SPIRITUAL INFANTS

INTRODUCTION

-Last week I talked about the fact that what this crazy world needs right now is a spiritual church—not living and ministering in the flesh, but living and ministering in the Spirit

-But the world also needs a certain kind of Christian—the world needs maturing Christians who are constantly growing in their faith so that they can minister to a world that needs Jesus now more than ever

~Unfortunately, what we see too often in the general Christian population (besides people who really are no Christians at all) are people who stay in the infancy stage of Christianity for decades

-Now, we know that babies after they are born cannot do a whole lot for themselves—they rely on other people to feed them, clothe them, change them; and we don’t mind doing it because we expect to have to do that with babies; and there’s an expectation that over time they grow and mature and learn how to take care of themselves

~Now, if someone is 30 years old and is perfectly healthy physically and mentally, but mommy and daddy still have to feed them, clothe them and change them there is a big problem (barring physical or emotional handicaps)—a normal 30-year-old shouldn’t need mommy and daddy to do the basics of life for them

-So, think of this, when people become Christians by grace through faith, that is called being born again (not physically, but spiritually someone is reborn, the old sinful nature is exchanged for Christ’s nature)—but when a person first becomes a Christian (is at first born again) they are like spiritual babies=they don’t automatically know how to walk the Christian walk, talk the Christian talk—but over time they grow and learn—but if a Christian talks and acts and thinks the same 20 years later after becoming a Christian, if they do not mature, likewise we know there is a big problem

-like babies physically need care and nurture to grow over time, spiritual babies need to be discipled and taught and learn from God’s Word—from this Christians should mature

-but what is sad, some people do not allow the Word of God to make a difference in their life… spiritually nourish them, so their relationship with Christ and others is no different now than it was the first day they were saved, and that is not a good thing==in fact it grieves the Holy Spirit

-Now, we always want baby Christians around because that means that we’re fulfilling the Great Commission. But those who had claimed Christ years ago should not be in the spiritual state today as they were back then. They ought to have done some growing up.

-In our passage, Paul writes to a church that should have had mature Christians, but instead they were spiritual infants. He talks about some characteristics of infant Christians. And I want to look at these characteristics today, not to condemn, but in the hopes that it spurs us on to grow up; because that’s what the world needs right now—some growed up Christians

1 Corinthians 3:1–4 ESV

1 But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?

-Jesus Christ died on the cross as our substitute, taking God’s just wrath for our sins. He rose again showing He not only conquered the sin problem but also conquered the death problem. And when you repent (or turn) from going your own way and believe that Jesus died for you and is Lord, you are saved and are filled with the Holy Spirit.

-The Holy Spirit empowers you to live like Christ, although it takes some time and discipleship. But through that time and discipleship, some growing and maturing ought to occur. Unfortunately, not everyone allows that to happen.

~In this passage Paul says that after having had time to grow the Corinthian believers are still spiritual babes who do not even have the basics down yet, so there is no way he is going to teach them the more weightier matters of the faith {meat/solid food}—you can’t give a big piece of steak to a newborn, and you can’t give weighty theological lessons to a spiritual baby

-He uses two words to contrast where they should be and where they’re really at—should be spiritual, but instead they are carnal/fleshly

-if they were mature they would be spiritual=their lives would embody and manifest God’s Holy Spirit Who is within them; they would live according to God’s Word as guided by the Holy Spirit

-but opposite of that is to be carnal/fleshly=they allow their flesh and the ways of the world to influence their thoughts, actions and words=they are under control of the deep fleshly appetites within and reflect the ways of the world rather than the ways of Christ----he says to do that is to be a babe in Christ=spiritual infants

-so that we can help all of us figure out where we’re at spiritually, I will give 3 contrasting statements that characterize spiritual infants, with the opposites then being characteristics of maturing believers

1) A Spiritual Infant is Concerned with Self Rather than Service

-in v. 3 Paul says part of being carnal is marked by jealousy=it’s described as a feeling of resentment against someone, the predominate concern being for personal advancement

-a spiritual infant is wrapped up in their own little world, with no concern for others—the biggest question on their mind is “but how does it affect me” or “what’s in it for me”—because for spiritual infants it is all about them

-anyone here who has had kids knows that when a baby is first born, they get all this attention and they kinda get used to it—as they grow physically and mentally, the desire for attention seems to grow too—children seem to naturally want all eyes on them, all concern to be about them, all energy focused on them, all people to be talking to them or about them

-what a picture of a spiritual infant=they get upset if they don’t get what they want or things don’t go their way; they wear their feelings on their sleeves and the slightest thing will set them off; they are a receiver, not a giver; they want to be served by the church but not serve in or through the church—other people’s thoughts and feelings don’t matter except where it concerns what they want; for example:

-On June 13, 2004, 1 man’s selfishness got him national attention. While at a Ranger’s baseball game, a foul ball was hit into the stands landing at the feet of a 4-yr-old boy. A 28-year old man leapt over the seats, pushed the boy against the seats in front of him and grabbed the ball. The boy’s mother swatted him with her program and had some choice words for him. All the fans around them demanded he give the ball to the boy, but he refused. Well, the ballplayers saw what happened and gave the boy bats and autographs and all sorts of good stuff

~The selfish man, on the other hand, got his face plastered all over national news. What is sad is that the man used to be a youth minister—but he obviously never matured spiritually or otherwise.

