Practical Atheist - Part 2

Wow....today's sermon was on my most favorite subject that I've learned in this past year!
It was awesome and there was one question he shared that almost took my breath away. It was that convicting. Oh, I should mention that I bought myself a notebook just for taking notes at church and it really came in handy today!

Before I get into that though, he told us that today was reason for us to celebrate because it was our one year anniversary of the official launch of our church. Most new churches won't make it that far and we did! Yay!! And I was so excited today when we had to find more chairs because we had double the amount we usually have. God is answering our prayers and I can just feel that big things are around the corner. We are in negotiations for this new lease space too, so please say a little prayer for that. I know that all of you always have such wonderful things to say about what I'm learning at church and about my Pastor.......imagine how wonderful that will be to be able to reach so many more people in our community!

Today's lesson was "I believe in God, but don't want to go overboard." That could've been my mission statement for my whole life, after getting saved and baptized, up until about Feb/Mar of last year! I just didn't get why some people had to go overboard with talking about Jesus and always going to church, etc.

We talked about Revelation 3:14-16 today, when God was speaking to the church of Laodicea. He told them, "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."

I learned today that Laodicea was much like America. It was a wealthy city. Thirty years prior, it had been leveled by an earthquake, but they rebuilt it with massive stadiums and ornate, elaborate buildings. Kind of like Las Vegas, there was so much to enjoy, but they forgot about God. They had big parties and the influential people would always get their drinks first. If it was a hot drink, they would get them while they were hot. By the time the less important people got their drinks, they were already lukewarm and yucky. So, when God used this example, it would've been something they could relate to.

When God said He wanted to "spit" them out, that comes from the word "emeo" which means to spew, spit, or vomit. This was not an elegant little spit. This is a violent vomiting out, from pure disgust. And all because they were lukewarm Christians.

Most people today are just like the Laodiceans. We believe, but don't want to go crazy. We still want to blend in with society. Jesus is a controversial subject, so we just keep it quiet. We don't want others to see us as one of those "born again" people. We squeeze church into our schedule, taking only the parts of Him that we want. We might wear the shirt, have the bumper sticker, listen to KSBJ (our local Christian radio station), but our actions don't reflect what we say we believe.

So, if you guessed it, my most favorite subject of all is what we talked about:
Being a lukewarm Christian.
This was talked about heavily in the "Crazy Love" book by Francis Chan and our Pastor used some of those points to illustrate what being a lukewarm Christian looks like.

First of all, "lukewarm Christian" really is an oxymoron. You can't be lukewarm and be a follower of Christ. It's not possible. Following Christ is to die to your self. You can't live as if Christ doesn't exist and call yourself a Christian.

So, what does being a lukewarm Christian look like?

• You crave acceptance from people more than from God. You don't want to be seen as weird or a religious nut. You want people's approval.
• You rarely share your faith. You don't want to be controversial and talk about Jesus.
• You do whatever it takes to alleviate your guilt. You do just enough to make that guilt go away.
• You think about life on earth more than eternity in Heaven. It's all about your job, your house, your image.
• You guage your morality by comparing yourself to others. You feel better because at least you're not as bad as most people.
• You want to be saved from the penalty of sin without changing your life. You say "forgive me", but you don't intend to change. You want to be saved, but don't want to have to do anything.
• You only turn to God when you're in a bind. You use God like He's a tool in your toolbox, something you reach for when you need something fixed, but then you put Him back in there when you're done.
• You give whenever it doesn't hinder your standard of living. Did you know that a study was done that says lukewarm believers actually give less than nonbelievers?! You give God the leftovers, after everything else has been taken care of.
• You aren't much different from the rest of the world. You look the same, talk the same, and act the same as nonbelievers.
• You want the benefits of what Christ did without conforming to who He is. You want the benefits, but you don't want to change anything in your life.

Our Pastor said this is uncomfortable to talk about. Most churches today are packaging Christ and marketing only the good parts. We have to see the truth though. We may have reasons for how we became lukewarm, but regardless of how it happened, God still wants to spit us out of His mouth. There are many places in the world where people are not lukewarm. There are places where saying "I believe" truly means something; places where saying that means you'll be killed! So many here are lukewarm and don't even know it. Many are lukewarm and don't even care. Our Pastor said that all of us are rich. He said if we came to church today in an automobile, we are in the top 3% of the richest on the planet. And the more we have, the more we want, and the less we need God.

In Revelation 3:17, 20, God says, "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......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 him, and he with me."

Our Pastor asked us if it sounded like God considered these lukewarm Christians to already be followers? He is telling them that they do not know Him yet. He's not already in their lives. He needs to be invited. He is saying that if they already knew Him, they couldn't and wouldn't be lukewarm. Lukewarm doesn't exist when you know Him. When you know Him, your life will change. It's not about saying a prayer and then checking that off the list and you're good to go to Heaven. It's a life change. Scripture says nothing about saying a prayer. It's about living for an audience of One.

Once your life changes, you can't contain it. You can't "not" talk about it. You become generous. You become different. You repent because you hate to know that you've wronged God. Your values aren't the same as everyone elses.

And then came the question that just about knocked the breath out of me. It was from a John Piper book, I believe. He said:

If you could have Heaven and all of the wonderful things that Heaven has, could you go there and be happy if Christ was not there?

If so, maybe you don't really know Him. Whoa! Stop and think about that. Do I want to go to Heaven because of all the wonderful things it offers, because I get to be with my loved ones again, or because Christ is there? I about lost it when he said that. I think I just really felt the Lord telling me that it's not about what this life can do for ME. It's about following Him.

Our Pastor said we should ask ourselves: What does my life do to Jesus and what does He see in me?