Electronic Bible study. . . That is exactly what this blog post is. Two weeks ago, I wrote about this verse from Ecclesiastes. . .

¹⁵ In this meaningless life of mine I have seen both of these: a righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.

¹⁶ Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise—why destroy yourself?

¹⁷ Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time?

¹⁸ It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

If you want to read what I wrote you can find that here: https://benbergren.com/article-down-the-middle-of-the-road/#comments

King Solomon (who wrote part of Ecclesiastes) advocated for a ‘middle of the road approach’. On one side of the road are the legalistic, religious folks who view their faith in God as rules to be followed. There is only one way to please God and you better behave because God is watching.

On the other side of the road are the ‘anything goes’ folks. Do what you want, when you want, as much as you want. Live for today, YOLO and that kind of short-term way living.

The middle way is the way of Jesus. Not focusing on rules and not doing what you want. Instead we cultivate a relationship with God and others based on love.

You might be saying, “hey wait a minute, this is just a repeat of your last blog post.”

As the old TV pitchman used to say, “…but wait, there’s more!”

Someone then asked me online, “How does that compare to this verse in Revelation 3:15?”

Here is that verse… Jesus says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

 Does this verse stand in contradiction to what Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes? Is Jesus saying he doesn’t like middle of the road living? Is Pr. Ben wrong???? (Disclaimer: I am wrong a lot. That shouldn’t surprise or upset anyone.)

The church in Laodicea to whom Jesus is speaking in Revelation is a rich church. They are not passionate about anything and they have found comfort and safety in their wealth. In lot of ways, this church was filled with a bunch of ‘fence-sitters.’ You know, people who are accused of ‘sitting on the fence’ don’t take a stand on anything. They want to see where the prevailing winds are blowing before committing to anything. In the words of Jesus, they were “lukewarm.” This church must have been pretty laid back and didn’t do much in terms of serving and caring for others.

Jesus was so confounded by them that he actually wished they were passionate about anything, even if it was the wrong thing! (“I wish you were either one or the other.”)

It is easy to see that using the metaphor in my previous post about being in the “Middle of the road” would then be viewed as being “lukewarm” in Revelation.

Solomon says don’t be extreme in your religious practice (rules) and don’t be an extreme fool- doing whatever you want to do.

What is going on here? Is there a contradiction?

I don’t think there is a contradiction between Jesus’ words and the words of Solomon. Jesus spoke out against religious legalism all the time. He called out the Pharisees for telling people the only way to please God was to obey the rules. One example of this is in Luke 11:46 when Jesus said, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.”

Jesus also spoke out on sin, specifically related to doing what you want whenever you feel like it. Remember what he told the woman caught in adultery after he forgave her? He said, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11)

Jesus was advocating for a new way of living—something way outside of boundaries of right and wrong. He wanted people to draw close to God and have personal relationship with Him. Yes, there is instruction in how to live life and avoid pitfalls but those things (laws and judgments) do not make up the essence of one’s relationship with God.

God loves both the righteous (redeemed) and the sinner. God’s Love is not based on performance or compliance. God loves all. However the commandments and laws given to live a holy life are still helpful to us humans; they just don’t constitute our relationship with God. Laws and judgments are like guardrails on the road. If we get too close (on either side) we are soon to have an accident. That is why I said Jesus calls us to the middle!

However, the problem was that the church in Laodicea was not even on the road! They were sitting on the fence. They could see the road, they just weren’t traveling on it. They weren’t making that spiritual journey with Jesus that we all are on (or should be on).

They weren’t passionately following Jesus with their feet. They probably gave great ‘lip-service’ but their walk didn’t match their talk. Maybe their talk didn’t really impress Jesus either for that matter.

Even Jesus wished they would be “over-righteous” or “over-wicked” just so that they were passionate about something—even if was the wrong thing! They were more like ‘pew-potatoes’. (That is the distant cousin to the ‘couch-potato.’)

Jesus wants to capture our hearts and instill the Holy Spirit so that we are passionate about following him more than doing our own thing or just following the rules.

In summation . . . (Thank God, right?)

Be Passionate for Jesus.
Rules/Commandments are good guardrails.
Don’t be a fool.
Don’t be fixated on religious rules as a way to please God.

God bless,
Pr.Ben