Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
Lou Coleman-Yeboah
By Lou Coleman-Yeboah
(EMPIRE NEWS NETWORK (ENN)— And yet, still, you are in need of milk. Shame on you! “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God…” [Hebrew 5:12-14]. I tell you, you got to grow up! Over and over we are told that God wants us to grow up. [Ephesians 4:14-16] “For we can no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head – Christ-…”
You know the author in Hebrews was desperately concerned about those who were lagging behind in their spiritual growth: The Hebrew Christians were lazy. The writer of Hebrews expected them to grow up, learn the foundational truths, and be well on their way to maturity. But by their own choices, they’d quit. They were stymied, moving backwards on their spiritual journeys.
Paul was both brokenhearted and angry at the many Corinthian Christians who had decided to remain spiritual babies: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly…[1 Corinthians 3:1-3].
I tell you, there is a clear and present danger in not growing up. You see, Satan never bothers with half-hearted people who are content with a ho-hum spiritual existence. As long as you live with one foot in the world, living according to the world’s values and for the world’s goals, Satan won’t trouble you. You can go to church and even pray and read your Bible, and he won’t mind. But the minute you wake up from your spiritual lethargy, shake off the worldly mindset, and commit yourself to radical obedience to Jesus Christ, you will not only encounter spiritual opposition, but you will know that you have chewed meat.
I tell you, as a believer you must move beyond the basics of the Christian faith and grow up in Christ. God’s plan is birth, growth, and maturity. The Word of God: It corrects, it convicts, it cleanses, it equips, and it confirms to us what the Lord has said. The days of coming to church and not understanding the Word is over. Why sit in church just to die on the vine? Grow up!
