The Danger of Lukewarm Faith

Untitled by Mark Tennant

Neeza Powers presented himself as a Christian influencer for online platforms. Eight months ago, Powers, who was living as a transgender woman "Nicole," met Jesus and felt convicted to return to his sex as a man. He detransitioned and began attending various churches and reading Scripture, eventually settling on the Catholic Church for its adherence to tradition and structure. For eight months, Powers openly shared his journey in faith and identity, learning more about Jesus and who God designed him to be. This week, after eight months of fighting temptation and surrendering his life, Powers announced his decision to retransition to "the woman God made" him to be. 

For followers like me, who had been praying for Powers since the beginning of his journey, the news was heartbreaking. The worst part is not that Powers is falling back into old sin and identity, but that he believes he can hold sin in one hand and Christ in the other. He claims that his motivation for retransitioning is that he can love both God and other people better as Nicole, and that this is what Jesus wants for him. Jesus, however, never contradicts Himself, because His Divine Word is perfect and complete. He calls us to "put off" our old selves, and "deny" our desires. He calls us to walk as men and women, and to be like the children He created us to be. Christ has not called Powers to this path, and the claim that He has shows a clear misunderstanding of Scripture and what it means to truly follow Christ. 

I do not use Powers as an example to slander him. I think that he has a good heart and good intentions, but that he is also missing crucial understandings about Jesus. I continue praying for him even now, and sincerely hope that he receives correct teaching and conviction, and that he is open to receiving it, especially considering what a large following and influence he has. However, I use Powers as an example because he furthered my thinking on a subject I have already been considering recently, that being the present lifestyle of "lukewarm faith" found in the modern American church.

"I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." - Revelation 3:14-17

"Lukewarm faith" is a term we throw around a lot. Within the Christian circle, we all know what it means. It's believing that Jesus is Savior without respecting Him as Lord. It's saying you believe one thing, when your actions clearly demonstrate another. Yet despite our familiarity with being lukewarm, it feels as though we've neglected to understand the depth of its danger and prevalence. 

In Revelation, John writes that it is better for us to be either hot or cold, in faith or out of it, than to be straddled in the middle. In fact, in God's prophetic words through John, He says that He will "spit you out" if your faith is lukewarm, meaning that a lukewarm faith is not really any faith at all. There is a real gravity to being lukewarm, and it's one that every person who proclaims to be a Christian should have concern for. If you are not concerned, chances are your faith is cold. 

Romans 10:9 says that "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." This verse speaks the truth. We are saved through faith alone. But Scripture also says that faith produces fruit. To recognize that "Jesus is Lord" implies a kind of submission under Him, and obedience to His rule. You cannot recognize Him as Lord without recognizing that there are actions in your life that defy His Lordship, and those actions need to be "cut off." You need to flee from your sin, not linger in it. 

If Jesus is Lord, you need to seek to cut off lust and sexual perversion, and instead submit to the Lord's outline for marriage, sex, and relationships. This means you need to practice modesty, at least to the extent that your butt and boobs are covered. This means you need to stop having sex outside of the bounds of marriage. This means you need to stop sending sultry text messages and posting pictures that highlight your body as a sexual object, rather than as a Temple of the Lord. This means you need to stop twerking at parties. This means you need to stop watching pornography or thinking about other people in terms of sexual appeal. This means you need to stop appealing to your temptations. This means you stop treating people who are not your spouse as if they were. If you want to hold onto worldly sexual practices, you cannot also hold onto Jesus. 

If Jesus is Lord, you need to love your neighbor as He commands you to. This means you stop gossiping. If you're not sure if you're gossiping, just stop talking about other people altogether. This means you stop excluding people. This means you stop mocking people. This means you stop making crude jokes and instead use only speech that is "good for building up." This means you stop tearing yourself and others down. This means you stop holding grudges. This means you stop swearing. This means you love people even if their opinions and beliefs differ from yours. If you want to treat other people poorly, you cannot also treat Jesus well. 

When Jesus meets the woman caught in adultery, He tells her to "go and sin no more." This is not an easy thing to do. We are broken, fallen, sinful people who will fight temptations for the rest of our lives in this world. But Scripture makes a distinction between the righteous man, who "falls seven times and rises again," and the wicked man, who stumbles and gives in. Loving Jesus and following Jesus means fighting temptation, not lingering in it. 

I myself am not perfect. I still struggle with sin every day, as we all do. I am also not a judge of your faith. At the end, only God knows what is truly in your heart. However, faith does have outside indicators of fruit, and while faith matters above all, your fruit indicates the strength of your faith. If your sin is so big and important that you cannot bear to let go of it, or at least try, it is probably an idol in your life. And you cannot worship that idol of sin, and still worship Jesus. As the first commandment says, "you shall have no other God before Me." You have to make a choice. Be hot or be cold, be on fire for Jesus or in love with the world, but do not attempt to have the best of both worlds. I promise it will fail you.