Our Diet is for babies, Pt. 6

Series:  What is wrong with church?

C.S. Lewis gave this interesting observation about being in love:

"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also many things above it.  You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling can be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called ‘being in love’ usually does not last. If the old fairy-tale ending ‘They lived happily ever after’ is taken to mean ‘They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,’ then it says what probably never was or ever could be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships? But, of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love.

“Love in this second sense — love as distinct from ‘being in love’ is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both parents ask, and receive, from God...They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it."

CS Lewis is describing a relationship between a man and a woman but a similar thing happens in our spiritual lives - in our “marriage” with Christ.  When we first meet Jesus we experience an explosion of excitement similar to that feeling of being in love and that's the ignition spark that starts our relationship. But after a while that initial thrill of euphoria will give way to a quieter and more enduring love. That second type of love for Christ is the engine on which our relationship with Him is run. It is a love that is maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit. It is reinforced in our daily walk with Him, our prayer times, Bible study, our acts of kindness and generosity for others and our God-glorifying ministries. These are things that can be sustained over the course of a lifetime and as we are intentional about them our relationship with Him will deepen.

Therefore, do not get discouraged if you are in a setting where you are constantly being fed milk and you seem to have lost your excitement for God. Your love for God could very well be changing for the better – going from euphoria to a quieter and more enduring love.

End of Part 6

Our Diet is for babies, Pt. 5

Series:  What is wrong with church?

So many Christians who attend church services begin to feel guilty about the restlessness and boredom they experience when they show up on a Sunday morning to hear yet another Gospel message.  You can see why too.  After all, hearing the gospel is the greatest message there is. The cross is the most glorious event in all of history. The pivotal event that created a way for us to have everlasting life! It truly is the foundation of everything we believe. It is absolutely vital that we get our understanding of it right before we attempt to move on to anything else.

When builders build houses, the foundations are the most important part the structure and take longest to establish. Well it's the same with the Christian life. We must make sure the foundations are right. Therefore, I do not want to diminish the need to preach and teach about foundational topics that center around the gospel and new beginnings for young believers. But at the same time, we must not lose sight of the fact those foundations are simply that - foundational. Once you have grasped it and accepted it, there is simply no need to go over it again and again and again. Like it says in the Book of Hebrews, such teachings can actually be detrimental to your growth (Heb. 6).  At some point you must move forward and build on those strong foundations (Matt 7:24-29).

You may be one of those who is misinterpreting your own restlessness in church thinking, "I'm bored with this. And since the problem plainly can't be with the message, the problem must be with me. My heart must have grown cold. This isn't moving me like it once did. I must be drifting away from God or backsliding. I'm not perched on the edge of my seat like I use to be. I don't feel the same level of excitement as when I first believed."

If this describes you, don’t despair.  You are not alone.   Scores of believers are experiencing the same thing you are. If you were to listen to the same song every day you may get bored of that song but it wouldn't necessarily follow that you have become bored of music altogether, right? If you drink milk every day you will eventually become bored of milk, but that doesn't mean you've ceased to have any appetite at all. Similarly, if you hear the same message at church every week you may get bored of that message but it doesn't necessarily follow you have no appetite for Jesus. A better and more likely explanation is that you're ready for something deeper and more substantial. You're ready to move from nursery rhymes to concertos. You're ready to move from milk to meat. It's not necessarily a cause for concern if you don't feel the same heights of emotion as you once did every time you hear the same gospel message.  It is time to move on to deeper things from the Word. Your heart and soul are craving for it.

End of Part 5

The Infinity of God, Pt. 3

Third – God’s IMMENSITY. 

When discussing the infinity of God with reference to space, we are diving into God’s immensity.  Thus the immensity of God is that divine perfection that He possesses by which He transcends all spatial limitations, and yet is present in every point of space with His entire presence.

Now keep in mind the last phrase in the above statement: “every point of space with His entire presence.”  What is meant here is that God is not spread out throughout space – His head in one corner, his feet in another.  No, wherever there is space, God’s total Being is present in all its form. This is God’s immensity.

