November 20, 2022
It appears to have been a remarkable congregation of the Lord’s people as we look back over the centuries and beyond the miles that separate us. It was a time of miraculous gifts early in the church’s existence, and they were blessed abundantly with them all. Indications are that they had healers, miracle workers of all sorts and tongue speakers. Exemplary? Not exactly.
They were the Corinthians. They had come from some rather shady backgrounds to become children of God, and they were part of the family. The Lord had endowed them in special ways, but there were flaws. They bickered and divided (1:11-12). As flashy as they might seem to us all of these centuries removed (We might even be envious of their miraculous abilities!), they were painfully fleshly. Paul saw through it all to identify their basic problem.
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1).” They were childish. They had not matured in the faith and remained superficial being easily manipulated by other men. The Lord expected them to grow up. He expects that of us, too. Will we?
Maturity does not necessarily come at a particular age or with a certain number of years in the church, nor is it proven by the ability to do miracles. Babes were speaking in tongues in Corinth. If neither time nor supernatural skills equate to spiritual maturity, then what does? The Hebrew Christians had also failed to grow up. Those who should have been ready to teach still needed tutoring. Their education had not expanded beyond the basic principles. Maturity demands a diet for grownups and practice (Hebrews 5:12-14).
It is neither easy nor natural. This is not ordinary human development but spiritual progress. Have we advanced beyond the fundamentals? They are important, and we must not neglect them but rather seek to build on them. Much of the New Testament is addressed to problems within the churches. They were the body and needed to realize the issues that were holding them back. The same has been true for all the Lord’s people to this day.
We each have an old, worldly self with fleshly habits that don’t simply disappear when we are baptized. We must face them and deal with them. To accept or rationalize them (That’s just the way I am!) is a certain roadblock to maturity. We must take off “the old man” and put on “the new man” (Colossians 3:5-14). It is not easy, but there is no other way to grow up. “No pain no gain” is a popular slogan at the gym. It is equally true for children of God. Christians have been blessed with every spiritual blessing and we must not forget them, but we have to work out to develop spiritual muscle, too.
