Wilbur Rees wrote a book with this title. In the book he writes this:
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk, or a snooze in the sunshine.
I don’t want enough of God to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant.
I want ecstasy, not transformation.
I want warmth of the womb, not a new birth.
I want a pound of the Eternal in a paper sack.
I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please.
The last two lines I think speak volumes about Christianity today. We all want God to punch our ticket to heaven when we die, but we don’t wish God to put too many demands on us while we are living our best life now. We live in a time of great apathy. That’s nothing new. That spirit is as old as human nature and can be read about on the pages of our bibles. Revelation 3:14-19 tells us about a church. It is in the city of Laodicea. The church in Laodicea is the last of the seven churches in Asia Minor (modern Turkey), and it represents the church age in the last days. What was it known for? Some things are mentioned in the passage.
- They were apathetic toward the work of God. “I know thy works, that thou are neither cold not hot:” (3:15). They weren’t cold toward the work of God. The need was felt to keep the church alive with a few programs or activities here or there just let’s not get too fanatical. They weren’t hot in their service to the Lord. No sense in being nutty about church things would have been the spirit of the Laodiceans. Jesus says to them “I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou are lukewarm, and neither cold or hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:15b-16). Perhaps the best way to describe their attitudes would be to say, “I want God on my terms.”
- They were affluent in their personal lives. Being comfortable with their lives materially was a way of life for most in the city of Laodicea. The city was known as a financial hub for much of the Roman Empire. It is known by historians that Cicero would cash bank notes in the city as well as other Roman statesmen. Textiles were huge and the exports to other cities and regions were legendary. The medical profession was also well-known in Laodicea, especially for those with eye problems. How often have you seen this? A family when they are young with small children struggle financially but they work hard, serve the Lord, and keep the kids in church doing their best to live for God. Years pass, wages have increased, investments have done well, kids are grown and then commitment to the Lord changes. We don’t really have any spiritual needs right now. We’re good living just as we are. Church is no longer a priority, missions which at one time was a major priority is now on the back burner. We want $3 worth dollars of God. Not too much these days, but I want a whole lot of God once I take my last breath. Their thinking had become clouded.
- They were rightfully accused by the Lord. “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). It is a sad thing we Christians can’t see their condition. All we must do to determine our temperature is look into the mirror of the bible. It reveals to us the truth, our paths, our behaviors, our manner of living. The Christians were told by Jesus he would spue (vomit) them out of his mouth. The luke-warm waters around Laodicea were known to induce vomiting when ingested. These believers, if they were genuine, knew exactly what Jesus was saying to them concerning the tepid water of the city.
As I finish this blog let me ask you 3 questions, as I have asked myself. How much of God do I really want? Do I want $3 of God or a little more or a little less? If I can trust the Lord with my soul, can I not trust him to direct my life now? Only you can answer these questions for yourself. It is my prayer that we will be all in serving the Lord our whole life instead of being comfortable with just a little of God until our ox gets in a ditch. Think about how much.