There’s a kind of Christian that Jesus said would make Him vomit. In Revelation 3:15–16, Jesus said:
I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish that you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
Spiritual lukewarmness is a big deal. Jesus’s warning should grab your attention, stop you in your tracks, and make you take your temperature. In this study, we’ll help you do just that.
Jesus spoke to seven churches in Revelation 2–3. Two of them, He encouraged to stay faithful; five of them, Jesus told to repent. Of those five, one church was teaching true doctrine and doing good works, but had fallen out of love with their Savior. Two churches were compromising with cultural sins and tolerating false teachers. A fourth church was described as dead. These churches all needed to repent, but Jesus reserved His strongest words for the Christians who were lukewarm.
These Christians believed they had it all. They said, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” (Revelation 3:17). But Jesus said: you don’t even know that you are “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”
Jesus wanted to open their eyes to the reality of their spiritual condition, and sometimes we need a similar wake-up call to realize we are lukewarm and spiritually unwell.
How do you check your spiritual temperature?
Here are eight signs that you might be a lukewarm Christian, and what you can do to never be lukewarm again.
You might be a lukewarm Christian if…
1. …Reading the Bible seems like a chore.
Psalm 1:1–2 says:
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
How invested are you in the word of God? Do you find Scripture to be a blessing and a delight in your daily life? Psalm 119:97 says, “Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” This does not mean that Bible study is always easy; reading Scripture is a commitment, and understanding Scripture can be a challenge. But your attitude and approach toward the word of God is an important indicator of your spiritual health. If the Bible is boring to you, an unwanted companion or a restrictive rulebook, then you might be lukewarm.
2. …You love God but don’t love other Christians.
In 1 John 2:9, the Bible says:
He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.
Did I read that right? A litmus test for your spiritual walk is how you think of and treat your spiritual family, because a lack of love falsifies any claim of being a Christian. Jesus said that people would recognize His followers by their love for one another (John 13:35). It is God’s basic expectation and command that we love one another. In fact, 1 John 4:20 suggests that we cannot truly love God at all while hating the people right in front of us. If you feel like you love God, and claim to love God, while failing to love your neighbor, you are spiritually lukewarm.
3. …“Going to church” is optional.
Hebrews 10:24–25 says:
Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Four quick facts strike me about this passage. First, the author implies that you cannot follow his first or third instructions (considering each other and encouraging each other in the church) without the middle instruction: don’t neglect the gatherings of the church.
Second, the author assumes that we will benefit by being with the church––being motivated, encouraged, and helped.
Third, the author knows that some Christians frequently skip the gatherings of the church, and he tells us not to be like them.
Fourth, the author encourages us to be more and more with the church over time, not less. If you believe you are spiritually mature enough to not need the church, that you can be closer to God on your own, then you might actually be too lukewarm to realize that you are rejecting God’s wisdom. You need to be with the church.
4. …You act differently on Sundays and Mondays.
Jesus spent time with sinners, because they knew they needed to be saved by Him; Jesus condemned hypocrites, because they believed they were already good enough without Him. Hypocrisy is a sure sign of lukewarmness, if you act one way on Sunday around Christians and another way the rest of the week around the rest of the world. Proverbs 21:3 says:
To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
No amount of worship on Sunday can make up for worldliness on Monday. True disciples are consistent. Jesus said, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed” (John 8:31).
5. …You rarely pray for others.
In the New Testament, we will find a constant theme of Christians praying for others. For example, Paul says to the Thessalonians, “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers” (1 Thessalonians 1:2). In the same letter, Paul asked the Thessalonians to pray for him and his companions: “Brethren, pray for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:25). We are commanded to pray for one another in James 5:16. If a lukewarm Christian prays at all, their prayers are often self-centered and demanding, only telling God to give them what they want. Spiritual maturity, however, produces a regular sense of gratitude and compassion for others, expressed in our prayers. Philippians 2:4 says, “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”
6. …You act more like culture than Christ.
Romans 12:2 says:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
And Ephesians 4:17 says:
You should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk.
Christians are called to be different. If people cannot look at you and see any difference in the way you act, the way you talk, the way you dress, the things you watch, the things you consume, and the way you interact with others, then maybe you are following the influence of the crowd more than the example of Christ. Jesus spent time with sinners, but He never participated in their sin for popularity, comfort, or convenience. Everyone knew Jesus was different. You cannot be like Jesus if you are spiritually at room temperature and just like the rest of the world.
7. …You shop for church as a consumer.
Does our attitude about God and church reflect spiritual priorities or consumer culture? When I want to find a good place to eat, I shop around looking for whatever place pleases me the most. What offers the best service, the best product, and the best satisfaction for me, me, me? And if I get upset somewhere one too many times, I’m likely never going back to that location again. Is that how we treat the church—as a product to shop until we find whatever meets our desires and expectations perfectly?
Jesus said in Mark 10:45:
Even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Jesus had every right to expect perfect service from others. Instead, He came to serve us. Do we shop for church expecting perfect service and customer satisfaction? That’s not what Jesus’s church is about, and you and I don’t have that right. Even if we did, Jesus teaches us to serve and give more than we expect and take. But if you hop from church to church looking for what pleases you rather than what pleases God, you are lukewarm.
8. …Jesus is your Savior but not your Lord.
In Acts 2:36, Peter says:
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.
The Jesus of the gospel—the true Jesus—is not a Savior who gives you a license to live however you want. He is a Savior who requires submission, a Lord who wants to lead your life for your good, a Teacher who graciously shows you a better way.
A man once came to Jesus and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 18:18). Jesus reminded him of the law—don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal—and the man said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” But Jesus went further and said, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” And at that particular calling, the man turned his back in sorrow, because he was very rich. He wanted Jesus to be his Savior, a good teacher who gave him eternal life, a heavenly friend who reassured him that he had already done everything right. But when Jesus called the man to truly follow Him as Lord, he went away. If following Jesus has never cost you anything, if being a Christian has never called you to change and commit and invest more than you already have, you may be lukewarm.
If you realize that you are lukewarm, what can you do about it? Start by changing how you think in three areas.
Change how you think about Jesus.
You must see Jesus as your Lord, listen to Him as your Teacher, and treat Him as your example. Following Jesus is a whole-life commitment. Jesus said in Luke 9:23:
If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Jesus traveled the road of the cross for us, and we must take the way of the cross to follow Him. The average churchgoer might get by being lukewarm, but a true cross-carrier will never be lukewarm.
Change how you think about salvation.
Salvation is not a blank check handout, free of commitment. Salvation is God’s invitation to our transformation. If you understand what God does for you when you are saved, and if you understand what you do when you are saved, your faith will quickly move you beyond lukewarmness. Consider Romans 6:1–7:
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.
That is salvation, and no phrase in that passage leaves room for lukewarmness. Die to sin. Be baptized into Christ and into His death. Let your old person be crucified and buried with Him. Be raised with Him to a new life. Be free.
Change how you think about the church.
The church is not a burden, a loathsome obligation, a product to satisfy you, or a part-time job. The church is the body of Christ, the flock of the good Shepherd, the spiritual temple in which God lives, and the dearly loved bride of our Lord. If we understand the church, and our place in it, we will do what Jesus told the church of Laodicea to do about their lukewarmness in Revelation 3:14–22: open our eyes, be zealous, repent, welcome Jesus in, and overcome. Maybe you know right now that you are lukewarm. Jesus has good news! You can change, and God would love to help you. You never have to be lukewarm again.
Beyond these shifts in your mindset, if you’re looking for practical steps you can take right now to help with your faith struggles, start with this study.