The Internal Temperature of a Tauntaun

"What's the internal temperature of a Tauntaun?"

"Lukewarm."

(Get it? Haha, yeah. That was for all my Star Wars nerds out there.) OK...moving right along.

But seriously. Consider that word. "Lukewarm."

What does it mean? Well, here's the Oxford definition: only moderately warm; tepid

Basically, it means niether hot nor cold. It's not close enough to "hot" to even be considered "warm." So, "lukewarm" is somewhere between "warm" and "cold."

Normally people use the word "lukewarm" to refer to foods or beverages. And generally, it's not a good connotation. Ew.

Let's face it. Nobody likes to eat lukewarm food or drink lukewarm beverages. Even the word makes it sound gross.

I mean, when's the last time you heard someone say that they really enjoyed their lukewarm tea, or their lukewarm soup? When you're at a restaurant, the waitress never asks if you want your steak lukewarm. Also, I certainly don't know anyone who just loves lukewarm ice cream, or lukewarm coffee.

The truth is, food and drinks are usually best when they are either hot or cold. One or the other. "Room temperature" water is nasty. Lukewarm food is no good. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

You know what else is pretty disgusting when it's lukewarm? People.

Yes, people. Particularly? Christians. The Bible talks about this issue specifically in Revelation 3:15-16, 19

“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth! ...I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference."

Indifferent? How can a Christian be indifferent? I mean, we're calling ourselves Christians...meaning, we live our lives to follow Christ, right? Yeah...riiiight.

You know what I'm talking about. You've seen them - you may have even been them. The "Christians in name only."

They are the Christians who go to church (and actually enjoy it), they read their Bibles, they spout unconditional love, and they even pray. BUT, something is still wrong with the picture. Why? Because they also dress imodestly, go to parties to get drunk, maybe they do drugs, they like to cuss, they listen to all manners of popular music and don't even care what the songs are actually about. They want what they want because they're selfish, and "they don't care what other people think." Ok, so that's all under the category of "sin," which everyone is guilty of (I'm not excluding myself here either). It's part of living in this world, right? So, what's the problem? It's all socially acceptable. They're just doing what everyone else is doing....

That's right. They are just doing what everyone else is doing. They really "don't care what other people think about them." Trouble is, when they live in such a way, and then label themselves as followers of Christ, they also make it very clear that they don't care what other people think about Christ. They are choosing to misrepresent the God of the universe by living a lie. That's messed up. And we're ALL guilty of it. Every single one of us. As Christians, we have a higher calling. We are to be "in" the world, not "of" it.

Meaning, even though we have to live here in this fallen world, we look different than everything else that's here. We stand out, because we have let Christ change us. We have let God replace our desires with His. We pursue Jesus because everything else the world has to offer falls short when we compare it to Him. We are called to follow Christ in everything. In every area of our lives. So, no. As Christians we CAN'T go out to parties to get drunk. We CAN'T dress immodestly. We CAN'T use foul language and gossip. We CAN'T have pre-marital sex. We CAN'T live with our boyfriend or girlfriend. No. We can't. Why? Because those things are not of God. And if they are not of God, they are of Satan. We are either for God, or against Him.

When we listen to the voices of this world - the lies that tell us that premarital sex is ok, that getting drunk is fun, that homosexuality is not a sin, that lust is a normal, that cramming our minds full of all sorts of inappropriate stuff via every media outlet imaginable won't affect us in a negative way, that money is the most important thing - we block God out. We are ignoring Him.

Sometimes, it's easier to ignore Him when we want to fit in and be liked. When we want to "have fun" and "enjoy our lives." Because, if we were to really listen, we'd hear His truth:

Galatians 1:6b-10 "...You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant."

Matthew 12:30

“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me."

James 4:4-5 "You adulturers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him."

So, yeah. It's pretty straightforward here.

"Do, or do not. There is no try." [- Yoda]

We cannot be lukewarm followers of Christ.

God does not accept half-efforts. He doesn't want 1/3 of our heart. He does not want us to misrepresent Him by saying one thing and living out another.

We either follow Him, or we don't. We either love Him, or we don't. We are either changed by the truth of Jesus or we are not. We are either of God or of the world. Hot or cold. And if we are of God, we must forsake ourselves, our desires, and the things of this world. All of them. Is it easy? NOPE. Is it possible? Not without God's help.

We must stand strong against Satan - the one who will always be trying to pull us down to his level. Satan wants nothing more than to see us burn out. To give in to the world and live only for ourselves. And The Devil loves it even more when we do those things, all while claiming faith in Jesus...because, not only does doing so bring us into sin, but it drags God's name through the mud as well.

Satan thrives on our hypocrisy. That vague "middle ground" we tend to try and justify. That "grey area" we like to live in. It gives people a reason to not believe in God.

Wait.. Aren't we supposed to be living our lives in such a way that we give people a reason to believe in God?

Yeah. We are. That's kinda the whole reason why we're here. (1 Tim. 4:12; 1 Peter 3:8-17)

That's why we have to choose how we will live - one way or the other - and go all in. We either burn white-hot for Christ, or we are extinguished...turned to smoke and blown away by any breeze that comes along.

We cannot live lukewarm. We have a higher calling.

How hot is your fire, Christian?