Quite often we hear lessons or illustrations about the “lukewarm” in the church. Almost unanimously these lessons center around teaching that the lukewarm are people that are saved but simply do not live out their faith, or are not active in growing in their faith. They are, according to most teaching, people that confess Christ but do not actively serve, worship, share, or serve Him.

Most often these teachings are based on Revelation chapter 3, the famous passage in which Christ describes people that are “neither hot nor cold” and for that reason he is sickened by the fact that these people are lukewarm and will “spit them out” of His mouth. This is strong language. And people have generally read this passage and believed that these are Christians not doing anything for Christ (which is what makes them lukewarm) and because of that Christ is sickened. But I believe this is an incorrect understanding of this passage; an incorrect view that could affect eternity.

After reading commentary by Francis Chan in his book “Crazy Love” on this passage and consulting scholarly works on the subject I believe the correct understanding of this passage is that the lukewarm are in fact those who have never accepted Christ as their Savior; they are lost people on their way to hell.

Chan makes the following statement regarding this topic:

“As I see it, a lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron; there’s no such thing. To put it plainly, churchgoers who are ‘lukewarm’ are not Christians. We will not see them in heaven…This passage (Rev. 3:15-18) is where our modern understanding of lukewarm comes from. Jesus is saying to the church that because they are lukewarm, He is going to spit them out of his mouth…When you read this passage, do you naturally conclude that to be ‘spit’ out of Jesus’ mouth means you’re a part of His kingdom? When you read the words ‘wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked,’ do you think that He’s describing saints?[1]

He makes a very valid statement that should be heavily considered by every honest and searching soul. Is there a place in the Bible where the Savior ever spoke of his eternally redeemed saints in such a way? Would He ever become so sickened by a believer that He would “spit” them out of His mouth? This seems to contradict the mercy, grace, forgiveness, long-suffering, and other eternal attributes of Christ. It makes far more sense for Jesus to be speaking of the lost in this context. But the context must be framed properly in order to fully understand the passage.

The “lost” that are spoken of and subsequently called lukewarm in this passage is a specific class of lost people. Certainly it cannot be denied that classes of lost people exist throughout the world. There is the class of lost that have never heard the Gospel or the name of Christ. There is the class of lost people that are under the rule of governments that refuse to allow the Gospel to be shared within their borders. And there is the class of lost people that have heard the Gospel time and again and continue to refuse to acknowledge Christ. This last class are indifferent to the Gospel though they have heard it many times and indifferent to the state of their eternal soul. For this reason they are under a special repugnance by Christ because they have had the privilege of hearing about His salvation on more than one occasion and still refused; even acting indifferently.

This understanding makes sense and is reasonable in the context of “hot,” “cold,” and “lukewarm.” The hot it is easy to understand are those that live unashamed and faithfully for Christ. The cold are those that have not heard of Jesus and the Gospel, or live in places where the Gospel is forbidden (though in some places such as this the Gospel thrives), and the lukewarm are those that have heard but continue to resist. The lukewarm are “false converts” that have said a prayer or been “baptized” at some point but have refused to truly accept Christ as their Savior and yield their life to Him. They are “religious” in the way the Pharisees were, self-righteous rather than standing in the righteousness of Christ, legalistic rather than abounding in grace, judgmental rather than merciful and forgiving. They are “churchgoers” that sit in the pews week after week, year after year but never have a conversion of heart that causes a radical transformation of their lives; they remain idle and unchanged.

With this in mind consider the following “Profile of the Lukewarm” as described in Francis Chan’s book “Crazy Love.” He presents a picture of a person that cannot possibly be saved but could certainly be religious, and is most probably lost.

1. Lukewarm people attend church fairly regularly. It is what is expected of them, what they believe “good Christians” do, so they go. (Isa. 29:13)
2. Luke warm people give money to charity and to the church…as long as it doesn’t impinge on their standard of living. (I Chron. 21:24, Luke 21:1-4)
3. Lukewarm people tend to choose what is popular over what is right when they are in conflict. They desire to fit in both at church and outside of church. (Luke 6:26, Rev. 3:1, Matt. 23:5-7)
4. Lukewarm people don’t really want to be saved from their sin; they only want to be saved from the penalty of their sin. (John 10:10, Rom. 6:1-2)
5. Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. (James 1:22; 4:17, Matt. 21:28-31)
6. Lukewarm people rarely share their faith with their neighbors, co-workers, or friends. They do not want to be rejected or make people feel uncomfortable. (Matt. 10-32-33)
7. Lukewarm people gauge their morality or “goodness” by comparing themselves to the secular world. (Luke 18:11-12)
8. Lukewarm people say they love Jesus, and He is, indeed a part of their lives. But only a part. They give Him part, but not all of their life. (Luke 9:57-62)
9. Lukewarm people love God, but they do not love Him with all their heart, soul, and strength. (Matt. 22:37-38)
10. Lukewarm people love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves. Their love is highly conditional and very selective, and generally comes with strings attached. (Matt. 5:43-47, Luke 14:12-14)
11. Lukewarm people will serve God and others, but there are limits to how far they will go or how much time, money, and energy they are willing to give. (Luke 18:21-25)
12. Lukewarm people think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven. Rarely, if ever do they intently consider the life to come. (Phil 3:18-20, Col. 3:2)
13. Lukewarm people are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider trying to give as much as possible to the poor. (Matt. 25:34-40, Isa. 58:6-7)
14. Lukewarm people do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty. They want to do the bare minimum without it requiring too much of them. (I Chron. 29:14, Matt. 13:44-46)
15. Lukewarm people are continually concerned with playing it safe; they are slaves to the god of control. (I Tim. 6:17-18), Matt. 10:28)
16. Lukewarm people feel secure because they attend church, made a profession of faith at age twelve, and were baptized, come from a Christian family, or live in America. (Matt. 7:21, Amos 6:1)
17. Lukewarm people do not live by faith; their lives are structured so the never have to. The truth is, their lives wouldn’t look much different if they suddenly stopped believing in God. (Luke 12:16-21, Heb. 11)
18. Lukewarm people probably drink and swear less than average, but besides that, they really aren’t very different from your typical unbeliever (Matt. 23:25-28

In light of this information it is necessary to encourage each of us to take a serious, in-depth, introspective look into our heart and soul to determine if we are truly “in the faith.” Have we merely existed as one that is content to sit and do nothing while our family, neighbors, and friends die and go to hell? Are we unmoved by the poverty and circumstances of many in the world so that we hear and refuse to help? Are we happy sitting through services week after week while others serve, never willing to lend a hand? Would we rather keep every dime we can and build our empire instead of give to those less fortunate and build the Kingdom of God?

Our life, the way we spend our time, energy, money and resources will be the clearest indicator of whether we have truly met Jesus and been changed by His presence in our lives or if we are putting on a good show. This is eternally important so let’s quit playing games with God and get real with Him before it is too late.