all had an upset stomach before, where you end up spewing something from your mouth !!
Well, Jesus says that lukewarm Christians make him so sick that he spews them out of his mouth! That tells me that he very much dislikes them as well.
Even though I greatly dislike lukewarm Christianity, I have to admit that, all to often I catch myself In this state. As I’m sure that we all do.
Sadly enough, I see a lot of Christians today “sitting on the fence” of indecision, and oh how sad it is!
On one side of the fence they see a brown, dry, ugly, pasture with skinny, bedraggled sheep, and Satan himself is there shepherd.
But that great deceiver has a way of making his pasture look rosy and fun. This pasture is so easy to enter , you can do what you want, look at anything, listen to anything, touch anything, smell anything, think anything you want to. Sadly enough many decide to choose this pasture.
And on the other side of the fence they see a beautiful dark green pasture, with a beautiful, cool, clean, babbling brook where they may refresh they’re thirsty souls. And in this pasture the sheep are so oddly, different they are so content and they look so healthy! In this pasture Jesus is they’re shepherd, he is such a loving, and kind leader, the only thing is, they must give themselves completely to him, they must surrender they’re everything to him, and do this willingly. And to most, this is just to hard. But this loving shepherd gave his life for his sheep so that this might be possible, And he has provided a stream to refresh the weary, and it is full of wonderful promises to encourage them on to an even better more glorious land. He says in Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they Which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled .” but they must give up there whole heart to there shepherd before they can become “filled”, though they don’t realize it, this is for there own best good.
Mrs. White asks us this question, “But what do we give up, when we give all? A sin polluted heart, for Jesus to purify, to cleanse by his own blood, and to save by his matchless love. And yet men think it hard to give up all!
I am ashamed to hear it spoken of, ashamed to write it. God does not require us to give up anything that is for our best interest to retain. In all that He does, He has the well- being of his children in view. Would that all who have not chosen Christ might realize that He has something vastly better to offer them than they are seeking for themselves. Man is doing the greatest injury and injustice to his own soul when he thinks and acts contrary to the will of God. No real joy can be found in the path forbidden by Him who knows what is best and plans for the good of his creatures.” Steps To Christ pg46
What a gift to give to our dear shepherd! A dirty rotten heart!! But, surprisingly enough that is all He asks of us! Isn’t that amazing! Are we really truly consecrated to Christ? I mean REALLY ? Let us look at it in this way, what if your car made It only 50% of the way to your destination? What if the airplane you were flying made it only 50% to the runway? What about if you only got50% of your pay check? What about if your computer worked only half of the time? If we only give half of ourselves to the Lord I tell you that we are giving none of ourselves! What if your friend got a gift for you, and tore it in half, and gave you only half of the gift, you wouldn’t want it would you? It would be completely worthless to you! So is it when we only give half of ourselves to our shepherd.
But to keep this walk with God it takes a commitment on our part. We must be continually on the watch, lest we slip into temptation.
So, how do you stay in this “green pasture” I can hear you ask. How can we stop running for the fence, when we hit a low point in our Christian experience? Or when wolves seek to devour us?
Mrs. White says, “Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your prayer be, “Take me, o Lord, as wholly thine. I lay all my plans at thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee.” This is a daily matter. Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ.” Steps To Christ pg70
If we become true friends of Christ, we will want to never leave Him ever again, so as we spend more time with Him we will become more and more like our dear shepherd!
Will you unite with me as I strive to never again go running for the fence, or being like a stale chip! But give him 100% of my heart, in EVERY matter of my life? By Gods grace may we be on fire for the Lord, and through him working through us, may we bring many more sheep into His pasture!

Written by, Cortney R Johnson.

3 comments:

  1. Very good post, Cortney! That part about giving ourselves completely to Christ reminds me of the verse: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24, KJV. If we give God only half our heart, we're not giving him any of it! Thanks for the encouragement to stay totally committed to Christ!

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  2. I agree that folks should not be lukewarm. I think of it more as hypocritical, since if you aren't serious about what you believe, there is no point in believing or professing to believe in it at all.

    For me, that has meant leaving the church entirely, as I could not reconcile in my mind the many differences in view both inside of the SDA religion and between it and any other religion or point-of-view.

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  3. Very true!
    I believe that probably most of us have had our doubts about the Seventh day Adventist church, or even religion in general, and a lot of it stems to Christ's supposed followers. But here is why I continue to attend SDA churches, and believe with my whole heart that it is God's true last day remnant church. For example, if you are driving down the road, and pass a speed limit sign, that states that the speed limit is 65 MPH. I may say, 'That means I can go 65 MPH, plus 5.' My friend may say, 'No, that means I should go at least 10 MPH below that.' I might have somebody else say, 'You are both wrong. That sign says I have to go 65 MPH all the time.'
    Now, my question to you is, Which one is right? No, I don't think I am losing my mind! : ) We could all agree that all three of us were wrong, the fact is that the sign was right! The same holds true for religion. It is not the truth’s fault that people have different opinions about it, it is, nonetheless, still the truth. Hypocrites are definitely a hindrance to the truth, but, as the illustration above shows, they cannot make the truth a lie. That we will have hypocrites to deal with until Jesus comes, is apparent. Remember Mathew 13:24-30, Where it talks about the wheat and the tares? They will all grow together until the harvest. I have studied a little about hypocrites lately, and it is interesting that the Greek word for hypocrite means actor! So, really, people who say one thing, and then do another, are really just acting the part of Christians. It is not God's fault that His supposed followers are not serious about following his directions.
    In John 8:32, it says; "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Free from what? In the context of this verse, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, who could be classified as the hypocrites of that time. Jesus wanted to set us free from hypocrisy! I long to be set free from hypocrisy myself, and regret the times I have stated my own opinions, instead of the truth. I want to believe the truth, and help others to see 'The sign,' and not what I think of the sign. May God help us to be faithful to Him! Your Brother in Christ, --Schane

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