Revelation 3: The Lukewarm Church at Laodicea
Ask most Christians how they're doing spiritually and you'll hear the same two words: I'm fine. Sometimes that's true. Other times it means we've learned to cope and we'd rather not talk about it. Type "lukewarm Christian" into a search bar and you'll find page after page of warning signs, which tells me plenty of people are wondering whether those two words describe them.
The numbers give them reason to wonder. Barna's 25-year tracking study, published last December, found that 74 percent of American Christians strongly agreed in 2000 that faith was central to their lives. By 2025 that had dropped to 54 percent. Barna also reports fresh curiosity about Jesus among younger adults, so the picture isn't all bleak. Still, a lot of us can feel what those numbers describe, and Jesus spoke to it directly in a letter to a church in Asia Minor.
A Church That Felt Fine
Laodicea was about as comfortable as a first-century city could get. It was a commercial center known for banking and black wool, and it had a well-known medical school. When an earthquake flattened the city around AD 60, the Roman historian Tacitus says the people rebuilt from their own resources without help from Rome.
The church there had good people looking after it from early on. Paul told the Colossians that Epaphras was praying for them, and he added, For I testify about him that he works hard for you, for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis, Colossians 4:13. By the time John wrote Revelation, probably decades later, that church had taken on the personality of its city. Here's what Jesus said about it:
For you say, 'I'm rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,' and you don't realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, Revelation 3:17.
A few years ago I wrote a lesson on the first beatitude, and I used this verse to show what pride does to a Christian. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs, Matthew 5:3. Laodicea is that verse turned inside out. These folks weren't being persecuted, and nobody was storming out the door. They were comfortable, and the comfort had blinded them.
What Lukewarm Means
Jesus starts the letter with a picture: 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 nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth, Revelation 3:15-16.
People often read hot as zealous and cold as hostile. That makes it sound like Jesus would rather have an enemy than a half-hearted friend, and it's hard to square with the rest of the New Testament. Many Bible students think the local water supply is a better guide. Hierapolis, about six miles north, was known for its hot springs. Colossae, about eleven miles east, had cold water people were glad to drink.
Laodicea had to bring its water in by aqueduct, and mineral deposits clogged the pipes. Hot water is good for something, and so is cold water. The Laodiceans would have known what it's like to take a mouthful of water that's neither. On that reading the charge is about usefulness. A church can keep its schedule and pay its bills, and the Lord can still find nothing refreshing in it.
Notice that they couldn't tell. Jesus says you don't realize, and that's what ought to worry us. The drift comes slowly. We keep attending while our conviction gets quieter and our prayers turn routine. Nothing feels urgent enough to change.
He Hadn't Given Up on Them
Jesus could have ended the letter at verse 17. He keeps going instead, and he goes right at what the city was proud of: I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see, Revelation 3:18.
A banking town needed gold from him. A town that made its money on black wool needed white clothes from him. Poor people don't have anything to buy with, so the only way to take him up on this offer is to come with empty hands.
Then he tells them why he's saying all of this: As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent, Revelation 3:19. I've told our congregation that a warning is the kind of word a father uses with a son he loves who's about to make a mistake. It has an edge to it, and there's no contempt in it. A rebuke from Jesus means he still cares what happens to you.
We often use the next verse with people who've never obeyed the gospel, and the invitation is surely wide enough for them. Look at who he's talking to, though. See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me, Revelation 3:20. He's speaking to a church, and he's standing outside it. It's possible to keep meeting without noticing he's been left out. He's still knocking, and he's offering to sit at the table with anyone inside who'll open up.
Opening the Door
So take an honest look at your own week. Are you still tender when you open God's word, or has it become something you check off? When a passage convicts you, do you repent quickly, or do you have an explanation ready? You don't need a long checklist to find out. Pray what David prayed, Search me, God, and know my heart, Psalm 139:23, and then read Revelation 3 again slowly.
Don't try to do this alone either. But encourage each other daily, while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened by sin's deception, Hebrews 3:13. Deception doesn't always feel dangerous, and often it feels settled. If someone at church asks how you're doing this Sunday, consider giving them more than two words.
If you teach a ladies' class, or you're a Christian woman who recognizes herself in this letter, I'd point you to I Will Not Be Lukewarm by Dana Burk. It's a 13-lesson workbook that starts from Jesus' warning in Revelation 3:16 and takes up real problems, including depression, relationships, fervent worship, and the fear of death. The 156-page coil-bound workbook is $11, and there's a $6 PDF, along with a teacher manual and PowerPoint files for whoever's leading the class.
Dana has worked for decades alongside her husband, Tol, as he's preached in the States, throughout the Caribbean, and in Central and South America. She's a seasoned teacher known for both candor and compassion, and you can see her other work in the Dana Burk collection.
What have you been calling fine that you need to bring to Jesus this week?