Evaluation Time

Introduction

A study conducted by Barna research nearly 15 years ago noted that nearly half of Christians feel that they are “average” in their spiritual maturity. 46% of Christians surveyed said that they are “about average” in the 7 areas of “spiritual life” that were studied and the remaining 5-6% said they are below average. The 7 specific areas in this survey included:

Maintaining healthy relationships

Serving others

Consistently living out your faith

Worshiping God

Leading your family spiritually

Sharing your faith with others

Knowledge of Scripture

Again, this survey was nearly 15 years ago and people were saying that they struggled with these aspects - how do you think the global church would fare if we polled every Christian and asked how they were doing in these areas? Probably not any better. Whenever it came to the final category, Knowledge of Scripture, 22% of Christians said that they have an “above average” knowledge of Scripture, 53% said average and 25% said below average.

As Christians, we are called to grow in our knowledge of God’s Word. We are to grow and become more like Jesus! In our current culture, though, many people do not see this as a priority. Some church strategies include keeping things “simple” and not ruffling any feathers. While I agree, we must keep the Gospel simple and not add to it, we have to understand that the Bible is so rich and deep that we must dive in to it in order to understand it’s wonderful truths.

We are called to grow. With all of the rain that we have received over the last few weeks think of what all this water does to our streams and rivers. There are times where creek beds are completely dried up or stagnant. The water is smelly and warm whenever this happens! The same can happen in our spiritual lives, church. We are called to fight against stagnation and to grow towards maturity and being more like Christ.

We have God’s Word - as Jesus said to the Samaritan Woman, we have living water that will never run dry - yet there are times where we stagnate. There are times where we allow our cup to run dry rather than running to the throne of heaven to be filled up again. Friends, we must check our spiritual condition today and evaluate where we stand.

Are we growing in our faith today? Are we growing in our knowledge of God’s Word? Or, are we still at square 1 and stuck on milk rather than transitioning to meat?

Hebrews 5:11–14 NASB95

11 Concerning him we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Check your ears (11)

The preacher of Hebrews begins this section of Scripture with a small rabbit trail of sorts. He spent the previous section discussing how Jesus’ priesthood is infinitely superior to Aaron’s priesthood but in the coming verses he takes a break from this idea and instead calls the people out for their immaturity and spiritual dullness of hearing. This is not a particularly positive section! With that in mind, though, you’ve probably had these types of difficult conversations with people in the past, haven’t you? Maybe you were a rebellious teenager and someone sat you down and said, “Hey, you need to straighten up now or else…!” At the time these talks and messages aren’t a lot of fun, but they are extremely important for us down the road. It’s the same way for the preacher of Hebrews and these Jewish Christians. They aren’t doing what they should be doing and they are being rebuked here. Why are they being rebuked? Because they have become dull of hearing.

They have become lazy and they do not have spiritually mature ears to discern or minds to process this incredible information being shared from the preacher. What does it mean to be dull of hearing? Does it mean that you have some extra ear wax that you need a Q-tip? Sadly it’s not that simple. In the Greek, the word dull (nothros) carries the meaning of being slow to understand. We know people like this, right? You can have the best argument in history with the most evidence and handouts to illustrate your point but some people simply don’t “get it” and maybe you would say to them, “You’re dull of hearing. Didn’t you get anything that I just said?”

Sometimes this happens in our relationships with one another too. We can hear the same instructions or message and someone might understand it and someone else might not. Is the problem our ears? No. It’s deeper than that. It’s our mind. As people, we are called not to just hear the Gospel but to respond to the Gospel. What does that require? That requires you to think about it internally. We must run a diagnostic check on our spiritual ears to see if we are truly comprehending what Scripture says. If not, we must ask why?

Some Christians and even pastors shy away from hard parts in Scripture. They will shy away from parts where there could be tension or different interpretations and views. Is that how we are supposed to be as Christians, though? Of course not! 2 Timothy 3:16 shares with us that all Scripture is God breathed. Even that section that you don’t like all that much - it’s just as inspired as the story that you really like! Friends, we have a responsibility to know and understand Scripture!

The preacher of Hebrews has so much more that he would like to say about the priesthood of Jesus Christ but he doesn’t go that direction because of the immaturity found in some of these believers. Church, let this not be true of us today! The preacher of Hebrews has a very high Christology - looking at the divinity of Jesus, the pre-existence of Jesus and the priesthood of Jesus. Other New Testament writers have a “Low Christology” that focuses instead on Jesus’ humanity and how He interacted with humans and how He ate and slept. Neither of these things are wrong and they are both fascinating. With that said, many people today focus on these things and we don’t focus as much on the pre-existence of Jesus or how He is our great high priest. There is so much to say about these things, but sadly many have dull ears and do not respond.

