This last week I preached on the letter to Laodicea in the churches of Revelation. The problem with that church was their lukewarm response to the gospel. They were not uninfluenced by God, but it was so moderate that it actually disgusted Jesus (Revelation 3:14-22). Jesus says it makes him want to literally "vomit." Yikes. This is not what you want Jesus to say to your church. I was really struck by verse 19 which says, "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent." First of all we can be encouraged that conviction and discipline is a sign that God loves us enough to convict us out of our lethargy. And Jesus, even in his disgust, is graciously pursuing and lovingly rebuking those whom He loves.
But I found the last half of that verse very interesting. He says, be zealous and repent. What is the call for the lukewarm? Be zealous again. But how do you do that? We can't simply conjure up passion or zeal for the Lord. We can't expect a Passion Conference every quarter to manufacture more passion for Jesus. Jesus says, simply repent. True passion comes out of repentance. Unfortunately far too often repentance breeds guilt and self-deprication rather than passion. Therefore we start to think that we should repent less and less as we grow, but indeed the opposite is true. See Tim Keller's article on repentance. Repentance is necessary because it reminds us daily of our need for Him and the truth of what God has done for us. The church at Laodicea had lost their passion because they had lost their need for Jesus. Repentance reminds us of our deep need for Jesus. In our desperate need, God became man to redeem us, to renew creation, to forgive us, to change our identity for His glory and our benefit. The only reasonable response to the truth of the gospel is passionately surrendering everything to Him. We can't be lukewarm or moderate to the gospel! The response is not simply emotionalism, but true passion that is based in gratitude for Jesus. We wouldn't naturally think this way, but true repentance actually breeds passion.
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1 comment:
Jeff - I loved this, probably because I really struggle with being lukewarm too often, like I don't need a Savior. I really liked Keller's thoughts on repentance too. I always believed that repentance was a short-term thing that you could truly accomplish and check off of your personal religious to-do list. It is true though that it is a humble shift to recognize your need for a Savior and your decision to bring Him joy - not bring yourself peace and comfort. I really liked this line: "But in the gospel the purpose of repentance is to repeatedly tap into the joy of our union with Christ in order to weaken our need to do anything contrary to God's heart." That pretty much is the summary statement of what repentance is...or should be. Thanks for sharing this.
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