I Want to be Hot!

SCRIPTURE: Rev. 3:14-22
¹⁴ “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. ¹⁵ I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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. ¹⁹ Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. ²⁰ 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 him, and he with me. ²¹ To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

OBSERVATIONS: I went on a mission trip to one of the poorest parts of Africa a few years ago. This scripture came to mind when I saw the faith and dedication of the believers there. They would walk up to 3 hours, barefoot, to get to church. They packed in the crude building, which had no seats, until it was standing room only and would worship with a fervor that is very rare in the United States. The service went on for hours with no boredom exhibited by anyone there. They were definitely "hot" in their faith and in their deeds. Jesus specifically mentions that the passion for Him can be seen by the deeds of the church. As I compared their fervor, demonstrated by their deeds, I was struck by the relative "cold" of the American church. We start looking at our watches if the sermon goes beyond 30 minutes. After all, that cuts into our time for watching our favorite sports on TV! We are the richest believers, and the most educated about the Word, yet we do not want it force fed to us or our Christian leaders to expect too much of us in effort or giving. What a contrast my American church experience was to what I saw in Africa! They were poor by our standards, but rich in faith, with the experience of many more miracles of healing and provision than we have.

APPLICATION: I was so humbled by my African brothers and sisters. We were there to build them a medical clinic and had with us a team of doctors, nurses and dentists to provide those services to them. In addition, we who were pastors conducted a teaching seminar to the African pastors there so they would have a better understanding of the Bible. I had the experience of having several pastors come and kneel before me asking that I pray for and bless them. One was a woman pastor, pregnant with her 10th child, who pastored 3 churches in nearby villages, the smallest of which had about 500 members and growing, and the largest of which was about 1500 members. I have never reached so many in all my years of ministry. Another pastor was a man who had suffered cruel torture for the sake of preaching the gospel. The scars were visible on his body where he had been whipped with chains and been pierced through his feet with long pointed sticks. These were kneeling before me for prayer! I felt I needed to be the one on my knees before them! Oh, that we would learn from them to not be lukewarm, but to be "hot" for Jesus! They had more joy than I have ever seen in most American believers. I think our wealth and self-centered sufficiency has kept us from seeing and receiving the spiritual wealth our Lord provides for each of us. Every time I read this section of scripture, I remember what I learned from my precious African brothers and sisters.

PRAYER: Father, I want to be like my African family. I want to take to heart all the things I learned from them. I know they received from us and were grateful for what we shared with them, but they gave us just as much or more. May my life reflect the same passion and may I never be lulled into spiritual "lukewarmness" by the enemy of my soul. Keep me vigilant so I recognize his attempts to tempt me into complacency and compromise. In Jesus' Name, Amen.