No More Diapers

Its not fun changing diapers.  I mean, let's face it.  It's just plain gross.  There are a few people out there, and you know who are, that take pleasure in cleaning the underside of a little one.  Don't get me wrong, I love my kids, and I love little babies.  And I've changed a few diapers in my life, but I guess I just get a little grossed out.  If you asked my wife, she'd tell you that I'm a big baby when it comes to dirty diapers.  Oh, and needles.  Just the thought of either one makes me cringe.

When Evie gave birth to our son, Hayden, I was the proudest papa on the planet.  He was such a good lookin little baby boy.  I still get chocked up just thinking about seeing him for the first time.  There he was, this beautiful little ball of flesh.  Needless to say, we were and are proud parents.  He even had a tan.  Or jaundice, it really just depends on how you look at it.

The time finally came when we got to take our little boy home.  I'm laughing as I write this, becuase if you could have seen us you'd be laughing too.  We were so careful.  Ok, we were extremely careful.  I think I only drove like 20 mph the whole way home.  But hey, he was precious cargo.  Its been almost nine years since we took Hayden home from the hospital and I'm amazed at how quickly time has gone.

Hayden has long since been out of diapers.  You would probably agree, that is a good thing.  Nobody wants to see a boy his age in diapers with a binky in his mouth.  I could take that one step further and say that we might be confused if we saw an adult in diapers, a binky and their baba (bottle).

Let's face it, it's just not right.  I know what you're thinking, where are you going with this?  Well, here comes the flip.  There is a great need for maturity in the body of Christ.  We have, how do you say, spiritual babies who should have long been out of diapers.  And something is starting to smell.

I want you to know that I'm not addressing the new believer.  We all start at the same place.  Immature, like newborns.  That is why  Paul urges us in 1 Peter 2:2 "as newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow up."  If you are a new believer, I encourage you to thirst for the word of God so that you might grow. 

As for the rest of us, there is a great need for maturity.  I'd like to make a few things clear.  No amount of supposed spiritual insight or experience reflects genuine spirtual growth, IF it is seperated from our basic growth in the knowledge of God's word.  In other words, it doesn't matter how long you've sat on that pew, how much time and energy or even money you give the church.  You can be spiritually immature and have been a Christian your entire life.  Your tenure as a believer does not equal spiritual maturity.

Listen to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, " Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly —mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?"

Wow, nobody puts it like Pual.  What is the sign of their immaturity here?  "For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?"  How often do we see this played out among God's people?  But Paul ain't scared, he calls them on the carpet about their worldliness, telling them, "Indeed, you are still not ready."  The implication being that they should be ready.  The diapers should be off by now.

The point is, it's time to grow up!  Hebrews 6:1 tells us, "Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God."

How do we grow and mature in Christ?  We must be rooted in the Word of God.  Without this rootedness in the Word, we may be fooled about our growth.  Again, thinking that because we've been around for so long that we have spiritual maturity.  Like a tree planted by the water's edge, our roots should go deep in truth and love not just head knowledge.

My challenge for us today is this, that we spend time in the Word of God and remove ourselves from lovelessness, competiteveness and strife.  "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are."  1 Corinthians 3:16-17