This week, we consider some rather graphic words Jesus dictated to the church people in an Asian city called "Laodicea." Approximately 12 miles east of Laodicea was the city of Colossae, a city known for its refreshing cold waters. These waters were valued for their purity and cooling abilities. About seven miles north of Laodicea was the city of Hierapolis, a city whose most famous feature was its hot baths, fed by hot springs (reminiscent of Yellowstone's hot springs) used to cure ailments of its visitors.
Between Colossae and Heirapolis sat Laodicea. There, the streams of cold water from the west and hot water from the north were piped in through a sometimes-rusted irrigation system and met to provide water for the otherwise-waterless Laodiceans. Unfortunately, the mineral-rich hot water and the refreshing cold water often ran together to create lukewarm water that reportedly tasted awful and could make the people of the town sick. For the citizens there, this was a constant source of irritation.
In that context, consider how appropriate Jesus' words were to the church people in that city: 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 will spit you out of my mouth.
Jesus' words are sometimes slightly misunderstood in our day because of our failure to know what was happening with the water supply in the city. We read Jesus' letter about being hot, cold, and lukewarm and think he is talking about spiritual passion. That's understandable. We use words like "hot" and "cold" to speak of our affections. However, that was not often the case in the ancient world. When they said that something was hot or cold, they almost always meant physically. With that in mind, what Jesus was probably saying was this: I wish that you were more useful in serving what my Father is doing in this world—either hot, like the water of Heirapolis that heals those who bathe in it, or cold, like the water of Colossae that refreshes those who taste of it. Instead, you are a lukewarm mess like your own city water that makes those who drink it want to spit it out!
We'll think about whether his words say anything relevant to us. Jesus' challenge is one that calls us to assess all of our resources. Are they our own or are they gifts provided by God to us? Are our resources ours to be proud of or his to be used to further God's mission? The questions we must ask: "Has God provided so well for me that I have come to believe that I am providing for myself out of my own doing? In doing so, have I ceased to be useful (hot or cold) for God's purposes?"
To His Glory,
Dr. Greg Waybright
Senior Pastor