We can distinguish three modes of presence in space. For example, physical bodies are in space restrictively, because they are bounded by it; finite angelic spirits are in space definitively, since they are not everywhere, but only in a certain definite place; when it comes to God, He is in space completely, because He fills all space at the same time. He is not absent from any part of it, nor more present in one part than in another.

Now you may be wondering what is the difference between God’s immensity and His omnipresence since both pretty much teach the same thing?  There is difference to note.

When talking about God’s immensity, the Bible teaches that God transcends all space and is not subject to its limitations.  Omnipresence means that God fills ever part of space with His entire Being.  Or to say it this way, the “immensity” of God places emphasis on God’s total transcendence, while the “omnipresence” of God places emphasis on His total immanence.  While God is infinitely far away from us (immensity - transcendence), He is also very near to each of us (omnipresent – immanence).  While God is immanent with all His creation, He is not bounded by His creation.

 There are a couple of errors we need to avoid when discussing the immensity of God. First, the error of Pantheism.  This is the belief that God is part of creation itself. That is, God is present in every place where creation or matter exists since God is matter and matter is God. The Bible denies this to be unbiblical in the first two chapters of Genesis where it is clearly seen that God created matter out of nothing and is totally distinct from creation.

Second is the error of the Deistics.  This heresy teaches that God is present in His creation by virtue of His power, but not His presence, and therefore, when God does work or act, He does so from a great distance away.  No, God’s presence or Divine Being is present everywhere in totality all at the same time.

However, we do need to make this distinction.  Although God is present with and in His creation, His dwelling (by which e makes Himself known) is not the same. You see, God is presence and can be found in matter, but God dwells differently in a Christian man or woman (who are called the temple of God – 1 Cor. 6:19).  God’s presence is in all animals, but His dwelling is different in a born-again man and woman.   God’s presence is in the wicked (John 1:9), but His dwelling is different in the righteous heart of believers. God’s presence is in hell (Psalm 139:8), but His dwelling in heaven is much different. So while we are quick to say that God is immense, He is not bound by time and space and is present everywhere at the same time, His dwelling everywhere at the same time is perceived differently. I see this to be an act of God whereby He allows His presence to be perceived differently in different settings and locations based on His purpose and glory.

Here are the passages from the Bible:

I Kings 8:27 - “But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you.”

Isa. 66:1, 2 - This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place? ² My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Ps. 139:7-10  - “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence! ⁸ If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the grave, you are there.
⁹ If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, ¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me, and your strength will support me.”

 Jer. 23:23, 24 -  “Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord. “No, I am far away at the same time. ²⁴ Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.”

Acts 17:27-29 - ²⁷ “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ ^29 “And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.”

End of Series on God’s Infinity 

The Infinity of God, Pt. 2

Second – GOD’s ETERNITY.   If God is infinite, then it stands to reason, He is also eternal.  The form in which the Bible represents God’s eternity is simply that of duration through endless ages. 

Ps. 90:2 - Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.

Ps. 102:12 - But you, O Lord, will sit on your throne forever. Your fame will endure to every generation.

Eph. 3:21 - Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

To try to grasp the eternality of God is mind-boggling. The language that the Bible uses is designed to help us to make sense of what our finite minds can handle. We tend to think of God’s eternity as duration infinitely prolonged both backwards and forwards.  While this is helpful to come degree, it is not the complete picture of God’s eternity.

Eternity in the strict sense of the word is ascribed to that which transcends all temporal limitations. That it applies to God in that sense is at least intimated in 2 Pet. 3:8 – “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.”  While we can say that God fills time in every sense of it, His eternity still is not really this being in time. God transcends time and space.

Another example, our existence is marked off by days and weeks and months and years, but not so with the existence of God. Our life is divided into a past, present and future, but there is no such division in the nature of God. He is the eternal “I am.”   In other words, God is an eternal present.

