Hebrews 5:11-14
Verse 12 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!
As a way of pointing out their lack of commitment to growing and therefore their lack of growth, the Hebrew writer of the New Testament book tells them they should be knowledgeable enough to be teaching more people about the faith and here they were not even knowing it fully themselves. They were stunted in their faith and they needed to know it.
This reprimand was to get their attention. They had to come to a point of understanding how their lack of desire to grow in their faith wasn’t just affecting them. Remember the author of this book was Jewish and had an extensive knowledge of Jewish history. He saw how one generation not teaching the next led to the cycle of generations falling away and becoming enslaved in sin. If the Christ followers were no different than their Jewish neighbors, the neighbors would never know Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah.
Not only were they still not able to teach others, they still had to be taught! This means they were either not paying attention to the teaching they had been receiving or they were not showing what they were learning by a change in lifestyle. Sadly many in the church think going on Sunday and listening to a sermon is all that is needed, come Monday they are back to being the ones gossiping at work or doing the bare minimum of the job. How are those around us going to know we have a relationship with the God of Heaven if we aren’t any different than those around us?
This Jewish author was so disturbed by the fact these believers weren’t wanting to grow, he more or less calls them babies. He was pushing them on the topic because they couldn’t stay where they were if the Gospel was going to make it into all the world. They were supposed to be on a mission and by not learning, they were shirking their responsibility.
Responsibility may be one of the reasons we are willing to stay on the lower end of knowledge. The more we know, the more that will be expected of us. Maybe the problem is that we are merely lazy in our faith.
Making It Personal
What reason would you give for not being as intentional about growing in the faith? How willing are you to teach others about Jesus? How willing are you to allow others to teach you?
Making It Personal Kids
Do you willingly listen and try to learn when someone is teaching you about Jesus? Are you trying to learn so you can teach others later? What would you want to teach them about Jesus?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for this reminder about not being consumer Christians. Give us the desire to learn, listen and act upon what we have learned. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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