"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and {that} the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see (Rev 3:14-18)."Here is a church that had forgotten their place in God's place. Here is a list of their problem:
1) Lukewarm - Straddling the fence between the world and Christ
2) Independent - Their wealth gave them the illusion of independence.
3) Spiritual blindness - They could not see themselves or the world around them with spiritual eyes, and apparently were seeing things through earthly eyes.One of the solutions was "eye salve." They needed to "look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal (2 Cor 4:18)."
The same problem happens today. There have been alarming statistics that reveal more and more church going Christians are thinking more like secular humanists than like Christians. An increasing number of professed Christians are rejecting biblical ideas such as absolute truth and are accepting moral relativism. According to findings published in a UCLA dissertation, Dr. Gary Railsback notes that between 30% and 51% of Christians renounce their faith before graduating from college. Geroge Barna reports that only 32% of adults who claim to be born again believe in moral absolutes.
I have to wonder how many think one way on Sunday in church, but when it comes to real world issues, tend to think more like secular humanists. Is Christian faith only something to do on Sunday, or does it not permeate all of life? Christians need to see more as God sees. The things that are seen: human reason, human accomplishment, governments, social institutions, human philosophy, and things of this nature are temporal. In other words, they are temporary. We need to focus on what is what is not seen. We need to see things from God's perspective.
Here are some basic questions to consider and talk about with your family. What is really real? Is there a god, and what is he like? What is the nature and origin of the universe? What is the nature and origin of man? What happens to man after death? Where does knowledge come from? What is the basis of ethics and morality? What is the meaning of human history?