{"id":6243,"date":"2018-03-04T14:16:31","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T20:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/?p=6243"},"modified":"2018-03-04T14:16:31","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T20:16:31","slug":"neither-cold-hot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/03\/04\/neither-cold-hot\/","title":{"rendered":"Neither Cold nor Hot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0By Clint Oppermann<\/strong><\/span>
\nUndeniably, the United States of America is an incredibly rich country. According to recent data released by the Federal Reserve, the collective net worth of households and nonprofit organizations reached a new high of $70.3 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2013\u00a0(Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis)<\/span>. Furthermore, adjusted for purchasing power, our nation\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) of $50,700 per capita compares favorably with the rest of the world\u00a0(Central Intelligence Agency)<\/span>. America has become a rich nation, and we, as a people, continue to add to our\u00a0physical riches year after year\u00a0with few interruptions.\u00a0<\/span>
\nUnfortunately, however, wealth usually brings with it a pernicious\u00a0side effect:\u00a0spiritual\u00a0lukewarmness.\u00a0Jesus addressed\u00a0this in\u00a0His letter\u00a0to the church in Laodicea:\u00a0<\/span>
\nI know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
\nSo, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of\u00a0My mouth.
\nFor you say,\u00a0\u201cI am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,\u201d\u00a0not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
\nI counsel you to buy from\u00a0Me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
\nThose\u00a0whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent\u00a0(Revelation\u00a03:15-19,\u00a0ESV).\u00a0<\/span>
\nAs we study wealth and lukewarmness, let us consider four points from this passage.\u00a0<\/span>
\nFirst, notice the church\u2019s\u00a0condition<\/b>\u00a0(Revelation\u00a03:15-16). The Laodicean church\u00a0had works. Jesus acknowledged\u00a0them; however,\u00a0He noted\u00a0they were done with an attitude of indifference. The Laodiceans were not cold,\u00a0unlike the cold, pure, refreshing waters of\u00a0nearby Colossae. Neither were they\u00a0hot,\u00a0in contrast to\u00a0the therapeutic hot\u00a0springs of\u00a0neighboring\u00a0Hierapolis. The Laodiceans were\u00a0merely\u00a0lukewarm. As such, Jesus wanted to\u00a0spit them out of\u00a0His mouth; those Christians\u00a0made\u00a0Him sick to\u00a0His stomach.\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nConsider\u00a0next, the\u00a0cause<\/b>\u00a0of their lukewarmness\u00a0(Revelation\u00a03:17). Jesus explained their spiritual apathy stemmed\u00a0directly from their wealth. Ancient Laodicea enjoyed immense prosperity from a variety of industries, including financial services, textiles\u00a0(black wool), and health care (eye salve). In fact, the populace was so rich that they rejected aid from Rome after\u00a0Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake\u00a0in\u00a060\u00a0A.D.; they rebuilt the city\u00a0entirely\u00a0at their own expense. Consequently, they believed they needed nothing, physically or spiritually.\u00a0<\/span>
\nThird,\u00a0notice\u00a0the\u00a0critique<\/b>\u00a0offered by Jesus (Revelation\u00a03:17). Jesus saw\u00a0these Christians differently than they saw themselves. From Jesus\u2019 perspective, the Laodiceans were fooling themselves. Sure, they might have enjoyed physical wealth; however, spiritually they were \u201cwretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked\u201d (Revelation\u00a03:17). They were physically rich but spiritually impoverished. They manufactured\u00a0the best eye treatment available but were still blind. They clothed themselves with\u00a0fine, black wool,\u00a0yet remained naked. Rather than praising them, Jesus pitied their wretched souls.\u00a0<\/span>
\nJesus ended\u00a0this passage of\u00a0Scripture with\u00a0His\u00a0counsel<\/b>\u00a0to Christians at Laodicea\u00a0(Revelation\u00a03:18-19).\u00a0Because of\u00a0His love for them,\u00a0He urged them to repent and regain their zeal for\u00a0Him and\u00a0His\u00a0Gospel. Instead of focusing incessantly on physical treasures, they ought to search out the spiritual riches\u00a0available\u00a0through\u00a0Him resulting in true wealth (cf. Matthew\u00a06:19-21, 24).\u00a0Jesus pressed them to exchange their lovely black garments of wool for radiant white garments of righteousness to cover their spiritual nakedness (cf. Revelation\u00a07:13-14; 19:8). His earnest desire was for them to obtain\u00a0His\u00a0eye salve\u00a0and disregard their own\u00a0to relieve their spiritual blindness.\u00a0Jesus\u00a0admonished them, hoping it would lead them to repentance and renewed zeal.\u00a0<\/span>
\nIt is my firm conviction that if Jesus wrote a letter to contemporary American Christians, it would look a lot like the letter to the ancient Laodiceans. Like them, we are an extremely wealthy people. Moreover, like them, this wealth has led us to be\u00a0a\u00a0spiritually\u00a0lukewarm people. Generally speaking, we do not\u00a0study\u00a0as we should. We don\u2019t pray as we should. We do not\u00a0give\u00a0as we should. We do not\u00a0serve,\u00a0worship,\u00a0or\u00a0evangelize\u00a0as we ought. We are afraid to think, talk, act, or look differently\u00a0than our coworkers, neighbors, family, and friends.\u00a0To top it all\u00a0off, we walk around as if God is pleased with our efforts; like the Laodiceans, we deceive ourselves!\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe condition of the modern American church mirrors that of the ancient church in Laodicea; our pews and pulpits tend to be\u00a0occupied by\u00a0lukewarm Christians. Obviously, our vast wealth is a\u00a0major\u00a0contributing factor to our\u00a0spiritual apathy. Needless to say, Jesus is not impressed. We would be wise to follow the counsel of Jesus before it is too late.\u00a0Noted author William Arthur Ward wrote, \u201cEach of us will one day be judged by our standard of life\u2013\u2013not by our standard of living; by our measure of giving\u2013\u2013not by our measure of wealth; by our simple goodness\u2013\u2013not by our seeming greatness\u201d\u00a0(Ward)<\/span>. Therefore, let us\u00a0also\u00a0\u201cbe zealous and repent\u201d (Revelation\u00a03:19).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0By Clint Oppermann Undeniably, the United States of America is an incredibly rich country. According to recent data released by the Federal Reserve, the collective net worth of households and nonprofit organizations reached a new high of $70.3 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2013\u00a0(Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). Furthermore, adjusted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[59,32,66],"tags":[1437,908,1438,1434,1439],"class_list":["post-6243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living","category-church","category-think-excerpts","tag-clint-opperman","tag-faith-and-finance","tag-lukewarm","tag-october-2013","tag-wealth","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nNeither Cold nor Hot - Focus Press<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tampaseo.expert\/focus\/2018\/03\/04\/neither-cold-hot\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Neither Cold nor Hot - Focus Press\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0By Clint Oppermann Undeniably, the United States of America is an incredibly rich country. 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