Lukewarm Faith

The Church of Laodicea

The city of Laodicea was build on the most important road in Asia, the road between Ephesus and Syria. The road began at the coast in Ephesus and climbed to the central plateau 8500 feet above. It then followed the River Maeander until it reached the Gates of Phrygia. The Maeander would then enter into a narrow, precipitous gorge which no road could pass so the road detoured through the Lycus valley. It is on this detour that the city of Laodicea stood.

This made Laodicea one of the great commercial and strategic centers of the ancient world. But originally Laodicea was built to be a fortress, but there was a problem. The water supply to the city flowed from a spring 6 miles away. So under a siege, the city would fall very quickly for the enemy could easily cut the city from the water of life.

So Laodicea became a prosperous city in times of peace alone. Under the Roman Empire, Laodicea found the peace it desperately needed to thrive. It became a great banking and financial hub. So much so that in 61 AD, a great earthquake devastated the city and yet the city did not accept help from Rome to rebuild. They paid for it on their own.

Laodicea was also a great center for the manufacturing of clothing. The sheep around the city were famous for their violet-black glossy wool. It was also a medical hub specializing in ear and eye salve made from Phrygian powder.

Lukewarm Faith

Revelation 3:14–22 (NIV)

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Jesus’ final letter to the churches of Asia Minor is seemingly filled with condemnation and words against the church, but the letters to the churches were written not for condemnation but for the building up and drawing near of the body of Christ. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.

We have given into a powerless Christianity that states Jesus takes you as you are. While the foundational truth that you do not have to “clean yourself up” before you come to the Lord is very much so true, It is not true about an active and vibrant relationship with God. God will clean you up. He will wash you as white as snow. He desires to not only justify you but to sanctify and then glorify you. The truth is the reason why God accepts you as you are is because you can not clean yourself up apart from Him.

The church of Laodicea was guilty of entering into a relationship with Christ but surrendering nothing over to Him. The remained dependent upon the work of their hands. They remained stuck in their present earthly riches and lost sight of the temporariness of all they sought to amass.

Lukewarm faith is stagnant and tepid. It is indecisive for it fails to follow. It is straddling the line so that one can never move closer to the aim or goal.

Jesus warns them to turn away from the cheap substitutes of the world and take hold of what is true and real, the things of God.