Hot, cold or lukewarm?

"So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." Revelation 3.16

The crises keep piling up - war, drought, famine, pandemic, fuel shortages - and, closer to home, we are feeling the effects - cost of living crisis, strikes, government meltdown, addiction, social unrest... All this at a time when church attendance is in free-fall and the spirit of secular materialism is rampant. In other words, just when society needs to recognise the signs of the End Times, just when we need to repent of our wicked ways which are the source of our woes, just when we need to rediscover God's agenda for redemption and put our faith in Christ as saviour, we lack the faith. The world is looking the other way: the rich continue to indulge in privilege and the poor look, understandably, look for a fairer share.

Meanwhile the church is preoccupied with our own problems. We want to do the right thing but in our obsession with internal reorganisation, our public profile, and our inability to effect the depth and scope of change we need, we find ourselves hopelessly distracted. Without realising it we are succumbing to the world's agenda instead of offering God's alternative - which must be expressed in our words and backed up by our deeds and attitudes. This will have serious consequences because the Bible warns that God does not stand idly by, that Jesus will return to judge the world and his arrival will be "like a thief in the night". The secular world will be taken by surprise; only the wise will be ready to welcome him.

Are we ready? The answer depends on the answer to this question: are we more preoccupied with the Lord's return or with making our way in the world?