Grow Up!
Note: This sermon is short because my second time through Hebrews I divided the text differently. This particular sermon is just part of one I preached earlier.
The passage before us today was penned partly out of frustration. The author desired to teach some deep truths about the high priesthood of Christ but could not because of the immaturity of his audience. Let’s begin by reading Hebrews 5;11-6:3.
We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed receives the blessing of God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.
Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case–things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.
The problem of immaturity (5:11‑14)
It is a common problem. There are many spiritual infants in the church today. In fact, there are entire congregations that are characterized by immaturity, perhaps even some entire denominations. These people have many of the same characteristics that physical infants have. They cannot feed themselves but must be spoon‑fed. They fuss if they don’t get their way. They go for surface instead of substance and are interested in comfort and entertainment above all else. They are marking time instead of marching forward. Someone has referred to their status as “prolonged adolescence, merging into premature senility!” Another writer spoke of them “adults playing with ABC building blocks in the nursery of theology.”
It is blameworthy. When is the first time someone spoke the words, “Grow up!” to you? Perhaps you were in grade school, or maybe a teenager? Usually those words are reserved for individuals who should have reached a certain level of maturity but are acting very childish instead. No one would say “Grow Up!” to an 18‑month old baby or even a four‑year old child, for there is nothing wrong with infancy during infancy or childhood during childhood. All of us love to watch a baby coo and drool and suck on a binky. But if he’s still doing that at 17 or 37 we don’t think it’s cute anymore—it’s now pathetic. So also in the spiritual world, immaturity in those old enough to be mature is pathetic and blameworthy.
It is not automatically correctable with age. Some Christians seem to think they should get credit for being a Christian for X number of years, reminiscent of the pins they used to give for perfect S.S. attendance. But God is not impressed by the amount of time that has passed since your conversion; He’s concerned about how much growth there has been. Time never produces maturity by itself. One doesn’t necessarily grow up as he grows old. Ray Stedman tells of a high school principal who promoted one of his teachers who had ten years of experience to fill an administrative post. Another teacher was terribly upset and complained, “I’ve had 25 years’ experience, yet you passed me over in favor of him.” But the principal responded, “I’m sorry, you’re wrong. You haven’t had 25 years of experience. You’ve had one year’s experience 25 times.”
It is evidenced by an inability to minister to others. Verse 12 says, “Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” I gather from this that there comes a time in every believer’s life when he ought to be teaching, not just listening; giving out, not just taking in; evangelizing and discipling, not expecting the hired guns to do it. I’m not saying that every Christian will have the gift of teaching or evangelism or any other particular spiritual gift. But I am saying that if he isn’t ministering to others but expecting to be ministered to all the time, then it is clear evidence that he has never grown up.
It results in ignorance about right living. Verse 13 goes on, “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.” Righteousness refers to right living, distinguishing good from evil, as the next verse indicates. A small child will stick almost anything in his mouth, touch anything he can reach, and go anywhere he can manage to crawl, with no thought of what is good or bad, helpful or dangerous.
Let me suggest some areas where immaturity creates particular problems in this same regard in the church. First, the immature are generally doctrinally ignorant and undiscerning. They are blown about by every wind of doctrine, always pursuing the latest theological fad. Instead of reading the great classics of Christian literature and the biographies of great missionaries, they are devouring the latest how‑to books that flood the Christian bookstores.
Second, the immature are often gullible and uncritical in their evaluations. They are fascinated by the charismatic TV evangelists but get bored with the consistent yet unspectacular preaching of their own pastor. They often attach themselves to one particular teacher and read only his books and play only his tapes. In their stewardship they respond to emotional appeals or high-pressure fund‑raising efforts instead of giving purposefully, regularly, and thoughtfully.
So much for the problem of immaturity. What is the solution?
The solution to immaturity (6:1‑3)
One must go beyond elementary, foundational teachings. Chapter 6 begins, “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation. . .” When the author urges us to leave the elementary, foundational teachings, he is not speaking of abandoning them but of going beyond them. The six foundational teachings he goes on to mention are all very important doctrines, part and parcel of Christian orthodoxy. But his point is that once a foundation is laid, something must be built on it. A foundation is critical to any building, but it is not an end in itself. If a contractor builds a foundation and then never does anything with it, people don’t drive by and admire the beautiful foundation; rather the foundation becomes a pathetic spectacle to ill‑laid plans and lack of foresight. The elementary teachings of Christianity are only foundational; they are the ABC’s.
