This is the fifth in a series of posts discussing themes raised in The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. Chapter 20 contains some interesting reflections on the letter to the church in Laodicea, as described in Revelation chapter 3:
“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 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… Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me…”
We tend to read this passage as a warning against lack of spiritual fervour, but Stearns suggests that it might also be a warning against materialistic complacency. Christians who are materially wealthy but not rich in good deeds towards those who are materially poor are in God’s eyes “wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”. When Jesus is standing at the door and knocking, he might be doing so in the person of the poor who need our assistance.