The Compromising Church

“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.  Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing; and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.  To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”    Revelation 3:14-22  [TLB]

            This is a difficult subject to address, but for the last year I have felt compelled to write this teaching.  It begins with much negativity, but it ends with glorious hope!  I wish I could share this with the world, but only the Holy Spirit can do that, for “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” 

            I write this not only to you, but to myself, whom I have found to be neither hot nor cold.  It is no wonder God chose to place the Laodicean church as the last church he speaks to in the book of Revelation.  We are living in the last church age and as we read these scriptures we can glimpse what we are like today.  Many Believers today are living a lukewarm, compromising Christianity.  Because I have lived many years, I can look back and see how far we have fallen.  I will list a few things and then follow them up:

1. Lack of respect for the House of God (the physical church)
2. Use of suggestive language without shame
3. Wearing clothing in church that shows enough skin to fit in a burlesque show
4. During church service chatting and texting on phones or other devices
5. Having little or no reverence during communion
6. Lack of response during praise and worship

1. This is one you all see (I hope) and that is people getting up and going out, not once but several times during a service.  If you have children with you, it’s understandable; if you have a kidney problem, it’s understandable, but if you just want to get up and down and out; then stay out.  You can’t even imagine how many are irritated by this.  If you are there to worship God and listen to His Word, this behavior is disrespectful. 
2. Hearing people use bad language in church and not even appear to be ashamed is disgraceful.  I am not talking about young people only; I have overheard parents and grandparents doing it.  The terminology people use today can have double meanings and this is not acceptable in the Lord’s house.  Why do the young people talk this way?  Because they hear it at home.  We need to be the same in church as out of church:  that’s called “a double standard”.  More than that it shows how lukewarm we are.
3. I know it’s the style today (as it was in my youth) to wear as little as possible to show off as much as you can without appearing to be provocative.  Sorry, girls – it doesn’t work that way.  To show you the compromise, what used to be street-walkers clothing is now what girls wear to church.  Church services are to worship God Almighty, not show your body to the congregation.
4. There are times when it’s necessary to talk to someone around you, but Try to hold it back until after the service is over.  I know we have all kinds of devices we carry with us and some of us have the Bible on them, but during a service is not the time to text, play games or get on the web.  This is God’s time.  We need to respect that.  Don’t do what the world does.
5. I had someone call me this week about the way we take communion.  They were honestly disgusted about it.  I will do another teaching about communion later, but for now.  Communion is a time (or should be) of reverence for Jesus Christ.  He commanded us to do this in remembrance of Him and what He did for us.  That means:  Keep your mind on Him; don’t carry on conversations about other things and give Him these few minutes to thank Him for dying for us.
1. Lastly, but not least is during the time of Praise and Worship, our hearts and minds should be on our heavenly father.  This is the real reason we should be coming to church every week; to worship God.  We aren’t singing just to see who sings the best or the loudest.  If your mind is on God you won’t even notice those things; you’ll be focused on Him. 

       Why do we think these things are alright, if we think about it at all?  God gave us the answer to this question in verse 17,  Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing; and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.”  We don’t even know how blind we are to the things of God.  Wake up, Church!  Jesus is coming back for a church “that He might present her to Himself; a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.”  Ephesians 5:27
      The time for compromising is over; let’s get serious about God!  He loves you – can’t you love Him back?


I will pick up on this next week, because it can be pretty depressing and thats not what God wants us to be.  He is our Hope and we can be assured He will do what He says.