As we bring this mini-series of blogs to a close we are going to look at the seventh reason people are lukewarm in their relationship with Jesus and even with the Church. People are lukewarm because of their unused gifts.

Doctor Luke writes, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). Of course, lukewarm people have a different verse in their head…”The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you,’ unless of course, your church has plenty of hands. Then just sit and spectate.”

God’s plan is for you to commit your life to Christ, discover who you are in Christ, uncover your gifts, spend your life making a maximum impact on your world, and then arrive in heaven, where that great crowd will hear God shout, “Well done!” But it is possible that many believers are going to arrive in heaven only to hear, “What were you thinking?”

Scripture is crystal clear. The call of God is the call to service. The good news is that every follower of Jesus Christ has one or more spiritual gifts (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-11) received when they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. But then it all goes south. Studies have shown that in the church, a gigantic 80+% of Christians can’t even tell you what their spiritual gifts are. No wonder we live without purpose or passion. We are not being used the way God intended. We are lukewarm.

In Scripture we read, “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly” (Romans 12:6). It is our responsibility to seek out our gifts in order to use them to influence others and impact our community so as to change the world.

God has a niche for each of us that He wants us to discover.

 

Another reason for believers becoming lukewarm and no longer either hot or cold for Jesus is unresolved conflicts.

Jesus was very clear about keeping short accounts and dealing with issues as they arose. He said, “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23-24). Many think that the Bible states, “As much as you can, live at peace with all people, and when you are unable, live at a distance.” This is simply not biblical and never has been.

We all have conflicts, but unresolved conflicts drain our energy and sap our passion. It’s like lettering the air out of the tire. Life just goes flat.

Almost 50 years of working with people and leading churches have convinced me that the three most dangerous and damaging emotions that can fill our lives – resentment, jealousy, and anger – will kill every time. They kill relationships, marriages, and the human spirit. Sometimes we are in situations at work or home where there is constant conflict. Sometimes there is nothing we can do about it. How do we keep it from draining our lives? This is the very reason God tells us that forgiveness is so important. This is why God teaches is again and again to forgive other people.

“In your anger,” He says, “do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26)

When we don’t forgive, anger and resentment start to control our emotions. And when they control our emotions, they begin to control our lives. We have to let go.

This might be an urban legend, but baseball legend Billy Martin told this story on Late Night with David Letterman. Bill Martin was known for altercations during games, engaging in public brawls and getting himself fired. His anger was well chronicled through five decades of play. In his autobiography, he tells about going hunting with teammate Mickey Mantle. Mickey had a friend in Texas who allowed him to hunt on his ranch. Mickey drove up with Billy an went to see his friend.

When they arrived art the gates to the ranch, the friend told Mickey, “Sure, you can come in. But would you do me a favour? I have an old mule that’s gone blind and sick. He needs to be put down, and I don’t have the heart to do it. Since you’ve got a gun, would you shoot the mule?”

Mickey said that he would do it. On his way back to the truck, he decided to play a trick on Billy, who himself was known for practical jokes. Mickey acted irate and told Billy that his friend wouldn’t let them hunt.

“We drive all the way down here, and he won’t let us on his land,” Mickey said. “I’ll show him. I’m going to go shoot one of his mules.”

“You can’t do that!” Billy said.
Mickey pulled out his gun and walked down to the barn. He put the mule out of his misery and started walking back to Billy. As he walked, laughing to himself, he heard a couple of more shots. He got to the truck and Billy was gone. Billy showed up a minute later.

“Where’d you go?” Mickey asked.

“We’ll show that guy,” Billy said. “I just killed two of his cows.”

Anger is a terrible master. Jesus said not to live with unresolved conflicts.

A lukewarm Christian will have an unrepentant lifestyle. No one likes the word repent – although I am sure it is basically misunderstood. But, a Christian who is truly a disciple of the Lord Jesus and following Him closely, becoming like Him, is one who sees repentance as a vital and important part of their lifestyle. Taking a spiritual inventory and then repenting when and where needed is a regular occurrence in the life of those who are passionate for Jesus and His Kingdom cause.

