“…
by this time you ought to be teachers, [yet] you need someone to teach you
again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need
milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is
unskilled in the world of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food
belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have
their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews
5:12-14).
The
writer is not admonishing his audience as much as he is encouraging them to be
more purposeful, more intentional toward pursuing spiritual perfection.
By the tone of this passage and by that which follows in chapter 6, it seems
clear the reading audience had reached a point of complacency in their own
spiritual development by which they had (by their own standards) decided they
had learned as much as they need to know. It is a like a toddler who is
determined to walk and jerks away from mom or dad and then immediately falls to
the floor but hits her head on the coffee table on the way down. She
lacked the skills necessary to take those few steps (though we might applaud
the confidence and determination!) but worse, the toddler was unable to discern
the danger of the coffee table being so near.
This
is the danger of pulling away from religious instruction too soon – or not
participating at all in worship attendance and group Bible study
sessions. Having the “senses exercised” means much more than merely experiencing
what we perceive to be good and evil in our own settings and in accordance with
our own basic understandings. We need only to look around and see the
degeneration of the home and our society to understand that too many have
“pulled away” from those “first principles” before they were fully
prepared. Stumbling from time to time is not the problem because that
will happen, but a lot of heads are hitting an awful lot of coffee tables on
the way down!
We
must not be afraid nor too proud to ask for and seek out help in the fellowship
of the Church. It does not mean we are wrong and someone else is right;
it means only that we take our spiritual development seriously and that we care
for the well-being of others, understanding that the Church and the home (as
well as our children and grandchildren) benefit from our devotion to things
beyond ourselves. Being comfortably conversant in the basic doctrines of
the Church means knowing what we are committed to and why – and then committing
fully. This is understanding our roles as “sojourners” in the faith and
the life-long commitment to sanctification, the pursuit of spiritual
perfection. Getting “saved” or being justified (depending on your
particular denominational tradition) is only the beginning of an incredible
journey! So let us journey together!
Blessings,
Michael
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