THE CHURCH THAT MAKES GOD SICK

“Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Revelation 3:16

“A church that refuses to carry the temperature of Heaven will always settle into the temperature of the culture.” — PG

There are moments in Scripture where Jesus speaks with such clarity that it almost feels like He is reading our mail. Revelation 3 is one of those moments. Jesus does not address a rebellious city. He does not confront a pagan empire. He does not rebuke a group of unbelieving mockers. He turns His voice toward a church. A functioning church. A respected church. A church that gathered, a church that sang, and a church that knew His name. Yet He says something so jarring that it still shakes the soul two thousand years later. He says, “You make Me sick.”

Now that is not the soft opening you expect from the Good Shepherd, but sometimes the Shepherd has to raise His voice because the sheep have wandered too far without realizing it. Sometimes Jesus speaks boldly because the danger is quiet. Lukewarmness does not roar like a lion. It whispers like comfort. It hums like routine. It feels like normal. And normal can be deadly if normal is far from His heart.

Laodicea had a problem that went far deeper than behavior. Their issue was temperature. Jesus was not grading their music style or their seating layout. He was exposing the spiritual climate of their hearts. They were not hot enough to heal and not cold enough to refresh. They existed in a spiritual middle that looked safe but tasted unpleasant. If faith had a flavor, theirs tasted like coffee you forgot in the car. You know that moment when you take a sip and instantly regret every decision that led to it.

That is the tone Jesus uses. Not to shame them, but to awaken them. Lukewarmness is not about rebellion. It is about loss. Loss of hunger. Loss of dependence. Loss of pursuit. When you stop needing Jesus, you stop noticing that you stopped needing Him.

Laodicea was a wealthy city. Impressive. Influential. Successful. They did not feel need. They had enough money, enough medicine, enough clothing, and enough stability to feel secure without God. They could heal physical eyes but were spiritually blind. They wrapped themselves in fine garments but walked around Heaven’s streets spiritually naked. And to top it off, their water was famously terrible. Cold water arrived warm. Hot water arrived cool. Nobody enjoyed it. Nobody craved it. Everybody endured it.

Jesus said, “This is what your worship tastes like to Me.” That is tough. But sometimes tough truth is the only kind that opens eyes. C. S. Lewis once wrote, “God whispers in our pleasures but shouts in our pains.” In Laodicea, He shouted. Not in cruelty. In mercy.

I recently heard about a woman who had been in church her whole life. Faithful. Steady. Always present. If churches still handed out attendance trophies, she would have taken home a shelf full. Somewhere along the way, though, her passion cooled. She did not walk away. She just stopped leaning in. Worship became observation. Prayer became silence. Scripture became background decor instead of daily bread. But she never would have called it lukewarm. She called it busy. She called it tired. She called it life.

One Sunday, during a simple moment of worship, she felt something she had not felt in years. It was like Holy Spirit tapped her heart and whispered, “You have survived on habit for too long.” She broke. Not in shame. In relief. She said later, “I did not realize how numb I was until presence made me feel again.” That is what Jesus does for every lukewarm heart. He does not discard it. He revives it.

Cold water refreshes. Hot water heals. That is why Jesus affirms both. A cold church is steady and calming. It feels like an ice pack on a swollen bruise. It cools anxiety. It calms stress. It brings clarity where pressure has clouded thought. Cold is peaceful. A hot church is restorative. It feels like a heating pad on a locked muscle. It unlocks what has been stuck. It softens what has been rigid. It brings fire to frozen places and revives what had stopped moving. Both temperatures serve the people around them. Both matter. Both reflect the ministry of Jesus.

Lukewarm, however, is something altogether different. Lukewarm happens when water travels too far from its source. It is not that the water lacks identity. It has simply lost its effect. Hot loses its heat. Cold loses its chill. Lukewarm is not rebellious. It is distant. You can be near church and far from Christ at the same time. That is when worship becomes passive, preaching becomes familiar, serving becomes optional, and hunger becomes rare.

Jesus confronts lukewarmness because it misrepresents Him. Cold refreshes the thirsty. Hot heals the broken. Lukewarm helps no one. It satisfies no one. It transforms no one. It does not disturb sin and it does not revive saints. It blends into the room. It becomes the temperature of its environment instead of the temperature of Heaven.

And here is the truth many churches avoid. The church is not weakened by unbelievers. The church is weakened by believers who have settled for awareness instead of encounter. People who love services more than surrender. People who admire God without obeying God. People who show up hungry for good music but not for God Himself.

Jesus told Laodicea, “You say you are rich but you are poor. You say you see but you are blind.” Self sufficiency is the silent killer of spiritual passion. When you stop needing Jesus, you stop seeking Him. When you stop seeking Him, you stop experiencing Him. When you stop experiencing Him, you stop reflecting Him. That is when the middle sets in.

Yet there is hope. Jesus does not walk away from lukewarm people. He knocks. He speaks. He calls. He invites. He says, “Be either refreshing or healing. Be useful. Be alive.” He is not looking for a perfect church. He is looking for a church with temperature.

So what kind of church do you want to be part of What kind of believer do you want to be in the house of God Do you want to walk in waiting to see what others will bring Or do you want to be someone who comes ready
Cold enough to comfort
Hot enough to heal
Humble enough to change
Hungry enough to grow
And joyful enough to smile through conviction

We are in a season where people walk into Judah and say, “It cannot be like this every week.” Then a few weeks go by and they realize it actually can. Not because the band is good or the preacher is loud, but because God comes where people are hungry. When humility and expectancy meet presence, refreshing and fire flow every single time.

Laodicea had access to both temperatures. They just lost desire. Desire determines temperature. Temperature determines impact. When Jesus walks into His church, He decides the drink of the day. I want Him to walk in and say, “This is exactly what I ordered.”

Live This Out Loud
Ask Jesus to measure your temperature
Find a quiet moment this week and simply ask, “Lord, where am I refreshing and where have I gone lukewarm” Listen without fear. Jesus reveals to restore, not to shame.

Bring relief to someone’s pressure
Cold water calms the inflamed. Look for someone who is stressed, weary, or irritated. Offer prayer, encouragement, or a simple act of kindness. Your presence can bring peace.

Step into a moment of fire
During worship or prayer, choose engagement over observation. Lift your voice, lift your hands, bow low, or kneel. Ask Holy Spirit to soften places that have grown stiff.

My Prayer
Holy Spirit, I come to You in the name of Jesus, and I ask You to show me where I have drifted into lukewarm living and reveal the places where comfort has replaced pursuit. Teach me to hunger again. Ignite fresh passion. Release refreshing where I am weary and release fire where I am numb. Stir my heart until it reflects the temperature of Heaven. Make me refreshing to the thirsty and healing to the hurting. Let my life, my worship, and my obedience bring delight to Jesus. Amen.

“May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times more and bless you as He has promised.” Deuteronomy 1:11

Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly,
PG