The Modern American (Rev 3:14-22)

We live in a time, and place where we need not call upon the Lord for we are rich and have everything at our fingertips; yet we are poor in spirit and know it not, for as Christ says, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. I can say for myself this is true as I’ve been very guilty at times (and it still happens) of pursuing worldly things instead (yes, even my hobbies, ones I write about, can become an idol).

We also as a church body keep to ourselves, trying not to offend others through political correctness in sharing the gospel (which does not mean condemning or judging others outside the church which we are not called to do, but it does mean sharing the good news, which does mean sharing the bad news that we’re all sinners, which isn’t PC, but, it’s the truth and there would be no good news without the bad news), but in doing so, commit the sin of omission by failing to do what we ought of being salt and light, hence we are not hot, yet we hide in our “righteousness” (which is not righteousness at all, as we are righteous by His perfect payment on the cross, not by keeping law as the Pharisees did, being clean only on the outside, but not the inside), we do believe Christ came and died for our sins, and aren’t actively fighting the against the gospel as other countries without religious freedom are hence we are not cold either. But as Matthew 12:30 says if we aren’t for Him then ultimately we are against Him by not taking a stance. The default of trying to be politically correct is to slowly succumb or accept worldliness, something which IMO, is readily apparent as more time passes, and as the Bible says, what good is salt if it loses it’s saltiness? It is trampled under by men... as the American church has been.

Anyone who isn’t for me is against me (Matt 12:30). If you’re not a believer than you’re not for God. The only sin that can’t or won’t be forgiven is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which is to deny the message of Christ, the good news. These go hand in hand; if you don’t believe in Christ than you call God a liar and blasphemy Him, which will not be forgiven either now or later. Also, if you’re not salty and being a light, others are going to notice you’re no different than they are, and ask themselves, rightly, what’s the point, and miss it themselves.

Brief interlude: For any non-believers reading this, if you don’t know who Christ is, it’s quite important to stop for a moment to consider arguably the most important part of history and decide for yourself whether Christ is who God claims Him to be. God’s not going to twist your arm to believe, and neither will I, but, it’s the most important thing to at least stop to consider: to know who the maker the universe is and to accept (or not accept) the free gift He offers us, who have sinned against Him as payment for our sin debt, for those who would only believe and accept Him at His word. Sounds easy, like there’s gotta be a catch, well, the reality is, even though He paid the price for our sin, something we can’t do by being good enough (as you need to never sin, never lie as that makes you a liar, never look at a woman with lust in your eyes, as that makes you an adulterer, never steal, as that makes you a thief), there are many who despite the payment being paid by His son’s death on the cross, would rather not believe, would rather accept something else as God (be it their own works being good enough, or another “god”) that does not require us to humble ourselves and admit we’ve sinned and repent, and would rather die, spiritually (and spend eternity apart from Him), then accept our fall from grace and acknowledge the creator of the universe and the work of His son on the cross for us.

Back on passage (Matthew 12:30-37) By their fruits you will know them; by their words can you judge the heart the passage in Matthew goes on to conclude.

I feel this is the place of the modern American church, neither hot, producing fruit in line with faith, but neither cold either opposing it or not believing Christ themselves; merely keeping to ourselves in isolation. Yet rich compared to the rest of the world in earthly possessions.

But, as Christ urged the Laodicean church, He urges us to trade our earthly wealth for spiritual; to put down pursuits of world, examples: sports idolatry, camera idolatry (guilty here at times, even though I write about it, it has to be in it’s rightful place or else it’s out of place), or career or possession idolatry and also alludes to the obvious sharing our abundant (compared to the rest of the world) earthly wealth for the benefit of the Kingdom of God, instead of keeping it to ourselves, like our faith.

I must admit the message hits home for myself too as my first intent for writing a website wasn’t to honor God but rather to fulfill a desire to write and possibly attain some residual income; but the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit reminded me that my purpose here or for this site was His glory, His platform, I merely am a voice, not the other way around, not my platform. Everything I have, He has given, I merely give it back when I yield.

I urge you too, take heart, make today the day of repentance either from being a lukewarm follower of Christ, or from unbelief and sin and death, and instead turn to life in the death of Christ on the cross and believe and confess He is Lord, it’s not some magical words to say, it’s just that, believing the truth of the gospel and telling God just that, that we’re a sinner and confess that, and repent and believe He paid the price for our sins on the cross for us.

It starts with one decision, one prayer, and yielding to Him today. What things hold you back from pursuing God and His glory today? I pray you join me in confessing those things before Him, and praying for repentance and correction to lead us in His ways, which are above our ways…