Bottle-fed or carnivorous?

 If there was any one point where I would criticize American Christians, it is that they are very shallow. While  there are significant exceptions, most Christians in our country do not spend more than one hour a week doing anything about their faith – and that is assuming they attend church every Sunday, which many do not! These baby Christians are content to just stick with the basics: Jesus died for my sins and rose from the dead, and  that’s about it. There is no time for daily meditation on God’s Word or focused prayer, no time for pursuing a deeper spiritual understanding of things. And so, the American Church is one giant nursery.

    Hebrews 5:11 "On this topic we have much to say and it is difficult to explain, since you have become sluggish in hearing. 5:12 For though you should in fact be teachers by this time, you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God’s utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. 5:13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant. 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by practice to discern both good and evil.  6:1 Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, 6:2 teaching about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 6:3 And this is what we  intend  to  do,  if  God  permits.  6:4  For  it  is  impossible  in  the  case  of  those  who  have  once  been enlightened, tasted the heavenly gift, become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 6:5 tasted the good word of God and the miracles of the coming age, 6:6 and then have committed apostasy, to renew them again to repentance, since they are crucifying the Son of God for themselves all over again and holding him up to contempt. 6:7 For the ground that has soaked up the rain that frequently falls on it and yields useful vegetation for those who tend it receives a blessing from God. 6:8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is useless and about to be cursed; its fate is to be burned. 6:9 But in your case, dear friends, even though we speak like this, we are convinced of better things relating to salvation. 6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints. 6:11 But we passionately want each of you to demonstrate the same eagerness for the fulfillment of your hope until the end, 6:12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and perseverance inherit the promises."

 Spiritual shallowness was a problem in the early Church as well. It seems like no matter what era you live in, most people are content with a simple grasp on their relationship with God, and are perfectly happy to call it good. And so for the next 40 years, they are in a spiritual holding pattern where not much  changes in their hearts and souls. Issues like living a life of holiness, righteousness, advocating for God’s justice, caring for the poor, orphans, and widows, self-sacrifice, even fasting are all reserved for those in  full-time ministry. But according to the New Testament, there is no difference between Christians who get paid for it and Christians who don’t. The same demands are placed upon both groups.  The Church in America will remain weak and lazy until there is a reversal on this matter. God’s work is not being carried out because we are too fat and sleepy to see and understand. We walk right by  opportunities God has placed in front of us because they might require us to get involved. Our faith is not simply “fire insurance,” it is designed to grow like the mustard plant from the seed, filling the garden  of this world with its branches. And the only way to grow that faith the way it is designed to is work. We must be actively working to fertilize, prune, and weed so that our mustard seed faith can spring up.