The Crisis of Spiritual Immaturity (Part 2)
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About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
1. Spiritually immature Christians cannot focus on doctrinal truth.
1. Spiritually immature Christians cannot focus on doctrinal truth.
A. Their lack of maturity impacts the quantity of doctrinal consumption.
A. Their lack of maturity impacts the quantity of doctrinal consumption.
Hebrews 5:11 (ESV)
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
B. Their lack of maturity impacts their understanding of doctrinal consumption.
B. Their lack of maturity impacts their understanding of doctrinal consumption.
Hebrews 5:11 (ESV)
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
C. Their lack of maturity impacts their concentration during doctrinal consumption.
C. Their lack of maturity impacts their concentration during doctrinal consumption.
Hebrews 5:11 (ESV)
About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.
2. Spiritually immature Christians cannot teach doctrine even at the elementary level.
2. Spiritually immature Christians cannot teach doctrine even at the elementary level.
A. This compromises the mission of making disciples.
A. This compromises the mission of making disciples.
Hebrews 5:12 (ESV)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
B. This results in them regressing in their understanding of doctrinal truth.
B. This results in them regressing in their understanding of doctrinal truth.
Hebrews 5:12 (ESV)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
3. Spiritually immature Christians cannot handle solid food that nourishes righteous living.
3. Spiritually immature Christians cannot handle solid food that nourishes righteous living.
A. There is a regression in their diet.
A. There is a regression in their diet.
Hebrews 5:12 (ESV)
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,
A. There is a regression in their diet.
A. There is a regression in their diet.
“You need milk and not solid food.”
Remember, this was not what they ONCE needed.
Milk corresponds with the “first principles of the oracles of God.”
Milk and meat reflect two categories of the Word of God.
The whole Word of God is compared with milk because of its purity and nourishment.
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
A. There is a regression in their diet.
A. There is a regression in their diet.
Yet the author of this letter is not referring to the entirety of scripture.
He refers to his audience as babies and compares the milk they are able to digest to the meat of the Word that they should be able to digest.
He is talking about the things immature or baby Christians can digest and understand.
Milk is easy to digest.
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ.
I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready,
A. There is a regression in their diet.
A. There is a regression in their diet.
Babies don’t have the ability to chew and digest meat.
The author is referring to the elementary truths of scripture as milk.
Milk is a good thing for the ones it is appropriate for.
We want to take seriously the need to feed a baby Christian milk.
That’s what a disciple-maker does.
He comes alongside a spiritual infant and feeds them milk.
Nurtures them.
Helps them grow.
Begins to feed them meet when appropriate.
Our author is saying that it is not healthy for one to remain in spiritual infancy for a long time.
B. There is a regression in their development.
B. There is a regression in their development.
They once behaved like spiritual adults but not anymore.
The language clearly teaches us that if you are not growing you are regressing.
We can never say: “I’m happy where I am. I’m good.”
i. They lack wisdom for righteous living.
i. They lack wisdom for righteous living.
They are unskilled in the Word
They lack discernment to distinguish between good and evil.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,
from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
i. They lack wisdom for righteous living.
i. They lack wisdom for righteous living.
They were tossed around by every wind of doctrine.
I christian who regresses to infancy will quite likely have good morals.
The author is not saying they don’t make good moral decisions.
The author is talking about doctrinal things.
When our spiritual understanding is challenged.
Can we process it through scripture to determine right and wrong.
When something is taught that seems to go against or be a little different than we once knew.
If things move and change in church, can you process that through scripture?
We hired Pastor Mike as an associate pastor not knowing where God would take the church and with the hope that he could do other things in the church.
The Bible has informed our thinking.
Youth Pastors come from an attractional model way of thinking.
We begin to understand that youth pastors are not a bad model but not a biblical model.
I have a daughter that is soon to be youth group age.
Rather than drop her off and let someone else do all the work I’d rather be equipped to do what God has called me to do as a parent.
We have learned that pastors are not to do all the work of the ministry and building up but to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry and the building up.
