Live Free with Josh Howerton - What Jesus Thinks of Lukewarm “Christianity” | Ep. 400 | Friday, August 16, 2024

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

Jesus knocking at the door in Revelation is often interpreted as a call for unbelievers to let him into their lives, but in reality, he speaks to churchgoers in Laodicea. Despite their outward religious practices, Jesus sees that they have left him outside. The verse emphasizes the need for intentional pursuit of intimacy with God rather than just going through religious motions. Jesus' message challenges believers to listen and allow him into their hearts for true connection and relationship. Revelation 3:20, “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 that person, and they with me.” For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.combe. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Well, hey guys, welcome to our daily drive. If we haven't met, my name is Carlos, and I get to be a part of the pastoral team here at Lake Point, and we get to hang out this week for a few minutes every day as we dive into the Word of God.

And this week, what we're doing is we're talking about some of the most famous Bible verses that are commonly taken out of context or misunderstood. And we'll review, what we're doing is we're reviewing what most people think they're about. And then we're clarifying what they're actually about. And as we do so, I believe God's speaking to us in a unique way. way through them so that this week you and I can be continued to be formed more and more to the image of Jesus. And today's verse is Revelation chapter 3, Revelation chapter 3 verse 20. And this is what it says. Here I am. I stand the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in

and eat with that person and they with me. That's Jesus speaking, by the way. Now, one of the most popular ways this verse has been traditionally read and interpreted is that Jesus is knocking at the door of someone who's an unbeliever and it's up to the unbeliever to open the quote unquote door of their heart to let Jesus into their lives. Now, let me start by saying this. It is true that Jesus pursues unbelievers. It is true that his invitation to be with him is for everybody and anybody. And it is true that Jesus wants you to say yes to his invitation to walk with him, to live with him, to be like him, and to do what he does. And yet, that's not necessarily what's going on in this verse. This particular chapter in the book of Revelation, Jesus is actually speaking to church people

that lived in a city called Leodicea. Now, these were people that knew the Bible verses. These people knew all the worship songs. They were familiar with the church rhythms. and church culture, they likely gave to their church. They were very involved, and they knew all the things. But while other people can see the outside, Jesus sees your heart. Let me share this with you some years ago at our house, out of the blue, there was this

cat that showed up in our backyard and just started staring through our glass door. Now, this was a pretty cute cat. It was orange and white, and day after day, he'd just stand. through our glass door with a face that screamed, please feed me. So, you know, I'm a Christian, so I feel an obligation in my heart to serve and meet needs. So one day, I went to my refrigerator

and grabbed some tuna, and I decided to give food to this cat. And some of you guys are already thinking where this is going. You know what happens after that one time you feed a cat. That's it. Yep, this cat would just come back for breakfast, lunch, dinner,

second dinner and over and over and over and he'd hang out in our backyard and occasionally I would go out to hang out with the little cat for a little bit and at some point we actually realized this cat had a name tag and the name of the cat was patches so now I I knew that cat by name and over time I actually got pretty familiar and friendly with the cat I actually started to enjoy seeing the cat through the window I would wake up and say I'm ready to give breakfast to the cat I decided I was going to frequently feed the cat. I even went out out of my own way and I bought the cat a toy. This cat from the street and played with him. But that cat didn't belong inside our house. It wasn't really my cat. I didn't really want the responsibilities that came with owning a cat. I had some sort of quote unquote relationship with the cat, you could say, but not a close, real, personal, significant commitment and relationship. And to be honest, that's kind of what the Laotisan Church did with Jesus. And sometimes that's what we do with God.

We become familiar with God. We know God by name. We listen to His Word every day. We check out the Christian podcast. We go to the church events. We pray. But when it comes to letting God invade every area of our house, every room in our souls, every aspect of our lives, we're like,

nah, I think I'm good with having this space to myself. Now, like, I like seeing God from a distance, and I'm glad he's near me, sort of, but I don't know that I'm committed enough to reciprocate that desire to be near him. We say, I'm okay with Jesus being my Savior, but I'm not sure I want him to be my Lord. I'm okay with seeking the hand of God,

but I think I might be too busy to seek the first. face of God. So Jesus tells these church people in Leo Decia, guys, I can see your heart. And Jesus says, your heart is like, he's like lukewarm water. It's neither cold nor hot. Now, at the time, this city in La Eoosaia would know that cold water was good for drinking and hot water was good for bathing, but lukewarm water was not really good for anything. And while this church would consider themselves rich and prosperous. That's what the Bible says. Jesus says, spiritually speaking, you're actually poor, blind, and naked. In other words, you do all the church things. You go through all the church motions. You check off all the spiritual boxes, but you're also self-righteous.

And if we're honest, there's no real intimacy with Jesus in this season. Maybe you're focused on on winning arguments with people instead of actually winning people. Your church preferences have become your prejudices against others. You're all about your religiosity, but you've forsaken your relationship with your Savior, Lord, and friend. And if you're a Christian, you need to know Jesus is not after your begrudging obedience. He's after your heart. And before he asks you to do quote unquote things for him,

him. He's inviting you to come and simply be with him. And this is what this verse is saying. Jesus is knocking at that door. It's as if he's saying, hey, you have all the church things, but you left me outside of your life. And you won't let me in. Friends, intimacy with Jesus doesn't happen naturally. What happens when you have cold water and you let it sit outside the fridge, it naturally drifts towards a lukewarm temperature. What happens when you have hot water and you just let it sit, give it time, it naturally becomes lukewarm. You and I will naturally drift towards being lukewarm, which means it takes intentionality to pursue intimacy with Jesus. And so today, I believe God is calling you back towards him.

He's inviting you to let him in those areas of, let him in those areas of your lives where maybe you've refused to let him in before. He's inviting you to share a meal with him, to reprioritize your relationship with him above everything else, above every other relationship, every other commitment. Jesus is knocking on that door. Will you listen to his voice and let him. in to be with you. Hey, thank you for joining us this week.

We'll see you next time. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information about all the digital ministries of Lake Point, visit lakepoint.compt.combe. Also, if this podcast was helpful to you, would you be sure to rate, review, and share this podcast to help get the

word out.