Pew Research conducts surveys periodically to report on the health of the American Christian Church. Here is the link to the most recent survey - fascinating information - but I'm going to highlight a few statistics.
Pew Research coined the term "nones" ten years ago to denote a trend in people who may believe in a highter power but not the God of the Bible
56% of Americans believe in God as presented in the Bible
Only 43% of Americans under the age of 30 profess a belief in the God of the Bible
3/4 of religious "nones" believe in a higher power but not Christ
The majority of "nones" state the reason they do not believe in Christ is directly associated with a negative experience with a person or persons professing to be a Christ follower
In 2017, the number of Americans professing belief in a higher power was 87%. In 2023, only 74%.
In the highest earned income bracket, 53% professed a belief in a higher power but uncertainty regarding the God of the Bible.
Looking at the bullet points, it is easy to see that the American Church currently struggles with an overall decrease in faith in the God of the Bible. The Letter to the Church at Laodicea offers a crucial message to the current church
I obviously love studyng this stuff, and the trends are definitly alarming. I guess researching for these blogs satisfies my need to be an instructor. For 26 years, I loved teaching high school. I quit when standardized curriculum +VAM scores + Covid = Burnout. But I still miss how things used to be. I miss the kids, and the lightbulb moments when the dots connected.
When people ask my favorite age to teach, without hesitation, I say sophomores. Literally, wise fools. At that age, they no longer function as carbon copies of their parents and truly begin to express original and creative thoughts. They also do not have a driver’s license. Something about the power of being behind the wheel elevates them in their own minds to god status, and the unteachable walls go up.
Crazy hair styles or colors, rebellious opinions, overt silliness, and learning challenges never bothered me. What concerned me the most was the student who acted the role of passive participant in his/her own life. No goals. No dreams. No motivation. No comment.
As we complete our lessons to the churches, John did not randomly place Laodicea as the last letter. Laodicea had so much potential, but their stubbornness and unteachable spirit left them to be called “lukewarm.” If you have regularly participated in “church stuff”, it is likely you have heard a sermon relating to the Laodicean church. The preacher pounds the podium and declares that God would rather you work against his kingdom than simply be a mediocre Christian. That is not what I glean from the letter so no podium pounding here. Per usual, let's begin with a little background.
Background on the Church at Laodicea
Laodicea sat right in the middle between Hierapolis and Colossae (as in Colossians). Laodicea operated the Roman mint - literally produced the coinage for the empire. With printing money comes banking and wealth hence the reference, “I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich.” Revelation 3:18.
In AD 60 one of those pesky earthquakes I mentioned in the last blog wiped out most of Hierapolis, Colossae, and Laodicea. Rome deemed Colossae too insignificant to provide funds for rebuilding; however, Hierapolis and Laodicea were offered huge sums of money for the rebuilding process. Hieropolis said sure - we’ll take it! But the citizens of Laodicea vehemently said, we will rebuild for ourselves. And they did, dependent only on their own wealth and self-reliance. No coincidence that Jesus said, “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. You can’t get much more clear than that.
John addresses Jesus as the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation. Revelation 3: 14. Amen translated from Hebrew means the truth and so let it be. I’ve never thought much about the meaning of Amen, only it is said at the end of a prayer. But Jesus doesn’t hold back. He declares Himself as The Truth. What He speaks comes from the One who was with God when all things began. So when he tells these extremely wealthy citizens of Laodicea they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, He strips away all their material importance and shines a light on the condition of the church. (Similar to a Pew Survey - Yikes!)
So let’s understand the lukewarm reference. Hierapolis was home to healing hot springs. They were famous around the empire and people traveled to take a dip and enjoy the God made jacuzzi. Colossae possessed a clear cool spring perfect for drinking. Laodicea had no water source. They piped water in from Colossae. But Hierapolis existed at a higher elevation than Laodicea. Their hot springs ran downhill toward Laodicea. If you have ever been to a hot spring, you understand the sulfur smell that can occur. No matter the quality of the aqueducts from Colossae, the warm water somehow always got in, and the Laodiceans suffered contaminated water. The mineral deposits from the hot springs clogged the plumbing system. Individually, each water source had a specific and advantageous purpose. But when combined, there was an unusable mess.
When Jesus tells the Church at Laodicea, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot,” He asks them to not be useless. The lukewarm water was not good for either healing or drinking. He encourages each individual to find his/her purpose in the body of Christ and complete that work.
So many water references occur in the Bible because good clean water was one the most precious commodities in the arid region. Paul puts it another way in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13 “For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body—so also is Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and we were all given one Spirit to drink.” The rest of 1 Corinthians 12 details how each member of the church functions as a unique part of the body. Each one of us has our role to play, our gift to develop, our purpose to fulfill - whether it's to be warm and healing or cool and refreshing. But what are we called NOT to do? Act in a half-hearted manner. Place our attention on the trappings of fame, success, wealth, social media, or clothes. Those pursuits will leave us wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.
The Church at Laodicea was a lot like a student with little to no motivation when it came to their service of Christ. And Jesus is extremely blunt again. If the church members cannot figure out how to become useful, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth. Revelation 3:16. No fancy definition for that word. It meant exactly what it means today.
Layered within the scathing commentary regarding their church, hope can still be found. “As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be zealous and repent. 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 3:19-20
Archaeological evidence shows that the Church at Laodicea pulled its act together and went on to become extremely influential in the early church. They took the warning to heart and worked together to develop their gifts and talents in the service of the Lord. Rather than staying lukewarm and unusable, they accepted the rebuke and discipline and repented. The reward - eternal fellowship with The Amen.
God still rebukes and disciplines those he loves. He wants us to be useful - hot like the healing waters that provide respite from aches and pains or cool and refreshing like the springs that bring life and hydration to all who pass by. As an American church, we have the ability through the Holy Spirit to reverse the current trend of the growing number of "nones." This years' Presidential election might be a great place to start. I can promise that approximatley 50%of the country is going to be elated with results and about 50% will be devestated. How are you going to react in light of the fact that most "nones" declare a negative encounter with a professed Christian as a contributing factor to their unbelief? Here's a simple rule:
Don’t be a toxic Christian.
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29 NIV
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