Shallow

We have just seen an election campaign in the USA like no other I have ever witnessed, and I have seen a few. In a few days after winning the ticket to become the next President, many things said before have changed. Not just a little, but in a big way. In essence, Donald Trump won by using deceit at the highest level, not to mention downright lies to achieve his goal. He is already changing his mind on things like NATO, the wall along the Mexican border, affordable healthcare (Obamacare), his expressed views on the Clintons,the Obamas, and climate change to name just a few.

Before we rush to judgement on all those who voted for his success, and the lies he peddled, let’s take a look closer to home. We go by the name Christian? I wonder how we stack up against the things we say and do, and the Biblical standard we profess? In many ways we are no different from Donald Trump. We talk big, but deliver small. We claim that the answers to life’s ills are contained in the Bible, but we don’t act like it. Some even go to church on a Sunday, looking and sounding the part, but you wouldn’t know it during the rest of the week.

Before we shout about anyone else being a charlatan or a hypocrite, I suggest we take a long hard look at ourselves, and I include myself in that. Evidently there is much in common between a lying politician and a shallow christian. The biggest difference though is that any political charlatan can be replaced in a few years, and the world carries on. However a hypocrite claiming to be a Christian who does not live a good and Godly example in the way that he or she knows they should, will stand before a just and holy God and the outcome is eternal. Equally, we know that the Bible is not silent on this serious and important matter.  

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. Revelation 3:15,16

The axe is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Matthew 3:10

Tepid

I like my tea and coffee warm enough to drink, so that it isn’t too hot, and certainly not cold! Have you ever laid your hot drink down for too long, and lifted the cup to your lips only to discover your instinct was to spit it out? I have. God feels that way too. I can easily understand when we are stone cold, but surely if there’s some warmth, even if it is tepid, God would be ok about that? Apparently not!

The trouble about any liquid in a kettle that’s lukewarm is you don’t know if it is on the way to getting hotter, or just drifting into coldness. We can be like that, and God knows it. Trouble is we can play pretend that we are getting hotter, when all the time we are letting ourselves get colder and colder until we are dead stone cold!

So, what are the signs that we are dropping in Spiritual temperature? How about these suggestions for a starter?

Lacking interest in reading the Bible regularly.

Not praying because we don’t feel like it, and thinking it makes no difference.

Skipping church when there is a speaker or program we don’t like.

Avoiding Christian company because it makes you uncomfortable.

Behaving as if you know better than your ‘other’ Christian friends.

Don’t feel good enough for church or God, and don’t want to try.

It’s likely we suffer from at least one of these, but the real trouble is that we don’t see it. On top of that our friends don’t want to tell us, so it goes unchecked. I might go as far as to suggest that if our Christian example reduces the witness for good in a seeking, unbeliever’s heart, we are lukewarm. We can be absolutely certain that it hasn’t missed God’s attention. He knows, and although He is a God of mercy, love and grace, He is also a God who keeps His Word which says clearly in Hebrews 10:13, It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Also in the words of Revelation 3:16, So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.