Laodicea

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth." ~ Revelation 3:14-16

This song is based off of the letter to the church at Laodicea, as recorded in the Bible, in the book of Revelation, chapter 3, verses 14-22. This is a description of a church that is lukewarm, and God/Jesus is calling out to them to hear what he is saying to them about their spiritual condition, to open their hearts' doors to renewed fellowship with him via repentance, and to commit their lives to Jesus Christ in passionate obedience. I believe the Lord Jesus is still extending this call to today's "Laodicea" church, i.e. the church that is lukewarm today.

Laodicea / An Original Work / April 29, 2011
Based off of Revelation 3:14-22

Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
You hear Me calling, you hear Me calling. I’m calling you.
Will you not answer? Will you not answer? I’m calling you.
If you but follow, if you but follow, I’ll answer you.
Won’t you give Me your heart and your soul,
So I can cleanse you and make you whole?
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.

I stand at your door; I stand at your door. I’m knocking there.
Will you not listen? Will you not listen, while I’ll be there?
If you’ll but open, if you’ll but open your hearts to Me,
I’ll come within you, I’ll come within you, you’ll sup with Me.
Won’t you buy from Me some gold and salve?
These costly treasures are yours to have.
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.

Are you contented; are you contented to be lukewarm?
Will you not have Me? Will you not have Me? Of this I warn –
If you don’t hear Me, if you don’t hear Me, and so obey,
I will spit you out; I will spit you out without delay.
So why not heed this, your final call,
And give to God absolutely all?
Laodicea, Laodicea, I’m calling you.
If you will answer, if you will answer, I’ll come to you.


http://originalworks.info/laodicea/
 
The hallmark of Laeodecia is beating down Zeal in the name of cooperation.... Not too hot, not too cold, Just Right!

I think it's worthwhile to understand WHY this may be so.....

Someone Zealous, Vibrant, and Active tends to be a DOER... Doer's draw criticism for their actions because they are DOING.... And.. In the process of doing in real life - they step on toes... They make some people unhappy... They argue and discipline and draw hard lines.... They believe Strongly in Action... and ACTION draws Criticism.... Without proper leadership and management - it can turn into trouble.... Factions within the church will seek these out (and even gin it up) as a way to Scandalize the leadership to stomp down the action.... Sometimes, it's just easier for the leadership to beat down the Zeal before it comes to Scandal....

This is not a new phenomenon, though... Think of Peter's vision of "Kill and Eat" and the subsequent visit to Cornelius's family (Acts 10) ... We forget that Peter took a LOT of heat from within the Church for following up and EATING with and preaching to Gentiles (Acts 11)... This probably has a LOT to do with Peter subsequently drawing back from Gentiles in Antioch and then being rebuked by Paul for the same (Galatians 2)

Think of this for a minute.... A zealous Pentecostal and a zealous Calvinist.... What happens if we aren't careful? Rock throwing... Calling eachother heretics and blasphemers.... BUT... What COULD happen if they encouraged and strengthened and helped eachother to MAXIMIZE the blessings from God to both of them rather than to slam the door on the other's fingers?

The challenge seems to be how to encourage, focus, and manage the Zeal so that it accomplishes the most good rather than to beat it down.... and then to encourage LOVE as a way to overcome the disagreements that are bound to arise....
 
The hallmark of Laeodecia is beating down Zeal in the name of cooperation.... Not too hot, not too cold, Just Right!

I think it's worthwhile to understand WHY this may be so.....

Someone Zealous, Vibrant, and Active tends to be a DOER... Doer's draw criticism for their actions because they are DOING.... And.. In the process of doing in real life - they step on toes... They make some people unhappy... They argue and discipline and draw hard lines.... They believe Strongly in Action... and ACTION draws Criticism.... Without proper leadership and management - it can turn into trouble.... Factions within the church will seek these out (and even gin it up) as a way to Scandalize the leadership to stomp down the action.... Sometimes, it's just easier for the leadership to beat down the Zeal before it comes to Scandal....

This is not a new phenomenon, though... Think of Peter's vision of "Kill and Eat" and the subsequent visit to Cornelius's family (Acts 10) ... We forget that Peter took a LOT of heat from within the Church for following up and EATING with and preaching to Gentiles (Acts 11)... This probably has a LOT to do with Peter subsequently drawing back from Gentiles in Antioch and then being rebuked by Paul for the same (Galatians 2)

Think of this for a minute.... A zealous Pentecostal and a zealous Calvinist.... What happens if we aren't careful? Rock throwing... Calling eachother heretics and blasphemers.... BUT... What COULD happen if they encouraged and strengthened and helped eachother to MAXIMIZE the blessings from God to both of them rather than to slam the door on the other's fingers?

The challenge seems to be how to encourage, focus, and manage the Zeal so that it accomplishes the most good rather than to beat it down.... and then to encourage LOVE as a way to overcome the disagreements that are bound to arise....

John C, That is an interesting perspective. What I often see beaten down is sincere love and devotion to Jesus Christ, walking in the Spirit, overcoming the flesh and standing on the Word of Truth, and this is done in favor of compromise with the world in order to "win the world," but to what? - and to please human flesh so as not to offend anyone. I believe that is why we have "Laodicean" like church existing today because the church compromises with the world to make nice with the world in order to attract the masses in the world to their flesh-driven human organizations controlled, ruled and led by humanistic philosophy and worldly values and beliefs. It is big business these days.
 
I believe that is why we have "Laodicean" like church existing today

I really feel like that's where we are at in Western Europe/USA now....

Think of this promise, and the observation:
Promise: "If any man will open the door to Me, I will come in and eat with him"
Hint: "Therefore, be Zealous and Repent"

Observation: The vast majority of Zealous,Vibrant churches are no longer sustained by matriculation of leadership through their denominational organization - but rather are churches that were founded/resurrected by a Zealous, Vibrant Pastor... When that pastor leaves/retires/dies - the church simply slides into Laeodecia.... Different churches still have different flavors - but the OUTCOME is the same - no Zeal, no Vibrant Christianity that reaches OUT.....

This isn't ONE denomination... but rather this is characteristic of the entire church in the USA and Europe now.... That's a scary situation!

What happened? I was reading through James 1:1-12 and it makes more sense to me now.....

He talks about having Joy in tribulations.... WHY? How do you have Joy through tribulations and testing? I usually groan and grit my teeth and feel downtrodden and unloved.... But, what is James getting at? We should have Joy because we look past the Testing and the Removal of Impurity to the Proving of our real value - and to the Crown of Life that awaits us!

See, there's none of this going on in Laeodecia... There's no testing and trial to remove the "Dross" that inhabits us.. No pruning of dead and diseased wood so we can be more fruitful... No chopping down of trees bearing "Evil fruit"..... Why? Because IT HURTS! So... What do we naturally do - we do anything we can to AVOID the pain..... As a church - that means beating down the Zeal, it means compromise with the World, it means give up the Gospel, and it means avoiding ANY confrontation with the World....
 
I believe a time is coming when the church here will be tested so that she will repent and will be revived. That is my hope. It is what I pray for.
 
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