When things like this come up, how do we process it.
When you are listening to a podcast and they are talking about deep spiritual truths, how do you process that?
i. They lack wisdom for righteous living.
ii. They are functioning at the level of infancy.
ii. They are functioning at the level of infancy.
Infants do not drink milk occasionally, it is a steady diet.
Milk is not bad.
Baby Christians - spiritual immaturity - is not bad.
We all start there.
and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
However there are characteristics of children we should not model.
Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.
ii. They are functioning at the level of infancy.
ii. They are functioning at the level of infancy.
The problem is when someone should be teaching others, yet they need to be continually taught elementary things.
(Preaching the Word Commentary) Think of the tragic absurdity of full-grown men and women in diapers who are neither capable of, nor desire solid food and who sit around sucking their thumbs. Such full-grown infants amount to a huge disgrace and drain on the Church.
4. Spiritually immature Christians cannot exercise discernment between good and evil.
4. Spiritually immature Christians cannot exercise discernment between good and evil.
A. They are missing out on a healthy diet.
A. They are missing out on a healthy diet.
Hebrews 5:14 (ESV)
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
A. They are missing out on a healthy diet.
A. They are missing out on a healthy diet.
“Solid food is for the mature.”
The immature infant cannot tolerate solid food.
They can’t handle it.
They don’t know what to do with it.
So they need milk.
Milk is not bad - if you are a newborn infant in Christ.
The problem is when we have been saved for a long time and still need only milk.
The contrast to milk is solid food or meat.
Meat is for the grownups.
Meat is for the mature.
1 Corinthians 2:6 (ESV)
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
A. They are missing out on a healthy diet.
A. They are missing out on a healthy diet.
Not only is there a distinction of the mature, but there is the idea of deeper truths being given to the mature.
Even the most mature adult never outgrows milk.
As believers we never tired of the milk of the Word, but is not what fills us.
It is no longer a steady diet.
There should be a strong desire for deeper truths.
There should be a strong desire for a greater quantity of spiritual food.
It always excites me when I see people get excited about something the church is teaching outside of the morning service.
It shows an increasing hunger to learn spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Even better is when you see what is being taught lived out.
B. They are missing out on healthy spiritual development.
B. They are missing out on healthy spiritual development.
Hebrews 5:14 (ESV)
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
B. They are missing out on healthy spiritual development.
B. They are missing out on healthy spiritual development.
“trained by constant practice”
Maturity comes from constant practice.
Spiritual maturity is not gained by mental and spiritual laziness.
Spiritual maturity does not happen by accident.
It is gained from regular training.
Rich and I were talking about a training for the new people on his department.
When we get a call scene size up begins immediately… that wasn’t natural. Now it is.
Information given.
Voice inflection of the dispatcher.
Updates given by dispatch.
Time of day.
Weather
Cars in the driveway.
Toys in the yard.
Car seat in the back.
That came by constant practice.
The cure for not becoming lazy listeners is constant practice.
Notice it isn’t only constant listening - that needs to happen…
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
B. They are missing out on healthy spiritual development.
B. They are missing out on healthy spiritual development.
But constant use… constant practice.
“to distinguish good from evil.”
To make an exact judgement between two alternatives.
Infants are unable to make correct judgement.
Kids often never even think about the outcome of their decision.
With intentional training and practice every Christian can become mature in their faith.
They can gain the ability to make a correct biblical judgement between two alternatives.
If someone ever has a question for the pastors, you can always ask.
However, it is our goal to see you trained to be able to answer those questions yourself.
Every Christian should be able to do that at some point.
We cannot be spiritually lazy.
The challenge to spiritually lazy people…
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,
Leave doesn’t mean to leave forever, but getting beyond!
Questions for the week:
Does my spiritual diet consist of more milk or more meat?
Am I steadily growing spiritually or am I regressing?
Do I have the ability to search scripture and determine right from wrong in spiritual things? (Am I willing to learn from what I find?)