Millions of believers worldwide have settled for a faith that comforts them and doesn’t challenge or change them. Settling for a watered-down version of Christianity leaves them the same year after year. This is not new. Two thousand years ago, Paul the apostle wrote two long letters to the most gifted and least mature church, the church at Corinth, to identify the root reason so many people attend church but remain unchanged.

It still happens today, when people say, “We want a version of Christianity that does not command us to repent. It tolerates our lifestyle and also affirms it.” People who think this way don’t exist to glorify God. To them. God exists to grant permission to do whatever they want.

Paul said people basically fall under three types, outlined in 1 Corinthians:

1> People who know God (1 Corinthians 2:12-13) These people are forgiven, filled with the Spirit of God, and beginning to live a God-honouring life.

2> People who don’t know God (1 Corinthians 2:14) These people are disconnected or distant from God.

3> People who know God, but live like they don’t (1 Corinthians 3:1-4) These are “infants in Christ” who require the “milk” of the Word and not “solid food.” They are people of faith; however, they lack faithfulness.

Somehow, Christianity has been corrupted by the wide-spread teaching that the only thing that matters to God is what you believe. Almost all Christian churches require adherence to a statement of faith. That is a good thing, because the Bible is clear: what you believe does matter! But equally important is this: how you live matters to God. And when the way you are living doesn’t match up with what the Bible calls you to, does not match up with your beliefs, God has a one-word solution – repent.

The striking words of Jesus in Revelation say, “Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth” (Revelation 2:16).

Now, really, no one likes the word “repent.” However, I have come to believe that repentance is one of God’s greatest gifts. It is a gift because repentance is the opportunity to…

• Get free from your past! Repentance is God’s invitation to let is grace enable you to let go of your past.
• Change your future! Repentance is God’s invitation to experience His power to change.
• Break bad habits! Repentance is God’s invitation to stop doing wrong and to start living right.
• Heal your image of God and your image of yourself! Repentance is God’s invitation to jettison flawed, destructive thinking and to start building your life on His truth and wisdom.
• Make an impact! repentance is God’s invitation to stop self-centred living and start giving, serving, and caring.

Repentance is one of the great gifts of God, yet it requires humility, because it starts with saying to God, “I am wrong, You are right, and I will submit.” Then a brand new beginning starts! When this becomes a reality then you will no longer be happy or content with lukewarm.

 

Many believers today are lukewarm in their Christian faith and how they are living their faith out in every day life. Yesterday we looked at “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” and the fact that this is not compatible with the Christian faith and simply does not challenge, grow, or develop our faith. Thus we are, in some ways, defective Christians who are not living a Bible-based lifestyle.

There is another reason why believers are lukewarm and neither hot or cold. To be blunt – we have a vast number of believers who have uncommitted hearts. Jesus commented on this Himself when He said, “These people honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me” (Matthew 15:8). Defective Christians would rewrite this and live by a different version of this verse. “Love the Lord your God with most of your heart and with some of your soul and with a bit of your mind.”

Imagine a football coach gathering his team and challenging them by saying, “Guys, we are going for the championship. This is our year! And let me tell you what it’s going to take – I’m going to need you to give … a 50 percent effort.

Or imagine a guy standing in front of his bride at the altar and saying, “I promise to honour you and cherish you. And I promise before God and these witnesses to be faithful to you pretty much some of the time.”

None of us would settle for this attitude in any other area of life, so it is amazing how we tolerate this spiritually. Many of us treat Jesus like He is simply another option – and we can choose to be strongly committed one day and not another day. Or, we can say “yes” to this aspect of life He spoke about but ignore Him and say “no” with regard to this other area of life. We are following Him at a distance. We are a fan or a follower. But, He demands that we be His disciples. There is a world of difference.

Churches are doing the same thing. They say, “Come to our service and it won’t cost you anything. We will keep it so short it’s almost like you weren’t even here. We won’t take an offering, because somebody might be ticked off that we believe in generosity. And we won’t ever teach anything calling for change or commitment. Please come, and we will water down our message so that no one could possible ever be offended, challenged, or changed.”

God doesn’t want you to settle for Him. God doesn’t want 10 percent of your life. He doesn’t want 50 percent. Not even 99 percent will do. He wants total commitment. He wants all of your life – all of you.

So, we can’t hold to the out form of our religion and deny the life-changing power of the Gospel (2 Timothy 3:5 and Romans 1:16).