This is the 3rd warning passage in the book of Hebrews and we’ve examined some of the other warnings thus far in the book

2:1 - pay attention to Jesus

3:1 - consider Jesus Christ

3:8 - don’t harden your hearts

4:1 - enter into the rest

4:14 - hold fast to your confession in Jesus

We must check ourselves today and see if we have become dull of hearing. Are we just going through the motions or are we actively listening and learning as we study God’s Word? Not just right now, but throughout our entire lives! Lazy listening is dangerous, church. What did Jesus say to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3:16 for their lukewarmness? Be either hot or cold for if you are lukewarm I will spit/vomit you from my mouth! Even when it’s hard, we strive to understand God’s Word and respond to it with obedience.

So, first we check our ears - are we hearing the message and are we responding to it appropriately?

Check your diet (12-13)

Not only can these Jewish Christians not understand these high Christological concepts like Jesus’ priesthood, but they also need someone to teach them again the elementary things - the fundamentals! This is a smart group of believers who have had a long time to mature themselves, but they haven’t matured. They have stagnated and they need help in relearning the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

We have all heard the analogy of transitioning from milk to meat. This is just a part of growing up! We all make this transition as human beings and we all must make the same transition in our spiritual lives as well. Whenever we are a new Christian we see things totally different in our lives and that is great! We make some changes to our lives but these changes are hard. Maybe we take it really slow at first. Maybe we keep on coming to church week after week and help out in various ways. These are all good things! We’re spiritual infants and we are a new creation. But, we cannot afford to stop at this stage. We must keep on growing and maturing past the milk phase.

There are all sorts of stats and data out there regarding where Christians fall in this process. One that caught my eye several years ago used a baseball field to represent our spiritual growth. As a Christian you accept Jesus as Lord and you trust in Him and His work on the cross. You are a new creation - therefore you are at 1st base. This is good news because if you are a baseball fan you know that not everyone gets to first base, likewise not everyone is a Christian. You’re on base, this is cause for celebration! But it’s not cause to stop because your purpose is not yet done. In baseball your goal as a batter is to score. If you’re on first base then you still haven’t accomplished your ultimate goal. Likewise, just becoming a Christian isn’t our stopping point as individuals. There are other things for us to do. The data shows that the majority of American Christians will at maximum reach 2nd base in their spiritual maturity. We become a Christian and we start attending Bible study/church and maybe even Sunday evening services but that’s it - nothing more. Very few reach 3rd base which involves the personal component of our faith, studying God’s Word and helping out in the ministry of the church with our spiritual gifts. Even fewer reach home - the ultimate goal for us on this side of heaven is to know Christ and to make Him known to others. To be a disciple-making-disciple!

Church, we’ve gotta keep on growing. As we will touch in in a few minutes, it’s not about how old you are. Christian maturity, just like real life maturity, is not defined by your age. We all have room to grow!

These believers are in need “again” for someone to teach them the elementary principles. Do you see the importance of the word “again” in verse 12? They were taught in the past but they have forgotten and are falling short. Regardless of how long you’ve been a Christian, it’s always a good idea to review the basics/the fundamentals of our faith! Just as a professional basketball player might learn dunk a ball and do advanced passes, he still practices his layups and free-throws. It doesn’t matter how much you know if you forget the fundamentals, especially of Christianity, then you’re in trouble!

The preacher notes that these people ought to be teachers. Does this mean that all these Jewish Christians need to be pastors? Of course not. However, all Christians are called to share their faith and the fundamentals of Christianity with others. We all have different spiritual gifts, but we are all called to witness and teach others - even if that’s harder for some than others. We are called to

Matthew 28:19–20 NASB95

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

The issue is that the people have forgotten the basics and they must learn everything again. Church, we need to evaluate where we stand today. If someone came up to you and asked what it means to be a Christian, do you feel confident in your understanding of Scripture to be able to answer them? If you are a Christian today, you should be able to do that.

It doesn’t stop with just sharing your faith, though. We continue to mature from milk to meat. We continue to thirst for more of God’s Word and even whenever we stumble across a hard passage, rather than running the other way, we still on it and pray for understanding. As we gain more spiritual knowledge we are able to teach others. Don’t you see that there is a vertical and horizontal component to maturing in our faith? We grow in our understanding of who God is and what the Bible says, that’s incredible and we grow vertically! But we also grow horizontally as we are able to minister to others better as we grow to be more like Christ.

Verse 13 continues this idea of milk and meat and perhaps you hear an echo from 1 Corinthians 3 where Paul writes

1 Corinthians 3:1–2 NASB95

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able,

Milk has a purpose - you can’t give a baby a top sirloin steak, you have to give him or her milk. If you’re an adult, though, you’ll gladly take that top sirloin!

