maturity

Funny, if you had asked me about "solid" spiritual food while in my youth, I would have assumed you meant a life of spiritual discipline. Growing up in an average evangelical church, discipline seemed to be the pinnacle of the Christian walk and the one thing in which my peers and I did not engage. So we thought. Naturally, we limited "spiritual discipline" to prayer, bible study, journaling...those things we Christians call devotions. Partaking in devotions is not a biblical mandate -- by the nature of the word, devotions imply the things we do to show our devotion, right? That's the best I can figure.

The writer of Hebrews discusses maturity in a different fashion -- this is yet another passage I have never heard skillfully shared in a sermon:

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. (Hebrews 5:11-6:3, emphasis added)

You know, like the teachings we hear weekly in corporate service and the lessons we read daily in our devotionals.

Sadly, much of what Christians attain in their acts of internal discipline can still be described as milk. Just because we've heard the message before and have the opportunity to chew on it a bit longer, doesn't mean we should. God expects the elementary teachings to resonate so that we can move forward in our faith. We could partake of the internal disciplines every day of our lives -- and coldly regurgitate the same information again and again.

The writer says, in fact, it is hard to explain to the immature anything more useful than this. In mass quantity, these teachings lend themselves to self-fixation, because the believer tends to only see how the Gospel pertains to him or herself. Even then, they are not equipped to discern good from evil, so they rely on the leadership of others to continually address the need for repentance in their lives. To which I say, grow up and walk around a bit!

I'm reminded of a time in which my older youth group kids were asking me to meet with them separately to teach them greater truths. Their hearts were in the right place, but their understanding of spiritual maturity was ill-conceived. The reason scripture uses the milk/solid food analogy is that parents are not required to place solid food in their children's mouths! By the time a child moves to solid food, they have gained the knowledge of tasting, chewing, and swallowing, and an outside party cannot provide this service for them. Yes, a parent can and should encourage their children in what they should be eating and how it may be effectively consumed, but the child is still required to toddle on their own, regardless of how awkward and undisciplined it may appear at first.

Chapter 6 continues with a small glimpse of the mature Christian life and issues one of the most misinterpreted warnings in all of scripture:

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 way, 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 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. (6:4-10)

If this was a warning regarding the eternal security of our salvation, it would not only be addressed to those that had experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. Rather, these are acts that become commonplace for the mature believer. The transition from milk to solid food is not accomplished through drenching ourselves with more milk. It is accomplished through the Spirit: speaking to us beyond foundational print on paper and leading us into works administered through His power and divine will.

For those of you who have witnessed this power and have experienced the spiritual battle, you can conceive how such a warning applies. Having known the fullness of His Spirit, I am granted only two choices. I can continue to walk according to His guidance, or I can cast the gospel aside altogether. There is no in between for those that have tasted His goodness. There is no turning back to milk once you have tasted solid food. To know the goodness of the Spirit and later reject it? This person is in danger of being cursed. I've seen many that have tasted His goodness and walked away in fear (the "thorns" identified in the Parable of the Sower), and they have become the most miserable people that I know.

Some of you may say, why pursue maturity at all if the responsibility is greater and the rebellion is held under greater accountability? But this is the mentality of the immature, those that do not care to know that greater things of God. They flounder like the children of Israel in the desert, waiting for another to tell them what God is saying. The believer that truly desires God will ask for as much of Himself as He is willing to give, and that man or woman is willing to take on mature responsibilities for one more minute in His presence! How could such a heart tear itself away without breaking a covenant bond with its Creator and Lord?

Each believer must decide what he or she truly desires. For the immature believer stuck on milk for years, do you desire God enough to place the elementary truths behind and walk in the presence of His Spirit? Or do you feel satisfied by the security of your daily comforts and bottle feedings? To the mature believer, would you now turn back to Egypt, having tasted the goodness of His works? Even during the hardest days, when it feels like God is a half-world away, I know that I cannot. It is the Spirit's lead or bust.