When We or Our Churches Grow Cold  

As I walked from the hallway of our church building into the sanctuary, I suddenly felt a chill in the air. I realized that it was colder in that room than usual. After checking and adjusting the thermostat, I arrived at the conclusion that the furnace used exclusively for that part of our building wasn’t working. Although a repairman responded quickly and diagnosed the problem, since it was Saturday, he wouldn’t be able to get the needed part until Monday. Therefore, we were facing the prospect of a cold worship service on Sunday morning. Thankfully, the outside temperatures didn’t dip too low that night. So setting up a couple of space heaters resulted in our sanctuary being only slightly cooler than usual as we gathered for our service the next morning.

  While the physical temperature of a place of worship can be a distracting factor if it becomes uncomfortably cold, we should be even more concerned about the spiritual temperature of our gatherings. I have attended services in which I immediately felt a different kind of chill in the air. It was a coldness that indicated a lack of the warmth of God’s presence or of the fire of His Holy Spirit. It might be masked behind an abundance of activity, a crowd of people, and various forms of religion, but it was evident that there was something missing. If the fire had ever been there, it had been allowed to burn low and maybe even go out.

As we tend the spiritual fire in our churches, here are a few factors to consider. Are we continuing to give due respect to what God has revealed about Himself and His will for us through His inspired written Word? When we start explaining away certain portions of scripture, ignoring its clear teachings, or treating it simply as man’s fallible words rather than the infallible, authoritative Word of God, we are removing a major source of fuel for our spiritual fire. Additionally, when we substitute the motions and rituals of religion for a real personal relationship with Christ, we are dousing the flames of true spirituality. When we are more concerned about not offending people or making people happy in order to build our organization rather than calling them to holiness and making them into disciples of Christ, we are putting out the fire. When we get more focused on ourselves and quit reaching out in love and grace to the people in need around us, we are allowing our hearts to grow colder. When we neglect prayer through seeing ourselves as self-reliant and losing sight of our dependence on God, we are diminishing the fire.    

We need to keep an eye on our own spiritual temperature, as well as that of our gatherings with other believers. Maybe if you or I were to get more “on fire” for God, it would spread to those around us. No matter what others may or may not do, let’s seek a closer relationship with the Lord. Let’s make Him the priority in our lives that He deserves to be, while separating ourselves from anything that would hinder us in that endeavor. Let’s spend time fellowshipping with Him in His Word and in prayer. Let’s ask God to stir up the fading embers in our own hearts. As He does so, let’s pray that the Lord then might use us to be a source of spiritual heat in our church and among others whose light and warmth may be growing dim.  

“Lord, revive me. Bring back the fire in my own heart. Then use me to raise the spiritual temperature in the atmosphere of wherever I am, including in my church.”