To Be Least

Tim, my friend and classmate, brought up the issue of lukewarm Christians in his recent comment. He stated that:

This is exactly what I mean when I say lukewarm Christians...They do not deny God, but rather, they deny his teachings and principles.

I read this and decided to add to this statement:

Tim, the Bible talks about lukewarm christians.

"So, because you are lukewarm–neither hot nor cold–I am about to spit you out of my mouth." (Revelations 3:16)

However, the difference between a "hot" Christian and a "lukewarm" Christian is not whether they acknowledge his teachings and principles. It is that they know them, but do not apply them.

They are like that "salt" that loses its saltiness and thus needs to be thrown away. [Matthew 5:13] They are like the branches of the vine that do not bear good fruit. Because the do not bear good fruit God cuts them from the vine. [John 15:1-2]

God bless.

After reading what I wrote for my comment, I have remembered this verse:

²²Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1)

      When you look in the mirror the purpose is to see what you look like. Now, if you look in a mirror, and once you step away from it you forgot what you looked like, looking in the mirror was completely pointless. In the same way, a Christian that reads the Bible yet does not do what it says is doing something completely pointless. We are to do what it says. Perhaps a "lukewarm" Christian does exactly this.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on what it means to be a lukewarm Christian?