-That is an extreme example, yet a good example of spiritual infants concerned for self—but Jesus demands the opposite because He Himself modeled the opposite—we’re told in the gospels that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.—Jesus reminds us that many who are first will be last, and the last first.

-as Christ came to serve, so are His disciples called to serve; as Christ gave His life and put Himself last behind others, so are His disciples called to place others before themselves and serve—when one is spiritually mature, their lives are marked by what Paul described in Philippians to Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

~Infancy is marked by an obsession with self, but maturity is marked by a life of service

II) A Spiritual Infant is Concerned with Argument Rather than Action

-v. 3 tells us that those who are carnal are marked with strife (quarrelling / arguing / squabbling)

-A spiritual infant is someone who spends all their energy complaining about things that they don’t like and arguing with people that things are not being done how they want them to be done, or arguing their viewpoint just to show that they are right, rather than getting up and taking action for the kingdom of God

-Maybe some parents can relate to this, that children like to argue—if you tell your child to do certain chores, they begin to argue with you about having to do them. Or, if you have more than one child, if you tell the kids to do certain things around the house, they begin to argue with each other about who gets to do what.

~And, what’s so funny, is if they would have just kept their mouth shut instead of arguing they would have already had the chore done. They spent an hour arguing over a chore that takes 15 minutes.

-A spiritual infant will argue with God and argue with others, usually arguing over some small, unimportant, bit of minutia, when the weightier matters of the faith are being left unattended—Jesus well describes them as Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

-Thankfully it doesn’t happen here, but spiritual infants can truly hurt and hinder the ministry of a church—they are kicking up dust because the church didn’t pick their color for the carpet; they’re causing havoc because their pet project isn’t getting the attention they think it deserves; they argue and argue because they think things ought to be done differently or they want to prove themselves right-------all this time people are dying and going to hell and there are needs out there that are not being met {but they are going to fight tooth and nail to get what they want to get and will fight anybody that gets in the way}

-Someone who is spiritually mature, however, knows what the important, weightier matters of the faith are and will place the kingdom priorities over their own desires and work together with others to get it done, rather than wasting time and energy arguing

~Infants argue, mature believers take action

III) A Spiritual Infant is Concerned with Cliques Rather than Christ

-vv. 3-4 talk about the fact that the church has divisions=where people are in a state of creating opposing factions; it signifies objective disunity here in the church community

-the particular factions/cliques is described in v. 4—it was first touched upon by Paul in 1 Cor. 1:11-13—the members of the church were aligning themselves behind certain preachers (they were creating cliques) turning these preachers into Christian celebrities; and in turn they were basing their life and faith on these preachers rather than solely on the truths of Christ given in the Word

-They say: Paul is the man to listen to… Apollos…Peter—spiritual infants line themselves behind a man instead of the Savior of the man; and then when other people don’t share their enthusiasm about a man’s teachings, they take offense to it----what it shows is that our eyes are on humans and our trust is in human resources rather than on Christ.

-It can show itself behind people always comparing other preachers to their favorite preachers (who will never live up to that preacher…)—it can show itself when people line themselves up behind a theology that has a human name attached to it and proclaim that as their religion rather than just saying that they hold to a theology defined by the Bible—it can also show itself in people’s priorities when they will travel hundreds of miles and spend bookoos of bucks to hear a particular singer or preacher or see a particular program, but that can’t seem to get themselves to give or serve in their own church body

-Paul answers this quite succinctly in the verses following our passage—1 Cor. 3:5-7—that person behind whom you are aligning yourself in such a way that you are causing cliques to form in the church is nothing but a sinful but saved minister and servant—they can do nothing outside of Christ

-Preachers themselves are not immune to this—when I get to reading a book and I agree with it and I think it’s biblical, I get excited about it, but I have to be careful not to judge people who don’t hold the same enthusiasm to these teachers or their books as I do

-All these other teacher and preachers and myself, we are nothing but human servants—there is only one place our loyalty lies and that is with Christ—anything other than that will cause divisions and that is a mark of a spiritual infant----but when we say we align ourselves with Christ, let’s not just say it so we sound spiritual, let it truly be a mark in our walk with God…

CONCLUSION

-Paul in this passage gives a sharp warning, but also a brotherly plea, for the Corinthians to stop being spiritual infants/carnal and to grow up in Christ/be spiritual----unfortunately they did not heed Paul

~at the end of 1st/begin of 2nd century, Christian leader Clement of Rome wrote a letter to the Corinthians, and in his letter he described the church as having the same problems=they quarreled among themselves, were devoid of love for one another, and behaved like unspiritual people

-Let’s not allow that to be said about us—let us take these words and warnings to heart and grow up in the areas where we need to grow up—there is no excuse for us to remain spiritual infants all our lives

-What can we do to grow up (grow in faith)? Stop drinking milk (basic, unchallenging times in God’s Word) and get into some solid food in our time with the Lord—mere 5-minute devotionals will not grow us—we need to delve deep into the Word through lengthy bible study, deep discipleship, listen to engaging sermons, and branching out and reading other Christian literature----spend less time on entertainment and more time in the things of God

-Christian, maybe God has stirred something within you, and you need to come to the altar to hash things out with Him—maybe God pointed out some selfishness or argumentativeness or cliquishness that needs to be dealt with--during the invitation come forward and do business with God

-But there may be some here who are not even spiritual infants because never born again—listen to me JESUS SAVES, but it is Jesus alone {GOSPEL}