Maturity in Christ- Milk Drinker to Meat Eater

I.Introduction

Hebrews 5:11–6:1 “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,”

Illustration for Hebrews 5:12–6:1

In 2011, the television show My Strange Addiction ran a story about a man named Stanley Thornton. At the time, he was 30 years old—but he didn’t live like an adult. Stanley chose to live as a baby. He had an oversized crib, wore diapers, drank from bottles, and spent his days being cared for as though he had never grown up. People were shocked when they saw it. Why? Because here was a man with the body and potential of an adult, but he refused to leave the nursery, he simply refused to grow up.

“We shake our heads at Stanley—but is it possible that spiritually, we might not be much different? That’s the exact concern the writer of Hebrews is raising.”

While Stanleys issue is a psychological issue, our is spirtual. In Hebrews 5:12, he says, “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.” God never intended for His people to remain in spiritual diapers. He calls us to grow, to mature, to press on toward full obedience in Christ.

Transition into the text: So as we open Hebrews 5:12 through 6:1 this morning, the challenge is clear: Are we growing in maturity, moving from milk to meat, or are we still stuck in the crib spiritually?

Big Idea: The author of Hebrews addresses the need for spiritual maturity within the Christian community, contrasting the basic teachings of the faith (milk) with the deeper truths that believers should aspire to understand (solid food).

II. you have grown apathetic (5:11–12)

Hebrews 5:11–12 “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,”

The passage begins with a confrontation. The writer wants to shake his readers awake. Why? Because they had grown apathetic.

Hebrews 2:1 warned gently: “We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” But by chapter 5, the tone sharpens. The warning becomes a rebuke.

What is apathy? It is indifference—lack of passion, concern, or urgency toward God. Here it shows up as spiritual laziness: “dull of hearing.”

Evidence of their apathy:

Dull of hearing (v. 11): sluggish, lazy, unresponsive to God’s Word.

Stunted growth (v. 12a): “By this time you ought to be teachers.” They had enough time to grow, but they wasted it. Time in Christ does not equal maturity in Christ—growth requires pursuit.

Still on milk (v. 12b): still infants, unable to digest deeper truths.

The writer is not scolding new believers. It is wrong to be angry at a baby for being a baby. But it is right to confront an adult who refuses to grow up.

Application: Apathy shows itself when we:

Ignore or compromise God’s Word.

Treat sin casually.

Pray without urgency.

Drift from commitment to the body of Christ.

The warning is clear: spiritual apathy leads to stunted growth. We are all guilty of of it.

III. The Marks of Maturity (5:13–14)

Hebrews 5:13–14 ESV

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.

The immature: unskilled in righteousness (v. 13) – He gives us great clarity of this immaturity in 13.

The immature: “unskilled in the word of righteousness” (v. 13). They have no experience applying truth. Like infants, they only know milk. The word for Unskilled means to be without experience to be untested. They are unskilled righteousness. Righteousness is the application of the word. They have never moved passed infantile faith. They are stuck never moving on to that which is deeper.

They have a steady diet of milk. I love milk! But, milk is not the only thing I consume. Why, because my body is in the place where it can handle more. And frankly, my body needs more nutrients than what can be afforded to me by souly drinking milk. Milk in the life of a baby, helps them to grow to maturity. But there is a place where that child must move on to solid food.

It is not wrong to be a spiritual child until it is. Its not wrong to be a milk drinker until it is. We should see spiritual adolescence in the same way we see breast feeding. It is a natural fact of life. And it is best form a nutrients for a baby. But, there becomes a point where it becomes inappropriate. Why is that? Because at some point the Child has to eat on the own. At some point the child needs to learn how eat solid food, at some point a child needs to pick up a fork. There is a distinct point where being Childish is quite any more.

There is a place where we need to move on, to put our faith into practice to take what we know and make it work.

The mature: trained in discernment (v. 14) – able to distinguish good from evil.

Hebrews 5:13–14 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.

Are you training yourself in God’s Word, or just tasting milk without growing?

Now, no one goes from being just a milk drinker to now all of sudden being a meat eater. It doesn’t work that way.You might might start with a little cereal. You, get some way over cooked veggies all smashed up for you. The meat you get its cut up in to microscopic pieces. Then eventually you will begin to use a fork and cut things up for yourself, then at some point you should be able to make it for yourself. This is no different in the christian life. When we begin the process of discipleship people are feeding it to us, they are cutting it for us. Till eventually we are preparing the meal for ourselves and for other around us.

It is learning not just what we believe we are learning why we believe it. It’s no just reading my bible, its understanding the context that it was written then it is taking what we leaning and putting it into practice.

Discipleship is not propagating perpetual child hood it is aiding a brother or sister for adolence to maturity. Feeding them with teaching and expectation that they will feed others.

III. The Call to Press On (6:1)

Hebrews 6:1 ESV

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,

Grow up!

Leave the elementary doctrine (v. 1a) – This does not mean abandoning the basics but building on them. Repentance and faith are the foundation. There is nothing wrong with the simple things of God. But what good is a foundation with no house built on it? But what good is a foundation if there is are no walls or roof? It is time to grow up, to build on the foundation. Yes repentance and faith are foundational, they are an essential starting point, but they are not the finish line.

Go on to maturity (v. 1b) – God’s design is progress, not stagnation. Every week in this sermon series we have talked about maturity. That the goal of every church should be the same as Pauls in Colossians. To present every believer mature in Christ. Back in June, JJ when he preached on Colossians 3, used a quote from NFl coach Mike Tomlin. He said the boys gotta die so that man can live.

That is what the writer of Hebrews is saying. He telling us that we have to put off the childishness. That going deeper in our relationship with Christ is not optional. And I would say that a lack of pursuit for maturity is sinful.

“God’s design is maturity, not stagnation. Maturity takes time, discipline, and discipleship—rooted in relationship, submission, and hard work.”

IV. Conclusion / Challenge

“When we first heard about Stanley Thornton, a grown man living like a baby, we shook our heads because something about it felt unnatural. But friends, the tragedy is greater when God’s people do the same thing spiritually. Spiritual immaturity is a contradiction of God’s design. He has not saved us to keep us in the crib—He has saved us to grow us into Christlike maturity. So the question is not simply, ‘Have you been saved?’ but also, ‘Are you growing?’ And that brings us to the application of this passage: what does it look like for you and me to move from milk to meat, from immaturity to maturity, this week?”

Application

Examine Yourself Honestly

Ask: Am I growing, or am I stagnant?

Am I still on “milk”—content with the basics, or am I pressing on to “meat”—deeper understanding and obedience?

Application Question: What evidence is there in my life of growth in Christ over the past year?

Commit to Habits that Produce Growth

Daily Bible intake: not just reading, but studying and applying.

Prayer with urgency and consistency.

Active participation in the body of Christ.

Accountability relationships.

Application Challenge: Pick one spiritual habit you’ve neglected and commit this week to reestablish it.

Submit to Discipleship and Accountability

Growth rarely happens in isolation.

Who are you learning from, and who are you helping to grow?

Application Question: Am I in discipling relationships where I am both being fed and feeding others?

Persevere Through the Process

Growth is slow, sometimes hard, always intentional.

Don’t be discouraged by setbacks; what matters is that you keep pressing forward.

Application Statement: Maturity doesn’t happen by accident—it happens by pursuit.