"So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold
nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."
Revelation 3:16

I recently had a surprisingly-defensive conversation about unicorns while discussing a video call I had with a deliverance minister from Canada, during which I was encouraged to discard a silly little unicorn pillow I've been using as a night light in the van for almost 10 years.  The gratuitous nature of the conversation made me understand Revelation 3:16 for the first time.  Being lukewarm is indeed more revolting to God than being cold.  To have to defend the conviction of God within your own ranks is worse than being persecuted from without; the latter is expected, while the former is a spiritual obstacle that is a complete waste of time and energy.  If you are lukewarm, pick a side.  Even God would rather you were cold, than having one foot in and one foot out.  I never understood it before.  But I get it now.

If you are an adult, and feel the need to defend unicorns against your friend's conviction to discard them, I would take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask myself some very serious questions.

Beware.

While my friend's defensiveness was shocking, and explaining my conviction to it was exhausting (and a potential dealbreaker), and while I knew that God was speaking to me through the video call, I did look it up to confirm what I already knew was the conviction of God.  To my own complete lack of surprise, the unicorn issue is worse than I thought.  If you're interested in the topic, the article "The Importance of Unicorns in Witchcraft Religion" is a good place to start.

I was also convicted to "repent of having used the word 'Talisman' as a band name in the 90s."  While we were never into witchcraft or the occult, and we only called the band "Talisman" because we though it sounded cool, the word itself is indeed loaded.  I don't care if it's a light-up pillow for infants, or a cool-sounding word, the real world is not purely scientific.  Our secular preferences have no effect on it whatsoever.

It may sound cool, and the object may be rare, but is it sacred?  God forbid we put anything on that pedestal.  And if the object is indeed loaded, if it contains one drop of spiritual arsenic that poisons the entire well, are we willing to discard it?  To the point of destroying an extremely rare 30-year-old VHS tape that contains that arsenic?  Whether we were conscious practitioners of arsenic distillation or not?

It isn't sacred.  We are willing to discard it.  We had better be. 

If we aren't, it is an idol.

It remains to be seen which side of the fence the spiritual head of this house is going to lean toward.  There are many reasons to be hopeful, but it isn't up to me.  Defending my convictions against lukewarmness, as a guest, has been exhausting.  On the street, you should expect it.  With non-Christians, there's really nothing to defend.  That's why God hates lukewarmness more than even being cold toward Him.  Professing, lukewarm Christianity that believes true obedience to Christ is radical or extreme puts His children in a situation in which they actually have to defend themselves when they should feel spiritually at home.  Lukewarm Christianity chokes on conviction and obedience, perhaps foreshadowing the way God will eventually choke on them.

Horrific.

"Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands
full with travail and vexation of spirit."
Ecclesiastes 4:6

So, is it time to go?  I don't want to be here anyway, but in all honesty, I hope not.  To leave would be to abandon a doomed situation in its unrepentant doom, as an act of self-preservation.  I really hope that isn't the case.  But the holidays were beaten out of me long ago, and I'm not clinging to anything.  I have learned a lot in this season, and if it's time to head on down the line, well, better a handful with quietness, than both hands full with travail and vexation of spirit.

It's win-win.  The word is "better."  Obedience with little is better than being vexed with much.

Don't be a lukewarm unicorn.  Happiness is submission to God.

To God,

Zelle: [email protected]

Thank you in advance.