Today I was reading from Revelation 3 in my devotional time, and spent some time reflecting (with the help of DA Carson) on the familiar warning to the church in Laodicea from Rev.3:14-22. There is much more in this passage than I can comment on here, but I want to draw our attention to God’s words of indictment in verses 15-16: “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth.” The passage goes on to talk about how complacent the Laodiceans have become in their wealth that they have taken their eyes off Christ in building their ministries. If we look at the context, we see that this is NOT a passage focusing on evangelism (which is how 3:20 is most commonly used) but rather focuses on building ministries centered on Christ.

But for our purposes, I want to draw our attention to this “hot and cold” theme. Typically, we think of this passage meaning hot is good, cold or lukewarm are bad. Spiritually hot is good, spiritually lukewarm or cold are bad. However, this is not what the passage is saying. To understand it properly, it helps to know a bit of geography.

Laodicea was in Asia Minor, today western Turkey, and of the seven churches in Rev. 2-3, it receives the least encouragement and most criticism. Carson shares that it was a banking center, and a port for exchanging money as travelers headed to the East, and thus it had become wealthy. The primary drawback to the city was its water supply. Nearby Colossae had the only fresh spring water in the area, cold and vital for life. Nearby Hierapolis offered hot springs which offered medicinal properties. Laodicea had to get it’s water from these places through stone pipes miles long, but by the time it reached them, it was foul and infamous in the ancient world for its disgusting taste.

The church in Laodicea had adopted the characteristics of the area. Rather than being cold, refreshing and useful (like water from Colossae), OR being hot, medicinal and useful (like water from Hierapolis), the church had become lukewarm, foul, disgusting tasting and made the Lord throw up (“I will spit you out of my mouth.”).

Friends, in our lives and in our churches, may we “hear the voice of the Lord calling, and open the door, and he will come in, and we will share a meal as friends.” (3:20) May we cling to Christ as the center of our lives and ministries rather than adopting the complacency and smug dependence on wealth and other features of the culture around us. “Be diligent and turn from your indifference.” (3:19) “Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (3:22)