These elementary teachings listed in the first two verses can be divided into three categories: truths concerning conversion, those dealing with church ordinances, and prophetic matters. There are churches where the pastor preaches on conversion every Sunday. Every message is a salvation message. I personally think this passage speaks a rebuke to such a pattern: “not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death and of faith in God.”
Other churches put a tremendous emphasis upon the ordinances. In a Church of Christ, for example, you would rarely, if ever, hear a message that didn’t at some point focus on baptism. In some Pentecostal churches the baptism of the Holy Spirit is so strongly emphasized that one would clearly get the impression that this was the entire key to Christian faith, life, and doctrine.
Still other churches are known for their strong emphasis on prophecy. I recall as a child hearing people refer to eschatology, or the study of prophecy, as “the real meat of the Word.” They would put up prophetic charts that would cover the entire front of the church and would proceed to explain in detail all seven dispensations and the time of the rapture and what would happen in each year of the Tribulation. The fact is the author of Hebrews considers basic prophecy to be the milk of the Word, not meat, as he warns them not to lay again the foundation of the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
Once again I remind you that the author is not putting these doctrines down; rather he’s elevating them–calling them foundational. But he’s also saying that the mature person will go beyond these to maturity, God permitting. Those words, by the way, are added to remind us that maturity is not generated solely by human effort, but rather is part of a divine process.
But how are we to reach maturity?
We must go on to maturity by means of three elements:
1. Solid food. Verse 14 of chapter 5 says, “Solid food is for the mature.” God’s people need to learn to dig deeply into His Word. Proverbs 2 admonishes: “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” Diamonds are rarely found on the surface; by the same token significant understanding of God’s Word is rarely found by cursory reading or half‑hearted listening to sermons.
I encourage you to do personal in‑depth study of the Bible, use reliable reference books in the process, o take notes on your findings, read good theology books, and ask questions about the sermons you hear. Solid food is for the mature.
But food alone does not result in maturity; one also needs . . .
2. Exercise. A person can adopt a good diet, but if he never exercises, he will still not be healthy and vigorous. So also in the spiritual realm, for our verse goes on, “Solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” There are Christian people who are literally bloated with biblical knowledge, and not a few of them are seminary graduates in professional ministry. Knowledge puffs up but love builds up. We exercise when we act upon what we believe, when we practice what we preach, and when we teach what we know.
I went through four years of Bible College and four years seminary, studying under some of the great names in biblical scholarship and earning honors in the process. I had a file cabinet stuffed to the gills with outlines and notes and exegetical insights. But I never learned the Scriptures until I got out and began to teach them. Much to my chagrin I discovered that 90% of my files were completely worthless. Truth has to go through the grid of a person’s life before it produces fruit.
When you eat a good spiritual diet and get plenty of spiritual exercise, the result is:
3. Discernment. The last phrase of chapter 5 tells us the goal of diet and exercise is to enable us to “distinguish good from evil.” Discernment helps us distinguish not only truth from error, but the wise from the foolish, charisma from character, and shadow from substance.
The author’s tone in this portion has been quite negative. But have you noticed how he ends this little diatribe? He says, “And God permitting, we will do so.” (6:3). Do what? Go on maturity. That’s encouraging. The writer is hopeful that his parishioners will grow up. He knows it’s not solely their effort that will accomplish it; that’s why he says, “God permitting.” But, of course, God will never stand in the way of the person who wishes to mature. Philippians 1:6 says, “And I’m sure of this that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” The term translated “completion” there in Philippians is the same as the word translated “maturity” in Hebrews 6:1. God did the work of providing salvation for us, and God will bring us to maturity.
In conclusion, how long have you been a believer? How much have you grown? Are you still on a milk diet or are you ready for some steak?
Tags:
Growth
Maturity
Foundational truth