1 Corinthians 3:1-4 (Spiritual Babies)
Sadly many believers today are not spiritual adults but babies. They never move beyond the fleshly thinking. This is not a case of even being stuck in the “Christian Basics.” The Gospel is enough for even the most spiritual of thinkers. In fact, perhaps it is that people are so eager to discover more—beyond the basic Gospel teachings. They strive after the new and the novel. They want to learn things that are fun but have little bearing on anything godly. They want to talk about Eschatology, Demonology, spiritual warfare, or how to have success, health and wealth.
Instead, they should try to dwell on—savor—the rich milk of the Gospel until they are ready, spiritual enough to stomach the meat of that very same Gospel. On such a diet lives are changed. Changed into the people who appraise everything, but who are appraised by no one.
How do things get this way? Apparently this is a problem the Church has always struggled with. However, it seems that in the last fifty years or so a big effort has been made to simplify and dumb down the Gospel as much as possible. There has been a push to reduce all the Christ did into a single sentence, an easily package-able product that can be “sold” as widely as possible. That in and of itself would not be terrible if it was accompanied by a strong discipleship ethic that explored the Gospel further once a person was convinced by the slogans. Instead, this “simplified” Gospel is quickly forgotten as something easy, unimpressive, and basic. Quite the opposite is true.
Instead, they should try to dwell on—savor—the rich milk of the Gospel until they are ready, spiritual enough to stomach the meat of that very same Gospel. On such a diet lives are changed. Changed into the people who appraise everything, but who are appraised by no one.
How do things get this way? Apparently this is a problem the Church has always struggled with. However, it seems that in the last fifty years or so a big effort has been made to simplify and dumb down the Gospel as much as possible. There has been a push to reduce all the Christ did into a single sentence, an easily package-able product that can be “sold” as widely as possible. That in and of itself would not be terrible if it was accompanied by a strong discipleship ethic that explored the Gospel further once a person was convinced by the slogans. Instead, this “simplified” Gospel is quickly forgotten as something easy, unimpressive, and basic. Quite the opposite is true.
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