“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 ESV

Have your habits and disciplines changed and/or matured since you became a Christian? Have you grown spiritually? Are you active in your daily and weekly walk with Jesus, or are you still kind of floating in the same place, doing the same things you have always done? Are you still bottle feeding at the hand of another person, or are you feeding yourself?

This is an incredibly legitimate set of questions that we need to ask ourselves on a regular basis. Am I growing in Christ? Do I need someone to push and prod me into doing the things I know I should be doing, or am I walking strongly in Christ every day, capable and with maturity?

I see people out in public all the time who appear to never have matured beyond middle or high school, emotionally speaking. They whine, yell in public when they get upset, they scheme, plot and steal to get what they want and they feel entitled to have those things whether they’ve worked for them or not. They may be 20, 30 or 70 years old, but they still act like shallow, petty, spoiled 14 year olds. They believe life is still a popularity contest, and in a very paranoid way, they believe the world is working against them when they don’t get what they want.

There is a lack of work ethic and general maturity and nonsense rules the day with them. They are mental and emotional children in adult bodies.

But as Christians, we know we have been called to something better, something mature, something holy and righteous. This life of pride and selfishness has nothing to do with what Christ died for and what His resurrection is bringing us to…

We are not called to be spiritual and emotional infants, but instead to grow, to thrive and to mature in Christ. We have all been called to be ministers of the gospel of Christ, and our behavior, both within the private realm of our personal, daily spiritual disciplines and our externally lived lives, should be what we would expect of a minister in the pulpit.

We want our ministers to grow, be mature and set the example for others, right? We should desire the same in our own lives. Never to satiate our own pride or to gain recognition as ‘that person at church who has all their ducks in a row.’ But instead, taking on the example of our Master, Jesus, and become the servant of all. It isn’t about us in any way, shape or form. It’s all about Jesus and allowing His example to override our own inclinations. Like John the Baptist said, ‘He must become greater. I must become less.’

And why? Because in this growth and maturity, more people are going to see God at work. He gets the glory, we step aside in humility and point the way to the cross as we daily take up our own and GoLove others in Jesus’ Name. Maturity is a marker of God’s handiwork in our hearts. Being bottle fed our whole lives isn’t an option, and neither should being spoon fed at church.