Acting Our Spiritual Age

I Corinthians 3:1-9

Parents love to see their children grow and develop.  If they fail to see them pass developmental milestones at the appropriate age, they might worry.  If there aren’t any legitimate developmental problems to be concerned about, no one wants to see someone acting like a child when they are older, even into adult years.  There is nothing more ridiculous or annoying than an adult who occasionally carries on like an immature child.  Can you imagine, then, how God feels when He sees believers acting immature, or who will not move on to reach their spiritual developmental milestones?

Paul was encountering this with the believers in Corinth.  It seems that the Corinthians were getting into a snit over several things.  One was that they were dividing up into camps over which church leader was the best.  Was Paul the best, who had come and brought the Gospel to them, leading many to Christ and establishing the church community there?  Or was Apollos better, who became their first pastor?

Paul chastised them for this childish behavior.  Using the analogy of a child advancing from a milk diet as an infant, to a meat one as they grew older, Paul said that the Corinthian Church was so immature he couldn’t feed them “spiritual meat”, or more advanced teachings.  They could only handle “spiritual milk”, or the more basic teachings.  The infighting among themselves must have been strong enough for word of it to have reached Paul’s notice in Ephesus, (in modern-day Turkey) where he was preaching the Gospel at the time.

Paul then goes on to explain, in verses 5 - 9, that he, Apollos, Peter, and all of us even today, are all servants of the Lord.  There should be no exalting of personalities.  The Lord had given Paul and Apollos each a different job to do for Him.  Paul was to plant - preach the Gospel and lead people to Christ.  Apollos was to water - pastor the church Paul started.  Each was a separate job, and each was equally important.  But most importantly, it was God, the work of the Holy Spirit, who brings the increase, not people.

How are we and our fellow Christians?  Do we have petty squabbles among ourselves?  Have we put our favorite Christian leaders, TV preachers or radio programs, Christian authors, on pedestals, where only Jesus should be?  Let’s act our spiritual age, and advance beyond the baby bottle to pureed food, and on to spiritual steak.

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