Are You a Spiritual Infant?
Dr. Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, broadcast a sermon last Wednesday on CSN Radio. It was titled Time to Grow Up.
In it, he posed the question, "Are you a spiritual infant?"
And while this is a valid question for all of us who gave our lives to Christ, it may be somewhat misplaced.
Keep reading because the evidence shows that, although God wants us to be mature in our ways, our churches aren't allowing that growth to happen.
Worse, the institutional hierarchy forced on Christians over 2,000 years ago has created a system where those at the top are unwilling to yield power back to God.
But first, it's essential to start with Dr. Evans' sermon.
The Case for Maturing as a Christian
Dr. Evans begins by noting the shifting environment between being a non-Christian and a new convert. He says that the minute we submit to Christ, we transfer from the dark to the light, from hell to eternal life with God.
Spiritual maturity
According to Dr. Evans, God wants us to grow up. He says, "Too many of God's children are still in the crib."
He points to this scripture written by Paul to the church in Colosse:
We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me. Col. 1:28-29 NET2
Paul accepted the responsibility
Notice how Paul took immediate responsibility for this critical task. And in turn, he tasked the leaders of this church to do the same.
Simply put, it was the responsibility of the church leaders to present everyone mature in Christ. And the reason Paul struggled and labored so hard is that he realized that if he failed, there was no one else to blame.
But also notice that he didn't tell them to go out and get a college degree first. Nor were there any "Discipleship 101" classes. Instead, he simply assumed that the leading of the Holy Spirit would be sufficient for everyone in the church to be successful.
Why Are We a Bunch of Spiritual Infants?
Here is what Dr. Evans says:
"If you've been saved five years or more, and you are not spiritual (where you look through God's lens as a normal way you operate), then you are a spiritual infant, a fleshly believer, who is missing out on [a] spiritual experience."
He then points to this scripture:
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. Heb. 5:11 ESV
This passage is often misunderstood
Like so many other pastors who have preached on this subject, Dr. Evans assumes that these people had never had an ounce of teaching fed to them. And the result is that they were spiritual infants.
However, that's not true according to the context. For example, when the writer (presumably an apostle) says, "you need someone to teach you again," they affirm that the church was grounded in at least the fundamentals of the Gospel.
Also, the statement, "you have become dull of hearing," suggests that these students had merely digressed, and this entire rebuke was designed to shame them into caring more about their progress.
Some commentators even go further to say that those in the Church at Colosse were mature, but they were acting like spiritual infants, presumably from being persecuted constantly.
This is not to say that the writer let them off the hook in any way. That's because there was lots of one-on-one discipleship going on in the church, unlike today.
There were massive amounts of time invested in all church members, not just the ones who were fortunate enough to attend college. These were ordinary people. And they were trained every day by the leadership to do extraordinary things.
No wonder the writer was so indignant when those in the church had fallen away. Paul and other church leaders had a right to be upset.
Do Today's Leaders Have the Right to Complain?
Today, many pastors point to Hebrews 5:11 as permission to show the same righteous indignation toward us lowly church attendees as the writer did back then.
However, there is a difference between those in the early church and us today. They were being trained, while today, we're being entertained. For that reason, church leaders have no right to shame us in the same way.
The Current Church Model is Broken
Part of the problem of being stuck in infancy is the way we "do church." Discipleship for the average Christian attending a North American church looks like this:
Church leaders are afraid to let others teach since they are the ones who earned a degree in theology. Worse, some are so possessed by power that they will not let go of the reigns for even a moment.
One Possible Fix
For about 2,000 years now, Christ-followers have endured a top-down, hierarchal system where we were dictated to by academic elites. But maybe now is the time for a bottom-up approach to discipleship that Paul espoused.
Here are some ideas to get started on the journey to becoming mature Christians:
In other words, we need to take back the keys from overpaid administrators and open up our churches to the community once again. Only when our church dies to itself will it live again as a new creation in Christ.
Dr. Tony Evans, pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, broadcast a sermon last Wednesday on CSN Radio. It was titled Time to Grow Up.
In it, he posed the question, "Are you a spiritual infant?"
And while this is a valid question for all of us who gave our lives to Christ, it may be somewhat misplaced.
Keep reading because the evidence shows that, although God wants us to be mature in our ways, our churches aren't allowing that growth to happen.
