The Bible warns us in the Book of Revelations that the churches, as represented by the church in Laodicea, can become lukewarm, and because of that Jesus is about to spit them out of his mouth. Although they consider themselves to be rich and not needing anything, Jesus characterizes them as wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. He commands those in this condition to be earnest and repent.
As I reflect on this warning, I wonder if this would be Jesus’ verdict on the way we live today. Have we watered down our beliefs and doctrines so we can no longer distinguish the truth from lies? Here’s a couple of questions worth asking ourselves:
- Are we convinced that we have utterly failed to live up to God’s required standard for our lives, and therefore we deserve eternal punishment?
- Do we believe we cannot save ourselves. We have nothing good to offer God for our own salvation. In other words, we must come to God empty-handed as sinners in desperate need of God’s mercy and grace. Our salvation is solely a free gift that must be personally received by faith.
- Our faith must solely be in the person and saving work of Jesus Christ, who took upon himself the punishment we deserved for our sins by suffering and dying on the cross. The Father demonstrated his approval of Jesus’ saving work by raising him from the dead and proving the ressurection through many eye-witness testimonies.
- Do we know that our faith and baptism identifies us with Jesus Christ, who we acknowledge as our Lord and that God raised him from the dead? This means that we have given Jesus the “title deed” of our lives. We no longer live for ourselves, but for him who died for us.
If we are convinced of the above truths, won’t our love and concern for others prevent us from approving the contradictory claims of others for the sake of tolerance and unity? Can we share unity and fellowship with those who reject Jesus by claiming there is another way to Jesus other than by faith alone or that there is another way to God other than by Jesus Christ alone? Can we really stand in agreement with those who come to Jesus as their Savior but refuse to follow him as their Lord? Is there really a mediator between the sinner and God other than Jesus Christ? Is there really a second chance for sinners once they die? Isn’t Christ’s work on the cross complete and sufficient for our salvation?
Although it may be politically correct to be inclusive of anyone who sincerely or zealously holds to contrary beliefs, if we do so we risk watering down our faith to the point of being lukewarm.
Standing firm for our faith requires courage and the risk of being labeled narrow-minded or even worse. I don’t know about you, but I’m much more concerned how Christ judges me than how the unsaved world judges me.
At this Christmas time of year, I hope you will show the highest form of love by gently and lovingly pointing people to the Christ of the Bible. Allow the truth and power of the Word of God to show the truth to those in error. It just might eternally save their lives.
