Throughout these churches we have seen that Jesus has reasons for saying what He does. He uses aspects of their city to challenge the church and He does so with Laodicea.
“So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Revelation 3 v 16-18)
“We are not poor. Look at our wealth. Our city holds a successful banking centre.
We are not blind. Look at all the doctors who want to come and study ophthalmic medicine.
We are not naked. Look at the sheep farmers who are generating the wool for our clothes.”
That would be the reaction of the city of Laodicea and this attitude had crept into the church.
Be careful of being able to prove you are doing well because you may be only a sentence away from saying ‘I don’t need a thing’ and we should always remain in the place of needing Jesus.
In an interesting twist where later Jesus will be inviting them to come and eat from Him. He is saying, “I am going to spit you out of my mouth”. Why?
Because Laodicea may have been able to boast of everything but their water. They didn’t have a natural source at all. In fact they had to bring it in from miles away through a water system of stone pipes. The water that flowed over the cliff into the city was from Hierapolis, 6 miles away, which by the time it reached Laodicea was full of chemicals and unfit to drink.
Casual Christianity can boast but it doesn’t yearn.
Ever heard someone testify of what God has done and you wonder whether or not they truly believed it was God because they themselves seem to be mentioned so much? It’s casual Christianity.
Missions Paul 