By Paul Chappell
"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold
nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."
Revelation 3:14-16
There was a political commentator some years ago who said,
“The only thing you find in the middle of the road are yellow stripes and dead
opossums.” While there are some who have elevated tolerance and compromise to
the highest level, in the end these false paths lead to disaster. That was
certainly true of the church at Laodicea .
When God sent them a message through John in the book of Revelation, it was a
stern rebuke of their accommodating ways.
Church history tells us that the Laodicean church was an accommodating
church, more interested in fitting in with their culture than standing for the
truth. We see that trend being repeated today as many churches take up causes
that are either not in Scripture or are directly in opposition to Scripture. In
far too many cases these “middle of the road” religious bodies cloak their
betrayal of truth in flowery language that makes them sound very kind. But in
truth it is no kindness to coddle sin. Love rebukes and exhorts a change in
behavior.
Taking a firm and principled stand is not a recipe for
popularity. If we refuse to compromise, we may be called haters and unloving.
Yet in remaining steadfast for the truth, we win the most important approval of
all—that of our Father in Heaven. It is a shocking statement that God would
prefer our being cold than our being lukewarm, and it should remind us of the
importance of maintaining our stand for the truth.
Today's Rooted Principle:
Take your stand for what is right, and do not allow anything
to sway you from the truth.
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