Laodicea: The Lukewarm Church

Over the past several weeks, I've been writing about the letters Jesus dictates to John for the seven churches of Asia in Revelation 2-3. If you've reading these posts, I hope that you've been able to relate in some way to the messages that Jesus is giving to these churches. There are a lot of good things about these churches, and hopefully those qualities are present in our churches as well. But there are also a lot of areas in the believers' lives that need correction, and I would bet that many of us need the same words of warning and challenge. This might be especially true in the seventh and last letter, and probably the most well-known, the letter to the church at Laodicea. Here's what it says in Revelation 3:13-22:

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.

There are a lot of tough words in this passage. Jesus isn't being overly delicate here. In my posts on the letters to Smyrna and Philadelphia, I pointed out that those letters are unique in that they are the only ones where Jesus gives no rebuke. Well, Laodicea is unique in the opposite way. Jesus gives no commendation. He doesn't say, "Here's the good things you've done, but here's some ways you need to do better." He just says, "I know your deeds," and it's pretty much downhill from there.

So what are these deeds that Jesus reprimands the Laodiceans about? He says that they are lukewarm. I remember when I first read this passage when I was younger, I thought this just meant that the Laodiceans were sort of committed to God, but not all the way. To be "hot water" would be good (like being "on fire" for Jesus), and being "cold water" meant you had a pentagram tattooed on your forehead and could quote passages of Thus Spoke Zarathustra from memory. But now I don't think that's what the image of lukewarm water is getting at, because the truth is that both hot water and cold water are useful. You can use hot water to bathe in or to cook, and you can use cold water to drink or to play in the sprinkler in your front yard. But lukewarm, tepid water...it's not really good for much of anything. It's useless. And that's what Jesus is getting at, I think. He's not saying, "I would rather you be a Satanist that be lukewarm." But he does blast the Laodicean church for having become useless to the kingdom. And what's the threat if this situation remains the same? Jesus says he would spit them out of his mouth. Literally, the word means to vomit. There's not really anything in the world I hate more than vomiting, and I imagine it would be even worse to be the vomit. But that's what Jesus says would happen with the Laodiceans if they don't repent.

But why had the Laodicean church become useless? The rest of the letter explains. They depended on their own wealth and security and failed to recognize their need for God. That's the thing about Laodicea: the city was absolutely loaded. In A.D. 60, an earthquake had destroyed the city of Laodicea. When the Roman government showed up and offered to help with the rebuilding, the Laodiceans said, "Thanks, but no thanks. We can handle it." Can you imagine a city today doing that--turning down governmental aide after a natural disaster because they are wealthy enough to rebuild on their own? The Laodiceans had a lot money. They had enough to navigate life pretty well on their own. The problem with the church however, was that this security found in riches caused them to also tell God, "Thanks, but we've got this."

The believers in Laodicea were deceiving themselves, though. The truth was that they weren't alright. They thought their bank accounts gave them security, but Jesus strips away their inadequate veneers are reveals their true state. They are "wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." They thought that because of their wealth, they were spiritually self-sufficient, but in reality they are a total wreck. And instead of trusting in their gold, clothing, and eye salve (three products that Laodicea was known for), they needed what only God could give them.

There aren't many passages of the Bible that are more relevant to the American church than Revelation 3:14-22. A lot of people shy away from the book of Revelation because they think it's all these crazy visions that no one can understand, so it doesn't matter anyway. But Revelation was written to seven churches in Asia in order to guide them as they followed Christ in the world, and those seven churches dealt with a lot of the same things we do today. Laodicea was rich. They depended on wealth instead of on God because, well, it seemed like they could get by doing that. And that same temptation exists in our own culture today. We are the richest nation in the history of the world. We can provide for ourselves the things that we need. And if there's some kind of emergency, we've got savings accounts and insurance policies and contingency plans to bail us out. With so many resources at our fingertips, we might in effect say to God, "Thanks God, but we can handle things here. We've got it taken care of."

In a lecture on this passage, my old Revelation professor Shane Wood asks, "If the Holy Spirit left your life, would your life change? If the Holy Spirit left your church, would your church change?" Do we really rely on God? Our wealth can make that difficult. That's the thing about being poor. A poor person recognizes their dependence. He understands that he needs something that he is unable to provide for himself. And that might be why Jesus said the poor are blessed (Lk. 6:20), and James says that the poor are actually in a high position while the rich are in a low position (Jas. 1:9-10). If we are going to be the disciples and the church that Christ calls us to be, we need more than anything to recognize that we can't go anywhere without him.

I think Jesus is trying to get our attention. He's pounding on the door, trying to rouse us from our comfort and lethargy. When we talk about Jesus knocking at the door, we tend to think of it in evangelistic contexts, and we tell unbelievers that God is knocking on their heart, so they need to let him in. But it's interesting that in the context of Romans 3, this image is spoken to the church! Jesus wants in the church! And far too often, we leave him out on the front step. It's time we bring him in for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this week and that you get to spend it with family and friends. And if you plan on going shopping on Black Friday, please be kind to your cashier. If you're a guy, give him a high five. If your a lady, give him your number and a wink. He could use it.