His eternity may be defined as that perfection of God, that corresponds to His infinity, whereby He is elevated above all temporal limits and all succession of moments, and possesses the whole of His existence in one indivisible present.

Trying to make sense of God’s eternity in relation to time is one of the most difficult problems so solve, totally incapable of a final solution in our present finite, sinful condition.

Nevertheless, to meditate on God’s nature of infinity is one of the best brain and mind exercises we can do for ourselves.  Why? Because when the going gets rough (and it will), placing your faith, trust and hope in the infinite Lord God is the smartest and wisest thing you can do.  If anything, meditating on what the Bible reveals about God is to see Him as big as He is, and to see you as small as you are. A great remedy for pride and arrogance.

End of Part 2

The Infinity of God, Pt. 1

The infinity of God is that perfection of God by which He is free from all limitations. In other words, in the very nature of God there cannot possibly be any limitations to His divine being.  The Bible implies that He is in no way limited by the universe, by this time-space world, or confined to the universe. When the Bible ascribes to God infinity, it does not mean that the very being of God is somehow spread out across the universe, as if one part of His spirit being is here and another part of His spirit being is there. For God has no body and therefore no extension.

The infinity of God is a concept that man cannot possibly grasp. It is a reality in God fully comprehended only by Him. We can only distinguish various aspects of God’s infinity.

First – GOD’s ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. 

It should not be understood in a quantitative sense, but in a qualitative sense; that is it qualifies all the communicable attributes (qualities which man and God share together) of God. For example, God’s power is infinite power, in the sense that it is an exhaustless potency of power; and infinite holiness is not a boundless holiness, but a holiness which is, qualitatively free from all limitation or defect. The same may be said of infinite knowledge and wisdom, and of infinite love and righteousness.   All of qualities and attributes found in the nature of God, many of which we do not know except for that which God has chosen to reveal to us in the pages of the Holy Scriptures, is absolutely exhaustless, having full infinite potency and boundlessness. Later we’ll see that some of God’s attributes we also share in some similarity, but with a much lesser degree of potency.

Job 11:7-10 - “Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty? ⁸ Such knowledge is higher than the heavens—and who are you? It is deeper than the underworld -- what do you know? ⁹ It is broader than the earth and wider than the sea. ¹⁰ If God comes and puts a person in prison or calls the court to order, who can stop him?

Ps. 145:3 - Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness.

Matt. 5:48 - But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

End of Part 1

When it Is Time To Shut Up!

The Bible teaches that God created the heavens and earth in six days (Gen. 1:31-2:1).  Evolutionists disagree and not only teaches that creation was a whole lot longer than six days (6-12 billion years give or take a few), but they also deny a supernatural entity as the source of creation.

So-called smart Christians who want to somehow mingle the science of evolution with the God of creation, say, “God created the heavens and earth, but He used evolution as the means.” 

I’m sorry, but this is so dumbfounding. Listen, God said, “six literal days,” not “six-billion years!”  Does it matter what God says? Are we to inform God what He really meant at the time of creation? How prideful and utterly disrespectful of the sovereign creator.

When God wanted to humble Job and his friends for thinking thoughts about God that were untrue, here is how He did it:

Job 38 - Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind:

² “Who is this that questions my wisdom
    with such ignorant words?
³ Brace yourself like a man,
    because I have some questions for you,
    and you must answer them.

In other words, “You want to question Me?  Brace yourself, because I got some questions for you.”

“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
    Tell me, if you know so much.
⁵ Who determined its dimensions
    and stretched out the surveying line?
⁶ What supports its foundations,
    and who laid its cornerstone
⁷ as the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy?

“Were you there to personally witness what I did? You are barely 60 years old, and you are telling Me how things ought to have gone at the time of creation.”

“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
    and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
¹³ Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
    to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
¹⁴ As the light approaches,
    the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
    it is robed in brilliant colors.
¹⁵ The light disturbs the wicked
    and stops the arm that is raised in violence.

