Hot, Cold or Lukewarm?

[Christ's Free Servant]

In the following passage of scripture, Jesus states to the church at Laodecia that because they are neither hot nor cold but rather are lukewarm that he is about to spit them out of his mouth. What category do you believe fits your life, if you care to say, and what do you think it means to be "hot" or "lukewarm"? Without getting legalistic, what do you think are the dividing factors between a believer who is "hot" and a believer who is "lukewarm"? And, based upon the following passage, what do you think it means when he says "I am about to spit you out of my mouth"? Do you think believers today take this seriously? Do you? And, if so, what difference should it make in your life? I've been giving this a lot of thought lately:

"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

[ONE WHO WISHES TO LOVE GOD]

Well my sister some would say I am to Hot to handel and others would say I am to cold to hold.

But all kidding aside I find this to be my case that the times we are living in are so bad and so ment to cause us to keep out of focus that some times I feel like I am unstopable with my walk and other times I (feel) corection I know I am needing a that spirtule kick, if you know what I mean.

well I try to keep in mind the 10 virgins described in Matthew 25. 1 - 13 so as to make every day count.

One way of considering our walk is like when at work when are Boss is around we tend to be more busy about are work but when they are not around then the tendancy is to be as not as productive. Well we need to mind full that He see's us 24/7 not simply becuase He see's us but because the reward he gives us is more than a paycheck every other week, infact even at our best are aditude should be that we are good for nothing slaves we have only done what we should have done. So He reminds us Happy is that slave that is found doing His masters will on his master arriveing he will appoint him over many things.

Oh my God if I am not mesuren up please convict me so to know in what ever way in need to Improve. allways I remain your lowly one in the name of your beloved Son.........Amen

Well C.F.S you started a good thread here

[ONE WHO WISHES TO LOVE GOD]

Well my sister some would say I am to Hot to handel and others would say I am to cold to hold.

But all kidding aside I find this to be my case that the times we are living in are so bad and so ment to cause us to keep out of focus that some times I feel like I am unstopable with my walk and other times I (feel) corection I know I am needing a that spirtule kick, if you know what I mean.

well I try to keep in mind the 10 virgins described in Matthew 25. 1 - 13 so as to make every day count.

One way of considering our walk is like when at work when are Boss is around we tend to be more busy about are work but when they are not around then the tendancy is to be as not as productive. Well we need to mind full that He see's us 24/7 not simply becuase He see's us but because the reward he gives us is more than a paycheck every other week, infact even at our best are aditude should be that we are good for nothing slaves we have only done what we should have done. So He reminds us Happy is that slave that is found doing His masters will on his master arriveing he will appoint him over many things.

Oh my God if I am not mesuren up please convict me so to know in what ever way in need to Improve. allways I remain your lowly one in the name of your beloved Son.........Amen

Well C.F.S you started a good thread here

[Guest shiloh357]

In the following passage of scripture, Jesus states to the church at Laodecia that because they are neither hot nor cold but rather are lukewarm that he is about to spit them out of his mouth. What category do you believe fits your life, if you care to say, and what do you think it means to be "hot" or "lukewarm"? Without getting legalistic, what do you think are the dividing factors between a believer who is "hot" and a believer who is "lukewarm"? And, based upon the following passage, what do you think it means when he says "I am about to spit you out of my mouth"? Do you think believers today take this seriously? Do you? And, if so, what difference should it make in your life? I've been giving this a lot of thought lately:

"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

[nebula]

Jesus says I wish you were either hot or cold. Hot and cold water are both useful to us. Cold water is refreshing and it quenches thirst. Hot water has healing and anti-sceptic properties.

Lukewarm water in those days, was not just useless but potentially deadly. These were apathetic, complacent people, neither hot nor cold. They were not making themselves useful for the Kingdom.

I agree here.

God cannot desire us to be cold towards Him, as the traditional contemporary translation of this passage goes - that goes against His nature.

