“¹Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. ²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³You are still worldly…” ~  1 Corinthians 3:1-3a

Phoebe has started to blow her nose when we hold a tissue in place and yesterday she tried all by herself. Taking a wet wipe up to her nose, she blew with all her might. Unfortunately she wasn’t holding the tissue tight and goo sprayed everywhere. Still, I was impressed. She is only 15 months! So as I grabbed tissues and ran to clean her up, I cheered for her brilliance. Certainly knowing the basic nose blowing strategy must mean she is advanced (Some walk early, my kids develop good hygiene early… parents will find anything and point to their child’s genius.).

Of course if one of you did the exact same thing… well, with goo all over your face, we would wonder what was the matter with you. No one would cheer, instead some might laugh, others would gasp…

Maturity often comes slow in Christianity. And I think part of this rests in the fact that we set our standards very low. We will cheer at the slightest signs of faith and rejoice as though Christ has appeared. Take the thought of someone reading their Bible everyday. You could be a Christian 10, 20, 30 years and it would not matter. We would all congratulate the person. As if some great feat had been accomplished…

I still blow my nose in the same way I did when I was child. But no one is there to cheer. In the same way, I read my bible, I pray, I set down my own will, I give… One of you may say, “Yes, Sean, you are a minister.” But these are not acts of a minister. Reading your Bible is a baby step in faith.

We are content as “mere infants” and in this way we do not realize the goo on our face—we do not realize that we are missing out on the depths of our faith. Hence the church in America dwindles waiting for children of God to grow up!