LUKEWARMNESS

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

—Rev. 3:15

3231 Mr. Luke Warm

Recently I talked to a man I will call Mr. Luke Warm, for he is “neither cold not hot.” He says he is a Christian but seldom attends church. “I am under a great deal of tension where I work,” he explained, “and often go fishing on weekends for relaxation. Church is all right, but a person can’t do everything, you know.”

Mr. Luke Warm also had an uneasy conscience about his giving, for he continued, “I put a dollar or two in the offering plate whenever I go, and I think that’s all God can expect of me. If I gave a tenth of my income, it would amount to more than $2000. You just don’t know how expensive it is for me to maintain my cabin at the lake and pay dues to keep my membership at the country club and the bowling league. Anyway, churches put too much emphasis on money. Sometimes I get so disgusted with this talk about sacrificing for Christ that I feel like quitting altogether.”

—Our Daily Bread

3232 The Devil’s Strategy

The Devil held a great anniversary, at which his emissaries were convened to report the results of their several missions. “I let loose the wild beasts of the desert,” said one, “on a caravan of Christians; and their bones are now bleaching on the sands.” “What of that?” said the Devil, “their souls were all saved.”

“For ten years, I tried to get a single Christian asleep,” said a third; “and I succeeded, and left him so.” Then the Devil shouted, and the night stars of hell sang for joy.

—Martin Luther

3233 Blindly Following Church

An ignorant man was examined on the subject of his faith, as follows: “What do you believe?”—“I believe what the Church believes?”—”What then, does the Church believe?”—“The Church believes what I believe.”—”Tell me, then, I pray you, what it is which you and the Church both believe.”—”Why, truly, sir, the Church and I both believe the same thing.”

3234 Embarrassed Baptists

“In the 24 years I’ve lived in Louisiana,” said Dr. J. D. Grey, “we’ve had Baptists in the governorship for 16 years. They’ve been the sorriest years that our state law enforcement has ever seen.”

The pastor of the First Baptist Church of New Orleans was addressing some 2,000 men attending the annual Louisiana Baptist Brotherhood Convention.

“I’m not mad,” added Grey, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, “I’m embarrassed.”

Grey singled out Jimmie H. Davis, ballad-singing governor of Louisiana, as “the shame of Louisiana Baptists” for failing to act against “organized and commercialized gambling and corruption.”

Davis is a Baptist and once taught school in a Baptist college in Shreveport. He has written a number of songs, such as “You Are My Sunshine,” and has made recordings of Gospel songs.

—Christianity Today

3235 Young Gandhi With Christian Family

While attending a university in London, Mahatma Gandhi became almost convinced that the Christian religion was the one true, supernatural religion in the world. Upon graduation, and still seeking evidence that would make him a committed Christian, young Gandhi accepted employment in East Africa and for seven months lived in the home of a family who were members of an evangelical Christian church. As soon as he discovered that fact he decided that here would be the place to find the evidence he sought.

But as the months passed and he saw the casualness of their attitude toward the cause of God, heard them complain when they were called upon to make sacrifice for the kingdom of God and sensed their general religious apathy, Gandhi’s interest turned to disappointment. He said in his heart, “No, it is not the one true, supernatural religion I had hoped to find. A good religion, but just one more of the many religions in the world.”

—Evangelical Illustration

3236 Faithful To The End

There is a church which sends in its annual statistical statement, year after year, as follows:

Number of members added by baptism     0

Number of members added by letter     0

Number of members dismissed by letter     5

Number of members who have died     3

Amount raised for home missions     0

Amount raised for foreign missions     0

Pray for us, brethren, that we continue faithful unto the end.

—Current Anecdotes

3237 The Frozen Ship

We read of a vessel discovered a century ago, among the icebergs of the Arctic ocean, with the captain frozen as he was making his last entry in the logbook. The crew were discovered, some in their hammocks and some in the cabin, all frozen to death. The last date in the logbook showed that for thirteen years that vessel had been moving among the icebergs, “a drifting sepulchre, manned by a frozen crew.” Are there not churches in a like condition?

—Prosser

See also: Backsliding ; Leisure ; Pleasure ; Sunday ; Worldliness ; Matt. 24:12; Rev. 2:4; 3:16.