| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “How to inhabit time” Our Bible verse for today: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot or cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Are you hot, cold, or indifferent?” This morning we will continue our thinking from the last two days regarding the problem of apathy in our churches and in the Christian community in the USA. Yesterday we learned that there’s a thick cloud of apathy that has settled upon Christianity in the USA. It’s evident in many ways including declining Biblical literacy among Christians, inconsistent church attendance and involvement, reduced financial giving, embracing immoral cultural standards, and much more. Especially alarming is the way so many Christians excuse themselves and rationalize their decisions. The word from Jesus, as we learned yesterday, is “Wake up!” The day before that we considered Jesus’ hard and stark lesson from the Sermon on the Mount regarding pearls, pigs, and priorities. The point of that lesson was that we have to make good choices about how we spend our time. Many people and activities are not worthy of our time and resources. And even if something is good, it could still be taking us away from what is best. Jesus hates apathy and indifference and rationalizing and excuse-making. Seriously, He detests it. Just read what He said in Revelation 3:15-16. The reason He used such strong language and stark illustrations, such as vomiting in this passage, or dogs and pigs in Matthew 7:6, or the stern command to “Wake up!” in Revelation 3:2, is precisely because once we have been lulled into apathy and we are essentially sleep-walking through our faith, we fool ourselves into believing that we have good reasons for our choices and that our choices make sense, at least in our case. But even if the thing itself is good (extra sleep, working overtime, extra money in savings, recreational activities etc.), if the good things are consistently and repeatedly pulling us away from the best thing, then we have a problem. I want to challenge each of us to consider if we are hot, cold, or indifferent. I’m asking us to critically examine the choices we’re making, the actions we’re taking (or not taking), and the ways in which we are spending our time and our resources. As was noted yesterday, talk is cheap. Actions tell the real story. I know this is strong stuff, but the problem is critical. Apathy is a spiritual disease that’s killing our churches. Churches in America are struggling, and it’s our fault. How we Christians use our time matters very much, especially on Sunday mornings. Today is Saturday. Tomorrow is Sunday. Will you be in church tomorrow? Not only do you need to be there for your own benefit, but your church needs you to be there. God bless, Pastor Jim |
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