Kinda-Sorta Living

As phrases go, I like this one: kinda-sorta.  Okay, my spell checker doesn’t like that phrase but an online dictionary confirmed it’s a real word – condensed for for “kind-of-sort-of,” and we use it when we don’t actually mean “yes” or “no.”  While I do like to use it, I’m not thrilled when someone gives me that answer!

 

The Apostle Peter makes it clear in his second letter that the Day of the Lord will come!  He reminds Believers in the last days there will be scoffing, a following after sinfulness and deliberate disregard for truth.  That should sound familiar!  “But the Day of the Lord will come …” (2 Peter 3:10a).  Then comes this huge probing question: “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?” (V.11).  When I consider my own wishy-washy, lukewarm commitment toward holiness, kinda-sorta comes to mind.  Yes, there’s that phrase again – and God is not interested in kinda-sorta living!  To the Church at Laodicea, John wrote, “So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 3:16).  Lukewarm living was unacceptable in John’s day, and it’s unacceptable today.  The danger for Christians, however, is that lukewarm living is so attractive!  When it wasn't clear who truly loved the LORD, Moses stood at the gate of the camp and asked, "Who is on the Lord's side? Come to me." (Exodus 32:26).  Throughout history, God has been calling His own - His Redeemed, His Elect, His Saints - to live boldly, with evidence of Christ in all areas of life!  We are called out of the world - called "out of darkness into His marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).  We are to look and speak and behave differently than the devil's children!  The same God sounds the same call today: it's a call from lukewarm-ness, from wishy-washy-ness, from kinda-sorta living.  As true followers of Jesus Christ, we do well to ask ourselves: what sorta people am I?