"'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. -- Revelation 3: 15-17 (ESV)
Darren Wilson fancies himself many things. He fancies himself a filmmaker. He fancies himself as someone who can "make God famous." He even fancies himself a Christian. The problem is the more he speaks, the more he reveals that he does not appear to even know God. At least not the God of the Bible. Darren has made several independent "Christian" documentaries, the most recent being the two wildly heretical movies about the Holy Spirit. I do not wish to rehash those here, as I have already written about them extensively. Instead, I turn to a recent article he penned for Charisma News entitled, "The Disease of the Lukewarm Christian."
http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/behind-the-lens/56699-the-disease-of-the-lukewarm-christian
This article is a stunning tour de force into the mind of someone who is deceived in these end times. If we are to assume that Wilson is being sincere then he is beyond sincerely deceived. The insight we gain however is into the flawed Christianity that Wilson has been sold and is now in the business of selling. The reality is that the majority of verses in the Bible do not fit the warm and fuzzy fake jesus being marketed in churches across this country. This is the jesus that promises endless worldly purpose and allows all of the carnality our hearts desire under the rubric of friendship and love. It appeals to our fleshly desire to appear spiritual but never let go of our sin. To have our cake and eat it to, if you will. The verses today that Darren Wilson tries to repackage to fit his false belief system and false jesus are the key verses from the third chapter in Revelation. They are from the warnings Jesus gave to the Church at Laodicea. It is no wonder these verses always gave Darren trouble because they describe the church system he believes in. For all intents and purposes, Wilson is an elder in the modern day Church of Laodicea, as we will find out when examining his beliefs put forth in this article. Let us reason together and learn:
"Chapters 2 and 3 in Revelations deal with God's messages to the early churches, and while there's a lot of good stuff there, whenever someone wanted to drop the hammer of conviction on the crowd, they'd usually turn to the message for the church in Laodicea." -- Darren Wilson
Realize what Wilson is saying here beloved. There is a lot of "good stuff" in the letters Jesus wrote to the seven churches, which by direct inference means there is a lot of bad stuff as well. Specifically, Wilson is indicating that conviction is "bad stuff." The sad reality is that conviction is what actually leads one to salvation. Without it you are just playing church and making movies about it. This is how the purpose driven, seeker friendly mind approaches the Bible. It is like a salad bar to them. There is good stuff they like and bad stuff they choose to not put on their plate. More than a conqueror? I'll take some of that! God so loved me? I will take two servings of that! So lukewarm that Jesus might actually spit me out of His mouth? I don't like that so much. I will call that the hammer of conviction and leave it right where it is. Only now, false teachers like Wilson are becoming more daring. They are now taking the verses that don't fit the confectionary sugar god they have created in their own image and are redefining them. We saw this last year when mega church pastor Perry Noble actually tried to rewrite the Ten Commandments to make them more palatable. We see Wilson try desperately to do the same for these two verses:
"But as I explored the idea that friendship with God should be our ultimate goal in life, I began to look at these troublesome verses through the lens of friendship, and suddenly they didn't seem so troublesome anymore." -- Darren Wilson
Wow, the disconnect to spiritual reality should be stunning to anyone with actual discernment. To Darren Wilson, as well as the plethora of seeker friendly pastors of today, friendship with God should be the ultimate goal in our life. Nothing can be further from the truth beloved. This teaching arises from the friend of God theology that permeates the Seeker Friendly Industrial Complex. It is from the belief that because Abraham was a friend of God, therefore we are as well. But nowhere in Genesis is Abraham referred to as friend of God. Indeed this term was not bestowed upon him during his lifetime at all. Why did writers in later generations look at Abraham as a friend of God? Because of his faith in believing God. Because he was willing to sacrifice his only son. Many will then turn to John 15, as Wilson tries, and claim the promises made to the apostles as their own but even in doing so they miss the one word that is key:
Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. -- John 15: 15 (KJV)
So yes, Jesus does make things more personal in these verses but do not miss the most important word here and that is "Lord." The fact that Jesus now viewed the Apostles as friends instead of servants does not change the base of the relationship and that is one of lordship. Friendship with God is born out of the base relationship of He being our Lord and Savior. Without that, you are not His friend. In fact, you are His enemy. Jesus even once lamented why people bother calling Him Lord if they refuse to do what He says. To the Darren Wilson's of the world however, friendship is one of equal standing. Jesus becomes your wing man. Your buddy. Your co-pilot. As Wilson reveals in this quote however, when you look at Scripture through a flawed lens, you will in fact get a flawed picture and that is exactly what he does with the key verses.
"Obviously, God wants us to trust Him and go after Him with everything we have--to be "hot." But I think the reason He tells us He's also OK with us being "cold" is because at least then we're being honest with Him. He can work with honesty. Some of my best times with God have come when I've simply been brutally honest and told Him how disappointed I am in Him, how much I'm struggling with the idea that He is always good, and how I just don't have the spiritual energy or desire to be "hot." He would then take those moments of raw honesty and get to work wooing me back to Him." -- Darren Wilson
So in the theology of Darren Wilson, God serves him. God has to get to work to woo him back whenever Darren is "honest" and tells God how disappointed in Him he is. Wow. What an egocentric, narcissistic bag of poisoned theology. Not only that but he misses the meaning behind the point God is making altogether. According to Wilson, Jesus is OK with us when we are cold. If by OK, he means going to hell I guess Darren could be right but that is clearly not even what Darren means. To Darren, those moments when you doubt God you are just being cold. Beloved, that is absurd. Let us turn to the entire context of the key verses:
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"- Revelation 3: 18-22 (ESV)
Beloved, the cold in this analogy are unsaved, not just lacking the spiritual energy to be hot. The hot are clearly those on fire for God and have a zeal for Him and His Word. Who then are the lukewarm? The context always provides us with the answer:
1) They are deceived into thinking that they are rich, prosperous and have no needs.
