Lukewarm: Notes for Tomorrow’s Sermon

I’m preaching tomorrow on a difficult topic, on the fact that American Christianity has excused a lukewarm, half-hearted (if that much) response to God, that we have created a theology that says this is acceptable, when it is in fact utterly unacceptable.  God detests a lukewarm response to Him because He is worthy of nothing less than whole-hearted surrender to Him.  We are lukewarm toward God because we have redefined Him, and what it is to follow Him, based on our own terms, rather than seeing God for who He is and letting that define everything else.

As I preach this, I’m acutely aware of James 3:1

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Because of that, I need to take care not to create the impression that I’m exempt from this teaching, or that I’m saying this from a position of superior righteousness.  I need to seek to increasingly practice what I preach.

Below are the condensed notes for my sermon, and I welcome your comments.  If you would like the full version of my notes, let me know in a comment, and I’ll email them to you.

The point: Many American Christians are lukewarm, because we are more attached to the material things we have and the comfortable lifestyle they provide than we are to God.  To excuse being lukewarm is to not truly follow God.  God is worthy of  nothing less than everything we are and have, and He finds lukewarm-ness disgusting.

Spelling it out:

• We have access to lots of “stuff” and this stuff makes our lives easy.
• We are very attached to these things, and to easiness.
• We have defined Reality on these terms:  Life SHOULD be easy
  • We have defined God in these terms as well
    • God exists to make my life (here and in eternity) easy.
  • We should be looking first at God and then defining everything else in light of who He is and what He has done and is doing.

Our definition of being a Christian.

• It is defined in terms of a “greater truth” – that our life should be easy, with few exceptions.
• Material life is the most real.  It makes our lives easy, and we feel like we are in control (for the most part).
• God gets isolated into the realm of beliefs, ideas, and thoughts.
  • That’s where we want Him to stay unless He plans on making life easier
• We know we can’t control things on the other side of death, but that God can.
  • We put this within the context of our agenda to be comfortable
    • Heaven means eternal ease and comfort.  Jesus is important because He can give that to us.
    • So God is most important because He offers eternal bliss when we die, which fits perfectly into our agenda to be comfortable.  It’s the way things Should Be.
    • This is what it means to be a Christian.  You believe in Jesus, so you get to go to Heaven (John 3:16)
• Next we think about Church within these terms
  • Redefining church:  a place you go to once or twice/week
    • True definition: A people belonging to God, with the assignment (privilege) of carrying out His plan as they gather to worship and serve.
  • We want options about when we gather, because gathering together should be easy.
• Thinking about worship.
  • Redefining worship: Singing/Music
    • Preferably presented in an entertaining way, providing an emotional kick.
    • True definition: lives given in sacrifice (Romans 12)
• Study and Prayer
  • We approach the Bible as a document containing principles designed to make life easy.
    • It’s difficult to find these principles in many places, so we think that the Bible is hard to read.
  • God, being placed into the realm of belief, thought, and idea, is difficult to talk to, compared to how we talk to physical, tangible humans.
    • We have this idea that we can’t use normal speech or talk about normal things with Him.
  • Therefore, we look to a pastor to perform these things for us.
    • Good sermons should find principles in Biblical passages (what did God mean to say?)
      • Those principles, though sometimes challenging, should make things easier in the long run
      • Biblical “truths” put in a nutshell, and spoon fed.
      • Challenges should be punctuated with “but it’s okay if you don’t do this, thanks to grace.”
    • We’ll also get the pastor to pray, since he knows how

Approaching God and Christianity this way has resulted in a lukewarm response to Him.  We have made Him man-centered instead of making ourselves God-centered.  This reduces Him significantly, so that we are following not God, but an idol of ourselves.

Isaiah 6

• Isaiah perceives God correctly
  • Perceives himself, by contrast, also correctly and responds appropriately
    • God responds to humility with grace, then asks someone to serve Him.
    • Isaiah jumps at the opportunity, not knowing what it will involve (because God hasn’t stated it yet), but that doesn’t matter in light of the fact that He gets to live for this amazing and gracious God.  Nothing else compares to Him and Isaiah knows it.

• If Isaiah was the typical American Christian.
  • Would have thought the special effects were cool.
  • God would have had to point out that Isaiah wasn’t worthy to be there, and that the only remedy would be for God Himself to leave all of that, to suffer greatly, to become sin – the thing that earns His wrath and disgust most – in order to give righteousness to Isaiah.
    • Isaiah would have said “yeah okay, I’ll take that.”
  • His response to “Who shall I send, and who shall go for Me?”
    • Not me!
      • I’m not gifted in that way anyway
      • And besides, I don’t have to do that – I just have to believe.
      • I like my life the way it is, so unless You are going to make things easier, leave me alone.

Is this your response to God? This kind of response is no response.  You’re still living for yourself

• Matthew 25:31-46
  • Did you serve Me by serving others?
• Matthew 7:13-14
  • The road to life is difficult, and few find it.  The easy road leads to destruction.  There’s no third road
• Matthew 7:21-23
  • Not all who call Jesus “Lord” will enter the Kingdom, and many will be surprised when they don’t.
• Revelation 3:15-17
  • These people were like us.  They had defined reality based on ease.
  • God will not accept a lukewarm response.

We cannot escape dealing with this issue. We cannot defend or excuse being lukewarm.  God will not accept it, and when we truly see Who He is and what He has done for us, we will see properly that the only worthy response is a life completely surrendered to Him.

• We must avoid the temptation to half-heartedly say “Yeah, I guess I am lukewarm and I should do something about it.  So yeah, I’ll look into that and try to remember to pray about it.”
• Be careful not to just agree somewhat with these words and then not act on them and seek change through the grace of God.

Potential questions
Is this “works righteousness?”

• No.  Works cannot save us, but salvation will result in works.

How do I make myself NOT lukewarm?

• Beware of formulas and rules.
• “let us fix our eyes on Jesus.”

Does this mean that I am not saved if my life is easy?

• No.  God may bless us with material wealth and ease if He chooses, but a surrendered heart is generous, compassionate, cares for those in need, and is not attached to or enslaved by material things and ease.

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