Worse, the institutional hierarchy forced on Christians over 2,000 years ago has created a system where those at the top are unwilling to yield power back to God.
But first, it's essential to start with Dr. Evans' sermon.
The Case for Maturing as a Christian
Dr. Evans begins by noting the shifting environment between being a non-Christian and a new convert. He says that the minute we submit to Christ, we transfer from the dark to the light, from hell to eternal life with God.
Spiritual maturity
According to Dr. Evans, God wants us to grow up. He says, "Too many of God's children are still in the crib."
He points to this scripture written by Paul to the church in Colosse:
We proclaim him by instructing and teaching all people with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature in Christ. Toward this goal I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in me. Col. 1:28-29 NET2
Paul accepted the responsibility
Notice how Paul took immediate responsibility for this critical task. And in turn, he tasked the leaders of this church to do the same.
Simply put, it was the responsibility of the church leaders to present everyone mature in Christ. And the reason Paul struggled and labored so hard is that he realized that if he failed, there was no one else to blame.
But also notice that he didn't tell them to go out and get a college degree first. Nor were there any "Discipleship 101" classes. Instead, he simply assumed that the leading of the Holy Spirit would be sufficient for everyone in the church to be successful.
Why Are We a Bunch of Spiritual Infants?
Here is what Dr. Evans says:
"If you've been saved five years or more, and you are not spiritual (where you look through God's lens as a normal way you operate), then you are a spiritual infant, a fleshly believer, who is missing out on [a] spiritual experience."
He then points to this scripture:
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. Heb. 5:11 ESV
This passage is often misunderstood
Like so many other pastors who have preached on this subject, Dr. Evans assumes that these people had never had an ounce of teaching fed to them. And the result is that they were spiritual infants.
However, that's not true according to the context. For example, when the writer (presumably an apostle) says, "you need someone to teach you again," they affirm that the church was grounded in at least the fundamentals of the Gospel.
Also, the statement, "you have become dull of hearing," suggests that these students had merely digressed, and this entire rebuke was designed to shame them into caring more about their progress.
Some commentators even go further to say that those in the Church at Colosse were mature, but they were acting like spiritual infants, presumably from being persecuted constantly.
This is not to say that the writer let them off the hook in any way. That's because there was lots of one-on-one discipleship going on in the church, unlike today.
There were massive amounts of time invested in all church members, not just the ones who were fortunate enough to attend college. These were ordinary people. And they were trained every day by the leadership to do extraordinary things.
No wonder the writer was so indignant when those in the church had fallen away. Paul and other church leaders had a right to be upset.
Do Today's Leaders Have the Right to Complain?
Today, many pastors point to Hebrews 5:11 as permission to show the same righteous indignation toward us lowly church attendees as the writer did back then.
However, there is a difference between those in the early church and us today. They were being trained, while today, we're being entertained. For that reason, church leaders have no right to shame us in the same way.
The Current Church Model is Broken
Part of the problem of being stuck in infancy is the way we "do church." Discipleship for the average Christian attending a North American church looks like this:
- Sit for one hour a week in church listening to the only person allowed to speak
- Go to bible study on Wednesdays except when the pastor is out sick, or during holidays, or summer breaks, or when school is out, or when there's no bible study offered
- Attend an occasional "marriage seminar" costing only $399 while seats are available
Church leaders are afraid to let others teach since they are the ones who earned a degree in theology. Worse, some are so possessed by power that they will not let go of the reigns for even a moment.
One Possible Fix
For about 2,000 years now, Christ-followers have endured a top-down, hierarchal system where we were dictated to by academic elites. But maybe now is the time for a bottom-up approach to discipleship that Paul espoused.
Here are some ideas to get started on the journey to becoming mature Christians:
- Take back our churches by firing all paid employees and turning them into volunteers like us
- Stop preaching sermons for six months. Instead, invite the unsaved to the church building for open-house, question and answer sessions on Saturdays and Sundays.
- Open the church on Tuesdays for family game night
- Open the church on Thursdays for discipleship training
- Open the church on Fridays for crisis prevention or food bank activities
In other words, we need to take back the keys from overpaid administrators and open up our churches to the community once again. Only when our church dies to itself will it live again as a new creation in Christ.
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