Moving past Gerber
BibleGateway.com – Passage Lookup: Hebrews 5-6
In human development it is evident that there is a cycle of growth, both physicially and mentally. For the first several months of a babies life the “eat” nothing but milk from their mother or formula. Both of these milk sources are perfectly formulated to provide the basis of nutrition for the baby. As the baby matures, the need for more diverse and full nutrition develops. Ask any mother and they will tell you that the day that their little one starts to eat strained peas and any number of fine Gerber products, and they will tell you that this is a huge day in the life of their child. A giant step toward being able to eat solid foods is what it is. When that day does come the joy is nearly unspeakable.
The author of Hebrews likens this human life cycle development to the spiritual development of Christians. MIlk is for beginners, solid food is those who are more mature and have the basics covered. That is not to say that the basics don’t need to be revisited and talked about when one becomes “mature”, but they aren’t the main focus of the more mature believer’s diet. Think about vitamins. They are good for you and you should be taking them. Can you survive on vitamins alone? Some wackos out there might suggest so, but I think the medical community as a whole would disagree. Should you stop taking vitamins? NO! But should you have some bread and meat also? Yes!
What is your church feeding the people? All you can drink milk? A cornucopia of spiritual food? While I am a proponent of the role of the individual in their own spiritual development, there needs to be a grocery store where than person can go and stock up. What tools are you putting out there? What discussions are you having? What seminars/training sessions/classes are you hosting? While church should be geared toward those who are seeking and not-so-mature, it must also be catering in some dinners for the others. When the rubber meets the road, they are the ones teaching your children, your sunday school classes and leading your worship. Doing these things burns a lot of calories and sometimes we cannot take in enough calories on our own to replace them and keep our energy up to continue in the roles we play.
Take a look at what you are putting on the table. Take a read from Hebrews. Enjoy the feast.
I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one??baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong. So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!
Hi Tony.
Good post, I enjoyed it and look forward to more on it.
God Bless.