Lukewarm = Disgusting

I think the entire day yesterday was just one huge blessing from God! It had to be, I've never felt like that about a message or anything else before in my whole life. God laid a message on my heart about the Lukewarm Christian and it was very eye-opening and revealing to myself and a lot of people.

First off I would like to share this quote by Darlene Bishop, "Jesus isn't coming back for part time Christians but soldiers!" Wow when pastor Chad shared that quote with me it struck me right between the eyes! Jesus needs soldiers in this spiritual battle that we are facing so how can I be messing around and wasting so much time by being a part time/lukewarm Christian?

Well, the message I shared was combined between Francis Chan and myself. He did a great sermon at his church about being lukewarm and it was so powerful that I just had to share it. So I took the main things he was saying and showed them and accompanied it with what I had to say on the subject. (Click here to see his sermon).

The main scripture that is quoted in this message is found in Revelation 3:15-17 where Jesus is saying that I know your deeds, that you are neither Hot nor Cold but lukewarm and because of this I am about to spit you out of my mouth! Wow, that really hit me hard and convicted me. What could be so wretched, pitiful and nasty that it would cause Jesus to literally spit us out of his mouth? And the answer to that question is something that we tend to find everywhere, that people aren't "On Fire" for God. We've become comfortable. We don't look at all the blessings we've been given like someone would who was poor and needed so desperately that next bite of food. Chan goes on to say that we've become so comfortable in our lives that we think we don't need God. We think that because we have a job and money that we can just go out and get what we want at anytime we want to so that distorts and eliminates our need for God. It's that level of comfort that we grow accustomed to and leaves us neglecting the main source of it all.

We become comfortable with our house, money or car that we put it before God. It's like we look at the car or our retirement or even our families and say well I don't know if I can give this up and we question what's more important and God says that just makes me sick! That you feel like you need to choose between me and your "stuff" on that little speck of dirt that I created! That's what makes me want to spit you out of my mouth. The fact that you can't choose between your earthly things/idols or to be totally sold out and on fire for me. That just makes me sick is what God is saying.

I went on to say that when we are on fire for God he consumes us. Think about what a fire does, it consumes everything it encounters as long as it has the oxygen and things necessary to keep it going. Now if fire, the way we understand it, can consume most everything, think about what God could do for us in our spiritual walk if we would allow him to consume us. Our addictions, bad-habits and sins would have no room any longer in our lives. They would be consumed by God and it would make it easier for us to deal with. We have to get on fire for God so that he can consume us this way!

Wow, I never heard it said like that before. Chan did such a great job of explaining and doing the scripture justice that it hit me and convicted me of being just that, a lukewarm Christian. I prayed so hard yesterday for this message to be as powerful as it was for me when I first heard it and I prayed that I would change my attitude and become a Christian who is on fire for God. My prayer for all of us is that we would not be lukewarm any longer but that we would let God consume us and make us on fire for Him.

Are we soldiers for Christ and on fire for Him?

Or are you a part time Christian who has become lukewarm?