¹⁶ “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
    Have you explored their depths?
¹⁷ Do you know where the gates of death are located?
    Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
¹⁸ Do you realize the extent of the earth?
    Tell me about it if you know!

“Don’t tell me about your so-called science. I created science.  I should tell you! Where were you when I did all these things and still continue to do so that only now your science is finally catching on to?”

“Where does light come from,
    and where does darkness go?
²⁰ Can you take each to its home?
    Do you know how to get there?
²¹ But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
    and you are so very experienced!

God is using a little sarcasm here. “Oh yeah, I remember, you were right with Me at the time of creation. You are so experienced in what you are saying because you were present. At least you seemed to think you were!”

“Can you direct the movement of the stars—
    binding the cluster of the Pleiades
    or loosening the cords of Orion?
³² Can you direct the constellations through the seasons
    or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
³³ Do you know the laws of the universe?
    Can you use them to regulate the earth?

“Tell me how the stars move and regulate since you’re so smart. Tell me all the laws of the universe. Please, go ahead and educate Me!”

God continues to use sarcasm throughout Job 38-39, and then says this in chapter 40 - Then the Lord said to Job, ² “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

Job was smart enough to give the only possible answer to the rebuke given by the Almighty sovereign of the universe - ³ Then Job replied to the Lord,

⁴ “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. ⁵ I have said too much already. I have nothing more to say.”

In other words, Job says, “I will put my hand over my mouth and shut up!”

That’s great advice. To those who are into theistic evolution and want to counsel God on how He must have created the heavens and earth, try doing this – shut up!  God said that He did it in six days. That’s it.  End of story. For anyone to argue with God who was there at the time and is telling us what happened is as dumb as they come.  You cannot explain the miracle of creation by science. It was the science we are learning more about every day that came from creation.

Next to the Lord God, just put your hand over your mouth and shut up! Take James’ advice, “Be quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1:19).  In the end, we need to remember that “God is true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4).  

Our Diet is for babies, Pt. 4

Series:  What is wrong with church?

I read this the other day from a pastor.  He made a very enlightening observation:

"The difference in spiritual hunger between Chinese students at [church] and regular Brits, is startling. As I preached a simple Gospel on Sunday, the Chinese were perched on the edge of their seats, and full of questions at the end, engaging with a bible study on the sermon over lunch. While it's difficult to read body language when you're in fullflow, most others seemed to be stifling yawns. That is a picture of world Christianity at the moment. The East is ablaze, the west is asleep, with exactly the same Gospel. Still, who cares...so long as we have a merry christmas..."

As a pastor myself, I can sense the frustration.  It can be extremely frustrating to preach passionately week-in and week-out and find that it doesn't seem to be motivating the church or rousing any emotion. To preach your heart out but find that everyone is just as apathetic going out as coming in. This is where the pastor starts to doubt the effectiveness of preaching the Word and starts looking for more cute and conventional methods, such as giving more stories and jokes during his messages, or taking out about 20 minutes from the preaching of the Word in order to make his message shorter.

What is better is for the pastor to re-double his efforts and preach his messages twice as hard in the hope that it will re-evoke the passion that all Christians first feel when they meet Jesus. Perhaps, as this pastor seems to feel, it's a cultural thing or some judgement from God to harden the hearts of the people in a particular part of the world. I propose that the reason is far more obvious. It's simply that the basic Gospel message to mature converts is like a teacher trying to teach college students what 1+1 is. We know it. We get it. We understand it. We accept it. There's no need to kick at an open door. There's no need to try to convert the converted and make believers out of those who already believe. We're in. We've already signed up. But what comes next?

Now imagine a school teacher getting exasperated with an 18 year old university students saying, "why are you not grasping 1+1? Why are you not excited about it? Why are you not perched on the edge of your seats and taking notes like the five year old kids are?" The students may well reply, "we grasped it a long time ago and we were excited about it when we were their age...but what now? Where do we go from here? We've long been ready to be challenged with more...." And they are right.

