“Beware of presuming you are saved. If your heart is renewed, if you hate the things you once loved and love the things you once hated, if you have really repented, if there is a thorough change of mind within you, then you have reason to rejoice. But if there is no vital change, no inward godliness, no love to God, no prayer, no work of the Holy Spirit, then the statement “I am saved” is only your own assertion at it may delude you, but it will not deliver you.”
– Charles Spurgeon
“A whole new generation of Christians has come up, believing it is possible to accept Christ without forsaking the world.”
– AW Tozer
Last year, while waiting for a flight at London’s Heathrow Airport, I walked into a bookstore in the terminal. I enjoy perusing books in bookstores in different countries. One can get a feel for the culture based on the titles they offer. When I’m in the UK and the time and location work out, I’ll visit Waterstone, Britain’s version of Barnes and Noble. The three story Waterstone in Richmond is a favorite:
Usually the bookstores in other countries offer little to nothing in the way of religious books; the few that do have a religious section often have books on the other side of the fence spiritually. Evidently books on God don’t sell. Yet they’ll have a large selection of books on the occult, especially, Harry Potter. Harry gets his own dedicated section complete with every novel and Harry trinkets and action figures. When the occult attracts more buyers than God, the culture has gone dark. These days evil is marketed and celebrated while anything to do with God is often mocked or ignored. This isn’t unlike Barnes and Noble in the States where I’ve seen books on spells and the occult in full view in an endcap down the middle aisle of the store.
Back to the bookstore in Heathrow.
As I walked through the aisles, the title of this book stood out: “I’m Mostly Here to Enjoy Myself; One Woman’s Pursuit of Pleasure in Paris.” The book is described as a “liberating and delightful account of a woman finding pleasure on her own terms, filled with vivid descriptions of Parisian life, sex, and food.”
Immediately I was struck with the idea that the title of this book presents the two major mind sets of those who dwell on the earth. The first group’s purpose is to get as much pleasure and fun as they can out of this life. The second group are sons and daughters of God who know their home is in Heaven and invest their lives in that which has eternal significance.
Later, it hit me that there is a third group: those who try to have both worlds. They want to have as much fun and pleasure as they can while trying to have as much of God as they can squeeze in. They haven’t chosen a side or gone all-in with either side. They know that if they choose one the other will have to go.
The issue here isn’t that a Christian can’t have fun. We need to cut loose from time to time to recharge. The problem is when we park in the middle lane with the third group and set up camp there.
I’ve done time in the middle, having spent many hours watching movies, playing video games, and being ensnared in the pursuit of pleasure. The problem for a Christian is that there is no satisfaction or joy in the middle, and, the flesh-driven lukewarm easily fall into sin.
Many modern churchgoers have set up camp in the lukewarm middle. Half of Christians see no problem with sex outside of marriage, and more than half are into porn. They spend hours in entertainment, minutes in prayer, and little time in the Bible. The problem with reading the Bible is that it won’t be long until they will run into verses that convict them of their sin and challenge them to choose a side. Playing two ends for the middle doesn’t work in the spiritual realm. We’re either All-In with God or All-Out for the world.
”And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
It’s 1998. My wife and young son are away for the evening. I fall, again, into a binge of porn and masturbation and am up all night. In the morning I trudge down to the basement covered in shame-muck. Then I see what could only be described as a vision.
In one corner of the basement opposite of where I am, a beautiful woman is there. She’s dressed in a long, black dress. Though she’s smiling, her eyes betray the evil and hatred in her heart. She represents lust, and her hand is extended toward me, beckoning me to come to her. The pull is intense.
In the other corner opposite of me, Jesus is there; bright, shining, and glorious. He too, is extending his hand toward me, inviting me to come to Him and enjoy His presence.
To my shame, I didn’t move toward either. I wasn’t ready to give up lust (or really, didn’t want to) and I knew if I went toward Jesus that lust would have to go. All or nothing. So I stayed in the lukewarm middle like a fool.
There are many who are parked in the lukewarm middle as I was. Oh, they can talk “Christian,” go to church, do Christian things, know some Bible verses, but in their heart they know they haven’t chosen a side.
“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,” not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me 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.”
Revelation 3:15-18
Some theologians believe that the “cold” ones are unbelievers. If this is true and a lukewarm Christian is worse in God’s eyes than an unbeliever, the middle ground is a dangerous place to be. Being at risk of being ejected from God isn’t where we want to be.
If you’re parked in the lukewarm middle, please, run to Jesus with everything you have. Surrender to what He’s been telling you. Don’t play games with God. Get help. The good news from Jesus’ words to the lukewarm in Revelation 3 is that He offered them restoration. Take Him up on His offer.
“I counsel you to buy from me 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. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
Revelation 3:18-22