Verse 13 tells us that those who only have milk are not accustomed to the word of righteousness. What is this “word of righteousness” - scholars tells us that this means the message of salvation. There certainly is a place for child-like faith, as Jesus Himself said we should come to Him with this type of faith, there is no place for child-like immaturity among Christians. We are called to grow up! Believers who are childish and do not mature do not understand the Gospel. It is easy for us to complain about our circumstances and often we have a justifiable reason to do so. However, whenever it comes to our spiritual maturity, that is our responsibility. Your parents help raise you. Your church teachers help discipline you and your pastor helps disciple you, but ultimately your spiritual maturity is between you and the Lord and we are all commanded to keep on growing and not remain stagnant. To transition from milk to meat!

So, are you still in the infancy stage of your faith? If so, that’s completely fine. Every Christian is at that stage at some point in their life. The question you need to ask yourself is what are you eating? What is your diet like? Are you still having milk or are you eating the meat offered by God in His Word? Are you satisfying your fleshly desires or are you growing to be more like Jesus? We have to evaluate and only you can answer this question.

Check your heart (14)

Our final verse notes that solid food is for the mature.

Back to what I mentioned a moment ago, sometimes we believe that maturity is the same as age. Those who are old are automatically wiser and more mature. Is this true sometimes? You bet it is! Is this always true? Certainly not. We all have met older individuals who are immature and we all have met younger people who are wise far beyond their years. Because of this, we have to open our eyes and realize the same is true in our spiritual lives. Just because you’re 70 years old and have been a Christian for 70 years (*) doesn’t mean you’re automatically more mature than a 30 year old who has only been a Christian for 5 years! That’s not how this works at all and sadly many people buy into this lie. I’ve grown up in the church and I’ve been a Christian my whole life, everyone else should listen to me. Or, this person has only been a Christian for 3 years, what could they possibly know that I don’t know. Do you see how pride can seep in here? Friends, we must check our heart!

Verse 14 says that the mature are trained to discern good and evil. Discernment is vitally important for us as Christians because there are a lot of “grey” areas out there. I’m not talking about black and white things like murder, homosexuality, abortion and racism. I’m talking about what is ok to watch and wear or what is ok to say. These types of things require discernment and practice - like we looked at a couple of weeks ago, practice makes permanent. We have to know the fundamentals well and we have to put them into practice. The Greek word for practice can also be translated “by habit” and it only appears here in the entire Greek New Testament. How are we to mature spiritually? By practice. As the expression goes, “slow and steady wins the race.” We apply God’s Word to our lives day by day.

Some people pray, “God I need a special word or revelation from you today.” Friends, we don’t need to pray this prayer - we have all we need right here! We must be disciplined to read God’s Word and apply it. We pray for understanding as we do these things and we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word we should also mature to be more like Jesus. As this happens we share the Gospel with others and make disciples - not converts.

We must check our heart before any of this is possible, though.

This is a warning passage - many of these believers likely are mature, but this is a warning. If you are dull of hearing and still on a diet of milk, you need to check your heart and grow up. The same warning exists for the global church today - we need to mature.

Conclusion

If you’re getting your suitcases and car all ready to go on a road-trip to a destination on the other side of the country, you’re probably going to want to make sure you have good tires before you go, right? You’re not going to want to leave in your car if the “check engine” light has been on for a couple of days. You’re going to be prepared for the journey ahead of you and part of being prepared is evaluating your situation. Church, we must evaluate where we stand today. We must continue to grow in our maturity rather than stagnate. We must continue to review the fundamentals of our faith and we should share these with others.

The journey ahead of us is a long one. We don’t know when our time will be up, but we do know that however long we have we have a purpose and that purpose is to share the Gospel with as many people as we can and make disciples. As we travel along this journey, we grow to be more like Christ. We transition from a diet of milk to one of meat. We let go of the old self and its desires and we put on the new self and live as a new creation. We grow up and live a different life because we are a new creation! We invite others to join us in this process!

Are you a new creation today? If not, why? Jesus Christ died on the cross so that sinners like you and I could be reconciled to a holy God.

If you are a new creation, what base are you on today? Are you still at 1st base? Why are you still there? Continue to study Scripture and mature spiritually and advance to 2nd base and so on and so forth. Are you a disciple-making-disciple and at home? Guess what, your work is not yet completed! Every second we have on this planet, we are called to make much of Jesus - how are you making much of Jesus Christ today?

Evaluate where you stand, check your ears, check your diet and check your heart. Don’t just do a diagnostic check and leave it at that. Make changes as you need to. Part of reading and understanding Scripture means that we have to apply it. That means we change things in our lives. Ask yourself, what do I need to change today in order to continue my maturation process as a Christian?