These are the questions many Christians are asking themselves. We get the Gospel message. Really. But what comes next? Is this it? Are we just going to come to a church service every Sunday to hear variations of this same message for the rest of our lives? Is that what Christianity is? Sitting in services trying to coerce ourselves into feeling the same level of excitement we had about the Gospel message as when we first believed? Is merely feeling excited or emotional the end goal here? 

End of Part 4

The Most Neglected Doctrine

In Luke chapter 4:17, we see a very interesting incident occurring. Jesus is speaking in the synagogue in Nazareth. He was handed a Bible to the place where it was to be regularly read – Isaiah 61.  And in Luke 4:18, here is what Jesus read:  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, ¹⁹ and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

In other words, Jesus said that I am come to preach the gospel and then He closed the book and He gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed upon Him. 

Then Jesus said this:  “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (v. 21).  In other words, the one whom Prophet Isaiah said would come to preach has come.  He is here.  I am He!  Then the very next verse says this: “And all were speaking well of Him. . .” (v. 22). 

And this point most preachers would love this moment of being liked and well-received. Most would continue to preach favorable messages that don’t offend.  Messages that are safe, well-received and produce the most favorable response. 

But not Jesus. I want you to see what happens.  After receiving a round of applause, Jesus said this to those in the synagogue: ²³ Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ ²⁴ But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown.

²⁵ “Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. ²⁷ And many in Israel had leprosy in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.”

What is Jesus now saying?

What Jesus is saying to them is this:  God hasn't determined for Me to heal everybody.  God hasn’t determined for Me to even heal you. God will decide what widows get healed and God will decide what leper gets cleaned. It's not up to you. It's up to God. You expect Me to do miracles in your home town what was done in Capernaum. But God doesn't work that way. God picks and chooses what He wants to do and when He wants it done.   God is not part of a committee.

Now here’s their reaction:  “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things” (v. 28). 

Wait a minute.  Weren’t these same people “speaking well of Him” (v. 22)?  Now they are totally upset with Him!

Why? Because the carnal mind cannot tolerate sovereign grace and a God who sovereignly chooses who He heals and saves and who He simply overlooks.  This is offensive to the carnal mind.

The carnal or fleshly mind wants a God they can manipulate or figure out. A God that will do what is expected of Him. But Jesus said, remember what occurred during the days of Elijah and Elisha?  God did things that were unconventional.  You would expect God to bless the many windows who had their husbands die because of the severe famine in the land.  But He didn’t. He chose to only bless one and He by-passed the many.  In the days of Elisha, there were many lepers in Israel. But God chose to only cleanse one – Naaman the Syrian and He by-passed the rest.

You see, God is totally independent and does whatever pleases Him. He does not work on our time table. He does not work according to our theology. He does not go where we think He should go. If you expect God to make you healthy, wealthy and wise, then you are in for a total let down.  The preacher who tells you this is only after your applause and wants you to speak well of him. He is not interested, like Jesus, in giving you the whole truth.

So what did these people do with Jesus? “They got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the bow of the hill on which the city had been built, in order to throw Him off the cliff” (v. 29).

Over in Revelation 19:6, those in heaven shout:  “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!” 

The carnal mind does not want a God who reigns completely and totally in all areas. And as soon as you explain the doctrine of election to people, some will embrace it with a humble attitude of thanksgiving, and others will be repulse by it and become angry and defend man’s ability to choose, select and make his own decision regarding his destiny.

Leave out the doctrine of election and you will be well received. Teach it as the Bible teaches it, and you will face opposition, even from those who received you well at first.  This is why not very many preachers preach all the bible. They would rather preach what they want and enjoy the applause of man.   This is why the doctrine of election is so often times neglected. 

Our Diet is for babies, Pt. 3

Series:  What is wrong with church?

Teaching adults a diet of baby food is not just something that the 20^th century church has mastered.  This form of feeding occurred back during the first century.  Listen to how Paul put it:  Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in Christ. ² I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready,³ for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world? (1 Cor. 3:1-3)

If a parent feeds its child with milk at an early stage, that’s good since the digestive system is set up for that. Milk has all the nutrients needed to sustain the infant in its beginning stages and subsequent growth. Milk is exactly what is required!

