Luke warm

So yesterday was Labor Day and Tara and I decided to do what a lot of families do on Labor Day. After a few hours of swimming we went home and relaxed and then did some grilling. I must admit I am not the greatest of cooks in any setting. Grilling isn't that good to me either. Well, I stacked the charcoal in a little pyramid and lit it. When I had it all lit I let it burn for a while and as the coals got ashed over I spread it out evenly and then put the grill in place and got ready to cook.
I got the burgers out of the fridge and then grabbed the hotdogs. I put the food on the grill and left it cooking. Unfortunately, I had somehow only got about a quarter of the coals hot enough. So that meant it took me about 2 hours to grill what should have taken almost no time at all.
I started looking at it and thinking about it. What good is a piece of charcoal that isn't hot? If they aren't hot then they are just sitting there occupying space and they don't even help get the food warm.
In Revelation 3:16-17 we read, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am going to spit you out of my mouth."
As a church there is nothing more damaging than being lukewarm.
The cold church will have about 2-4 new members or converts in a month's time. They are reaching people, but not great numbers of new members because they are only interested in themselves.
The hot church is reaching unnumerable amounts of people monthly and getting them plugged in to ministries and helping them grow.
The lukewarm church is reaching people but not offering them any chance to grow or get involved. They are like the charcoals that aren't lit, they're there, they're warm but they aren't contributing in any way shape or form.
So let's make sure we stay hot, reaching the community with the Gospel each day. Then, upon reaching people we need to get them involved and help disciple them so that they can fully reach their potential in Christ.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!