✝️Half In. Spiritually Exhausted.

Good morning, my brothers! Most Christian men aren’t rejecting Jesus outright. We’re just slowly drifting into comfortable, lukewarm faith. And the scary part? Many of us don’t even realize it’s happening until we feel spiritually exhausted, numb, and far from God. Know a guy like this? Let’s go! A 4-minute, 17-second read

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Two Kingdoms

Many Christian men today are exhausted.

Not just because we’re working too hard or running in a million directions at once. Deep down, we’re trying to live for two kingdoms at the same time. Spiritually exhausting. In our souls.

We want the comfort, ease, approval, success, and security the world offers while also wanting the peace, power, and intimacy with Christ that only comes through surrender.

Jesus had a word for this dilemma: lukewarm.

In Revelation 3, Jesus speaks to the church in Laodicea and says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot…because you are lukewarm…I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Those are hard words. But they’re not spoken from anger. They’re spoken from love. A few verses later, Jesus says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.”

Lukewarm Christianity is miserable because it pulls us in two directions. You can feel it. You’re trying to follow Jesus while still holding onto the very things He’s asking you to surrender. You want intimacy with Christ without dying to self. You want the fruit of the Spirit without walking in the Spirit.

And eventually, the tension becomes exhausting.

Nobody Wants Lukewarm Coffee

As I wrote the first draft of this article, I was in my familiar booth at the coffeehouse, drinking black coffee. I’ll have a Caramel Macchiato when I’m celebrating. Iced coffee in the summer. I drink it either hot or cold.

I’ve never ordered lukewarm coffee. Have you? Nobody does.

If coffee gets lukewarm, we refresh our cup. Lukewarm coffee just feels wrong. And maybe that’s part of what Jesus was getting at. Lukewarm faith is a miserable place to live because we were never created to live half-surrendered to God.

The Old Man Has to Die

Paul understood this.

Paul didn’t say Jesus made a few improvements to his life. He said the old man died, was crucified.

That’s the part of Christianity we often avoid.

We want Jesus to just help us “manage” our lives better. But Jesus calls us to die so that He can give us a new, eternally abundant life altogether.

Paul understood his old identity and definition of success were empty compared to knowing Christ. In Philippians 3, he says everything he once valued now looks like garbage compared to gaining Christ. The man who once built his identity on status, education, accomplishment, and religious performance had found something infinitely greater.

In today’s church, I think we still play with the garbage Paul identified too frequently.

We want Jesus, but we also want comfort.

We want holiness, but we still want control.

We want freedom, but we keep feeding the very things enslaving us.

Many of us don’t really know what it looks like to be on fire for Jesus and are asking:

“How do I actually live fully sold-out for the Lord?”

Not surprisingly, Jesus answered that, too.

The One-Two Punch: Abiding and Surrendering

In John 15, He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches…apart from Me you can do nothing.” The Christian life was never meant to be lived through human effort. It’s not about trying harder. It’s about abiding with Him.

Abiding means staying connected to Him daily. Continually. Not just Sunday mornings.

That’s why the Bible matters so much. Not as another religious checkbox, but because it keeps reconnecting our hearts to truth. Prayer matters because intimacy with God doesn’t happen accidentally.

Just Ordinary Guys

The men who grow spiritually are usually not the most gifted. They’re the men who consistently stay near Jesus. Remember this verse when the Sanhedrin had finished questioning Peter and John:

Encourages me greatly that astonishing impact comes not from gifts or wisdom, but from staying tight with Jesus.

And here’s more good news: God never asked us to do this alone.

When Jesus left, He sent the Holy Spirit to live inside every believer. The same disciples who ran away in fear or even denied Him before the crucifixion became radically bold after Acts 2. What changed? The Spirit of God was now living in them.

That same Spirit lives in you right now. His power. His wisdom. His strength. His peace.

The issue is not whether God is present. The issue is whether we’re willing to surrender control.

From Lukewarm to On Fire

John the Baptist said it best:

Are we willing to let Him guide and direct your mind, your actions, your words, your schedule, your bank account? If you are, you’re on your way from lukewarm to on fire.

Surrender isn’t one-and-done. It’s daily. Sometimes hourly, moment-by-moment.

Prayer in a moment of need. Fleeing when temptation rears its ugly head. Reciting scripture to fend off an attack. Giving Him the glory in our wins. Speaking truth to a brother struggling. Loving your wife and kids sacrificially and expecting nothing in return.

Not perfection. Pursuit.

Not pretending. Surrender.

Not doing more religious activity but becoming more the man God created you to be.

Brother, Jesus did not die so we could live lukewarm and spiritually exhausted. He’s calling us into something far greater. Intimacy with Him. Freedom. Purpose. Power through the Holy Spirit.

Abiding. Surrendering.

Fully. Imperfectly. Daily.

-WIll

Thanks for joining us for MTM 93! We’ll see you back on Wednesday morning for our fresh, quick-hitting summary of today’s article!

If you’re looking for a speaker for your next men’s event, conference, or podcast, let’s talk! Connect with me below, and we can discuss.