“You’re such a baby!”
You wouldn’t take kindly to that sort of talk directed at you, would you? Yet that’s how Paul addressed the people at the church in Corinth, with tough-love talk. In the previous “chapter” of his letter he described two kinds of people: the “natural” being who isn’t much interested in the spiritual life and the one who lived under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Now he addresses the church in a third category: “infants in Christ.”
Actually, there’s nothing wrong with being a baby. We all were once! But babies are expected to grow and mature. Sadly, sometimes like Peter Pan, we defiantly say “I won’t grow up spiritually!” How Paul describes these spiritual infants is a good invitation to evaluate our own spiritual journey.
First, they’re called babes. There was once some spiritual life, but it stopped growing. They may have invited Jesus into their heart and home but he’s kept in the nursery, isolated from the main activities of life.
Second, they’re called “fleshly.” It’s like having some form of spiritual activity like prayer, church attendance, and bible devotions. But there’s a good portion of life that is, let’s be honest, more interested in other things than God’s purpose for us. We have earthly passions for things, status, being happy above all else, for consuming hobbies and comfort. These are the things that fuel our conversations and bring excitement to our days. They become the foundation of our lives (v12-13) and tested later for what our life was worth.
Third, they’re fed with milk, not solid food. Imagine, being an adult but craving baby food. Spiritual infants are like that, preferring an easy text with simple challenges, not aspiring to really know Jesus; certainly not desiring to “participate in his suffering and becoming like him in his death.” (Philippians 3:10-11) We want to be in the Palm Sunday crowd, waving our palm branches and shouting “Hosanna.” But we don’t want to hang around when he was mocked and tortured and nailed to a cross. We love God’s grace, not so much his discipline. We look a lot like everyone else in the world. Paul cites jealousy and quarreling as two examples of being worldly. Certainly our hot tempers, impatience and propensity for judging others would be others.
Fourth, Paul warns them of the perils of remaining as babes. He tells them even now they are not yet ready for solid food. Why? Because they are still fleshly, acting like “mere humans.” What’s wrong with acting like humans, following our favorite pastors and Christian authors (Paul, Apollos…fill in the blank)? What’s wrong is that becoming Christians made us “new creations” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Our lives and bodies are not our own. They were bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:20). Our bodies aren’t merely human. They are the temples of God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). Think about that for a moment. If God’s Spirit lives in you, what do you expose him to all day long as you go about your daily activities. does he share your life ambitions?
This might seem harsh treatment. But Paul’s “tough” talk is filled with love and hope and encouragement – for us today. Our encouragement is to look at our lives and admit to our tendency to behave like spiritual babes, easily distracted and made content by so many lesser things. Our hope is that we can grow. We can learn to chew on solid food, study scripture for ourselves, ask God to teach us to see and respond to others as he would.
If the road we were on was headed toward a washed out bridge, we’d welcome a warning. Let’s take encouragement that our faithful and patient God provides “wake up calls” when we’ve been found slumbering through life.
If there’s more growing up to do, wouldn’t today be the day to take the next step?