However, there comes a time when milk should no longer be an option. Milk alone no longer has the necessary fuel the body needs to bring the necessary development required for growth. If a parent do not make this important and necessary transition in their child’s life, the child will become malnourished and their growth will be stunted.

Paul is therefore pointing out in the passage above that there are times when feeding people the milk of the word is necessary for their spiritual intake. But they cannot continually feed on the milk of the word and expect to grow up to become mature saints who are going to impact the world around them.

Here, let me share this example.

When a typical child first starts school, they will learn that 1+1=2.  But imagine if the years rolled by and every week the teacher taught the same thing. Imagine if the child is now twelve years old and is still being taught that 1+1 = 2.

That's probably the most basic and foundational mathematical sum there is. Now to a four to five year old child, 1+1 is actually a tough concept to grasp. At that early stage in their development, the child’s brain needs to be switched on and engaged to get an understanding of what this arithmetic thing is all about. But imagine if the years rolled by and every week the teacher taught the same thing. Imagine if the child is now twelve years old and is still being taught that 1+1 = 2, but just in different ways.

Then imagine the child has never been introduced to more complex addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions, percentages or algebra. In this case their growth would be stunted. They would not have matured. Though they are now entering their teenage years they would still only have the understanding of a five year old.  What is more, the child would now be bored, restless, disengaged, seeing no benefit or purpose in coming to class anymore and maybe even looking for answers from other sources.

Just as your school teachers constantly pushed back your horizons and led you into deeper understanding at school, building on what you already knew year-on-year, we should be looking for similar progression in our spiritual lives. And if we don't get that sense of progression and are constantly being fed the spiritual version of 1+1, we will become bored, restless, disengaged, will cease to see the benefit or purpose in coming to church anymore, and will start looking for answers from other sources.

It all starts with the teacher / pastor – setting the bar high.

End of Part 3 

Our Diet is for babies, Pt. 2

Series:  What is wrong with church?

Imagine going to a buffet where there are all kinds of variety of foods to choose from, but rather than eating the good stuff, a person is given rice and beans? 

This is what often occurs in churches.  The Bible is God’s menu.  It is filled with a variety of all kind of great and awesome doctrines.  But rather than feasting on the meat of the Word, the people are given oatmeal, rice, applesauce, and a few entertaining humorous carrots to munch on. People do not want to hear things they already know.

This much we do know: Input greatly determines output. What a person takes in will be what is often produced or given out. If all a person feeds on crackers and water, don’t expect him or her to be a good strong and enduring athletic runner. Their body cannot endure the stress of having to function with such low nutrition. People need protein, healthy fats, good carbs, and even some essential supplements.  But for some reason, we think we can spiritually feed people crackers and water on Sundays and expect them to fight the good fight of faith and run the race with endurance until we meet again!

I like the way the writer of Hebrews puts it: “You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. ¹³ For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. ¹⁴ Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong” (Heb. 5:12-14). 

What is the milk that the writer is referring to? Let’s read on:  “So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. ² You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³ And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding” (Heb. 6:1-3).

“Milk” is the gospel message of why we should repent of our evil deeds and place our faith in God to avoid eternal judgment.  The writer asks a very good question:  “Why are you going over these basic things time and time again?  Why aren’t you progressing?”  Placing our faith and trust in Jesus for salvation is what Christians already know. We have heard it explain hundreds of times. Enough!  Let’s move on to the meat of the Word and stop treating the people in the congregation as sinners who need to be saved rather than saints who need to be sanctified and grow to become overcomers!

We are the converted!  We do not need to be convinced that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We got it! We embrace it! What we need to know is how to apply our faith in the marketplace where we work and often walk away without answers to the questions people are asking because we have not been equipped by the churches we attend.  If we simply go over the basic things again and again, we in the church will never progress than the simple message we’re being fed.

End of Part 2