Looking at the passage this way is much more sobering.

Are you as cold water - giving refreshment to others?

Are you as hot water - ministering healing?

Or are you as lukewarm water - ineffective?

Lukewarm can also mean blending into the culture such that none can tell by your life that you are any different than anyone else. For, in context, that is what happened to the Christians in Laodacea.

Do we complain about our bosses like everyone else? Or do we respect those in authority over us and pray for them in th efear of the Lord?

Those in authority, do you treat those under you kindly or do you abuse your power over them in the fear of the Lord?

That's one example.

[st. Worm]

We have to be careful here lest we turn our faith into an endless requirement of good works. The passage is specifically for the church of Laodecia for its practices and indifference. We must be very careful when we try to apply it to ourselves as individuals. If we are truthful we are at best lukewarm in our faith. It is God's grace that keeps us and not some self controlling hot button.

[Christ's Free Servant]

We have to be careful here lest we turn our faith into an endless requirement of good works. The passage is specifically for the church of Laodecia for its practices and indifference. We must be very careful when we try to apply it to ourselves as individuals. If we are truthful we are at best lukewarm in our faith. It is God's grace that keeps us and not some self controlling hot button.

I think we have to be careful that we don't write off scripture as not being relevant to us because it was written to a specific group of people. In that case, we would have to write off most of the Bible - Ephesians was written to the Ephesians, Corinthians to the Corinthians, etc. It is not that we take all scripture literally and apply it to us in all situations, but it is there for us to learn from and much of it can be applied across the board. Does the Church of Laodecia describe the Church of today in America? Sure it does! Does it apply to every individual? No! But, can we all learn from it? Yes! We all have a human tendency to be "lukewarm" in our relationship with the Lord because of the world we live in and because of these fleshly bodies we live in. Let's remember this passage here:

II Tim 3:16-17 NIV: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

[EricH]

I don't think Shiloh was saying that the passage was not relavent. He was saying that we need to have a proper understanding of the symbols to apply it correctly. Jesus was not saying that He wished people were either spiritually on fire or spiritually cold. He was saying that as a result of their conversion they should have been either spirituall refreshing, or spiritually healing. But instead of those alternatives they had become spiritually poisonous

[Christ's Free Servant]

Thanks to all who supplied the history behind the church of Laodecia and the usage of the terms "hot", "cold" and "lukewarm." I think that really adds value to the discussion and gives fresh insight into the meaning behind the passage. And, I thank you all for your candid approach to the subject of "lukewarmness," too. You have helped me gain insight into the meaning of the word and to what it means to be "hot" for God versus being "lukewarm" without getting legalistic about it. Yes, this should never be turned into a list of rules to follow, but obedience to God is certainly central and there are many, many passages in scripture that teach us how we must behave, how we must treat other people, etc.

Would it be safe to say that being "hot" for God is to walk in fellowship with him daily and to walk in obedience to his commands? And, "lukewarmness" could possibly be characterized by a lack of connection to the "vine" and perhaps a very casual approach to Christianity? Without getting legalistic and coming up with a bunch of rules, I still would like to hear some other opinions on how a life that is "hot" for God would be characterized by how we live our lives versus a life that is "lukewarm." On a more personal level, what should change in your life if you are to go from "lukewarmness" to being "hot" for God?

[Guest shiloh357]

The message appears to be that we need to be useful for the Kingdom, as both Cold (refreshing, edifying, encouraging) and Hot (healing, holy, standing against sin). We need both components in the Kingdom of God. It is when we become apathetic, (lukewarm) that we fall into inappropriate behavior, and we are no longer fit as conduits for God's character and operations to flow through. We, as EricH pointed out become poisonous to others. We find among the Lukewarm believers, gossip, talebearing, complaining, murmurring, etc. Such things are deadly to a healthy church.

Nebula also pointed out that we need to be conscious on a day by day basis as ot our personal conduct even at work. We need to both hot and cold on the job and everywhere we go.