Run With It: Half-Hearted?

Or, Whole-Hearted?

You who claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ, are you passionate for him? Are you on fire for God and for the kingdom of heaven and for his holiness and righteousness to be lived out in your life? Do his words burn in you like a fire? And, you cannot hold them inside, but you must give them out?

Or, do you find yourself rather complacent, half-hearted, and unconcerned about your relationship with Jesus Christ? Perhaps you feel like you are saved and going to heaven, so it is no big deal if you keep on sinning, or if you follow the Lord in obedience or not. Does this describe you more?

“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.

Much of the church of today, at least here in America, appears to fit this description here. They are neither completely disinterested in God, in Jesus Christ, nor are they on fire for him, passionate about his Word, and dedicated to holiness and righteous living.

Their lives reflect more of the world than they do of Christ; more of living for self-pleasure, than they do of living to please God in all that they do. They are depleted of the power and witness of the Holy Spirit in their lives, in their gatherings, and in their ministry, and instead, their gatherings are often just Christianized versions of what the world is offering.

This church has been turned into a business, for the most part, and is marketed as such, thus church meetings are often more focused toward attracting the world, with worship services turned into huge stage productions, and pastors turning into clowns and entertainers in order to make the people laugh and to make church fun.

Thus, the gospel has also been diluted to make it more appealing to human flesh, so that people can go on in their sins without guilt or remorse, and in order that the world will want to come back to their meetings.

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.

But, the sad reality of it all is that most of these half-hearted Christians think they are ok. They think God is pleased with them no matter what they do, or no matter how they live their lives, because that is what they are being taught.

They are being given the impression that our salvation does not require repentance or obedience on our part, but that all we have to do is acknowledge who Jesus Christ is and accept his forgiveness of our sins, and then we are in. We have our ticket to heaven, and nothing we do from this point on effects our salvation one iota. But, that is a lie!

Thus, they do not see their shameful condition. They do not see that God is not pleased with them no matter what they do, and that what they do really does matter to God, a whole lot! He really is not ok with us continuing in willful sin against him and continuing to live for self-pleasure while we barely give him a passing “Hi.” He is not delighting in us when we follow after the lusts of our flesh, instead of being submitted to Christ and his cross. And, he wants his half-hearted church to see this, too.

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.

Because he loves his church, he will put the heat on, i.e. he will apply pressure and force in order to get his complacent people on fire for him, passionate and zealous for his kingdom work, walking in holiness and righteousness, and passionate about sharing his truths with others so that they, too, can be saved from their sins, snatched from the fire.

He is standing at the doors of our churches which have shut him out, and which have kicked the Holy Spirit out of their gatherings, and which have adopted the ways of the world, instead, in order to attract the world. And, he is knocking, and he is asking to be let back inside into hearts which are largely ignoring him, and into the gatherings of the church which have been given over to the flesh, and which have quenched the Holy Spirit.

He is calling out to his lukewarm, half-hearted people to turn from their idolatry, their spiritual adultery, and their lukewarmness, and to get on fire for the Lord and for his Word and for faithfulness and obedience to him. And, then their fellowship with the Lord, which is now broken or greatly diminished can be restored to its fullness and richness, as God intends.

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 blessings for obedience. One of the main ones is that we live and walk in victory over sin’s deceitfulness instead of live as though we were not cleansed from our sins. Jesus died on that cross, not just to free us from the punishment of sin, but to free us from our slavery (addictions) to sin.

It is a wonderful blessing to be able to walk in freedom from sin, and to not be weighed down by the consequences of our own wrong choices. It doesn’t mean we will never sin, but that sin no longer is our master. We are not controlled by it! And, we don’t live by it, i.e. it is no longer our practice. So, we can walk in peace and victory and in the joy of the Lord. Awesome!

It is also wonderful to walk in sweet fellowship with our Lord, in open and honest communion with him, holding nothing back, and to enjoy our times with him in his Word, in worship of him, in singing songs of praise to him, and following him wherever he sends us to do what he wants us to do.

And, one day we will get to be with him forever in glory, to be with him face to face. Oh, what a glorious day that will be!

The Battle for Truth / An Original Work

May 18, 2013 / Based off Malachi 1-4