He leads me …

“Come out from among them

And be separate, says the Lord.

Do not touch what is unclean,

And I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17 NKJV)

In the previous two blogs we looked at the expression ‘come out from among them’. In the first blog (Part One) we looked at what Paul was saying to the Corinthian church, and in the last one (Part Two) we looked at the current state of the church, and why it is not really fulfilling the purpose Jesus wanted it to be. In this blog we will consider the ways that determine a lukewarm church and what can be done about it.

The following six personality attributes can help us identify a church whose congregation are lukewarm or offhand about God and His Word.

Selfishness/Self-Righteousness - Some folk like to display their faithful acts so that others will know what good Christians they are. Christ does not care what everyone else thinks of their generosity. He cares about their heart and their motivation.

Don't be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. Care about them as much as you care about yourselves. (Philippians 2:3-4 CEV)

Fear/Worry - Jesus clearly tells us not to worry. Faith requires trust. As we come to genuinely believe God’s promises we know that His love is perfect, that He is always in control, and we can totally trust Him. When we do, fear and worry fade away from our lives.

‘Do not fear [anything], for I am with you; Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, be assured I will help you; I will certainly take hold of you with My righteous right hand [a hand of justice, of power, of victory, of salvation]’ (Isaiah 41:10 AMP).

Pride - Do we recognize what pride actually is? Refusing to forgive someone is pride. Every time we argue and insist that we will not apologize first is also pride. Remember the grace that Christ extends to us, so that we can offer that same grace and forgiveness to others.

‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’ (James 4:6 NLT).

Gluttony/Coveting - This is the lack of self-restraint with food, drink, or wealth. Often we will do whatever it takes to have the best and newest things. But if we are spending a lot of money paying off debt, this can be a modern form of gluttony. Maybe we should ask ourselves, ‘who we trying to impress, God or men?’

Their future is eternal loss, for their god is their appetite: they are proud of what they should be ashamed of; and all they think about is this life here on earth. (Philippians 3:19 TLB)

Gossip - Why won’t the pregnant 16-year-old or the man who cheated on his wife come to our church? Because they are afraid of the gossip, the looks they will get and the offhand attitudes they will receive. Let us try to speak with grace and to remember that our sin is just as sinful as anyone else’s.

Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing. (Ephesians 4:29 TLB)

Judgment - This could cause the death of our faith and our influence. We are all sinners in need of a Saviour. Every time we think less of someone else, we forget that we are also sinners. Jesus said to love (unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others - AMP) our neighbour. Are we?

Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall. (Romans 14:12-13 NLT)[1]

If we as Christians are following our own desires instead of doing what Jesus says to do, the Holy Spirit is not able to work in and through us to build up the congregation fully into their God given roles. Nor are we able to be effective for Jesus in our community.

This is called either grieving the Holy Spirit or quenching the Holy Spirit.

Grieving the Holy Spirit - This refers to our actions that hinder the Spirit from being what He could be in us. 

A Christian can be transformed into the image of Christ when the Holy Spirit is able to work in and with the believer to bring about the correct changes. If the believer does not respond to the Holy Spirits prompts, there is nothing that the Holy Spirit can use to bring about the right changes in the believers life.

In Ephesians 4:30 the Apostle Paul tells us that we can grieve the Holy Spirit:

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [but seek to please Him], by whom you were sealed and marked [branded as God’s own] for the day of redemption [the final deliverance from the consequences of sin]. (Ephesians 4:30 AMP)

Paul reminds us that the Holy Spirit seals the relationship between a new believer and God at the moment of salvation. Initially we may grieve the Holy Spirit, but we will not lose Him, but as we saw in the previous blog, He will not always persevere with a church group that is lukewarm or who simply do not care about their relationship with the Lord. We can see this pattern throughout the Bible too where the Lord is rejected by His people, He stops willingly helping them, but the righteous are removed (Noah & Lot).

Quenching the Holy Spirit - This refers to our actions that hinder the Spirit from doing what He could through us to minister to others.

Normally the Spirit can use us to positively impact others’ lives by using the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we have been given. By doing this He is able to impact people’s lives through us. When we expect Him to do what we want, when we want it, and how we want it, we are on dangerous ground.

The six issues that we looked at earlier can cause the Spirit to be quenched. If we are to walk with the Spirit, we need to start learning how to adjust to how He is leading us, and how to obediently work with Him.[2]

So, if we honestly believe that the Lord wants us to help restore a lukewarm church, we then get involved. Otherwise we should ‘come out from among them’ and stay well clear to avoid a lot of emotional hurt.

Dear Reader – If you have found some value in this blog, please feel free to send a copy on to your family and friends. Kind regards, John

[1] 8 Sins Christians are Starting to Ignore, Rachel-Claire Cockrell, iBelieve.com;

https://www.ibelieve.com/slideshows/8-sins-christians-are-starting-to-ignore.html

[2] How We Grieve and Quench the Holy Spirit, Antley Fowler, rivercitychurch.com;

https://rivercity-church-l8j7.squarespace.com/blog/how-we-grieve-and-quench-the-holy-spirit