The evident signs of a Baby Christian

Hebrews 5:12-14

The evident signs of a Baby Christian ( Part I)

A Baby Christian neglects the practice of the Word of God

It is more than a month since we have been hearing sermons about the attitude of a Christian worthy of the name, Today we are going to talk about the evident signs of a Baby Christian. 

However, we cannot go straight to those signs without putting things in context. The author of Hebrews, in this preceding verse, I  mean v.11, told  the recipients of this letter that he had much to say about Jesus and Melchizedek priesthood, /but unfortunately, they  were  slow to respond or make progress in the Word of God. In other words, they were at a baby stage. Now let us see the evident signs of a Baby Christian:

1. Laziness in the faith

2. Confusion of good and evil 

3. Careless words

4. Pride  

5.Hypocrisy     

6.Divisions   

Sign #1: Laziness in the faith

The brother or sister has been going to church or has been walking with Christ for 5, 10, 40 years and there is no real progress. Have you ever complained or heard friends complaining about their lazy babies or children?/  Have you ever tried to force your child to eat something that is beneficial to him, full of nutrients, and he refuses to swallow it? The author says that those people who had accepted the Word so long time should be able at this point to start teaching but they fell behind because of inactivity, a lack of practice.They, instead, need to be taught, the first principles of the Word of God, which is “Once you become a Christian you are a new creature.” A transition must take place.

 Claiming to be a Christian is one thing but thinking like a Christian is a different thing.  As a new creature, you are to bring every single one of your thought into captivity into the obedience of Christ, not of yourself. To go from one state to another, a commitment is required. But the Baby Christian prefers to stay stuck in tradition, old religious practices, pagan practices, old beliefs, philosophies and pragmatic logic, or his past experiences in church.

Think about that. To be where you are at today, there had been a lot of steps involved. You went from breast-feeding or formula stage through solid foods as a complement and then exclusively on solid foods. Breast-feeding or formula cannot replace solid foods. Nothing else can replace the Word of God as solid foods in your life, not even fasting 365 days a year. Knowing the Word is not enough to grow spiritually, you need to practice it. Maturity comes with daily practices. By the way, there is a sharp difference between the thought, the word and action of a believer on the soli food of the Word of God and one on milk.

I wish there were no  Baby Christians in our midst. Nonetheless, I need to tell you that Baby Christians have always a thousand excuses for not doing God’s ministry. When they are not late, they call out. When they are available, they are not willing to work. When their cars break down and they need a ride, they are not always ready to be picked up. The driver must wait.  They like music, choir, fasting, prayer, activities, all kinds of group, except Bible Study and sermon and any kind of Bible activity. They love milk, sweet words, sweet talks, such as what God can do for them. But when it is time for trial, to study or share the word of God, they either easily lose their heads, are absent, late, distracted or just fallen asleep.

We all started babies, but through stages after stages we become who we are today. But if we had stayed babies, we would have had to cry to get what we need or what we want. Does an adult have to cry to get what he needs? No. When Jesus said.” Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you,” he was addressing adult believers and he had in mind adult Christians in Christ.  That is the beauty and the privilege of being an adult in Christ.

John 15:7-8: “If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples.” God’s plan for you is to grow and bring fruit by leading at least one soul to Christ.  When you refuse to digest his words, you are the one who is blocking your growth. It is not God’s fault, for he puts someone here to help you. It is not my fault either, I am trying to do my best to deliver God’s Word. If you still believe in so-called God’s messengers on social media who are boasting about being God’s envoys it Is not my fault, I told you full drums do not make noise. It is only empty drums that make noise, and by the way, they make big noise. In fact, neither Jesus nor his disciples ever brag about doing miracles.

Sign #2: Confusion of good and evil

Let me share some stories with you regarding exercising your senses to discern good and evil

Scenario 1

A believer named Paul told another brother called John who had a fight with his boss in his job, ”If they ask you about your religion, tell them you are a practicing voodoo. “

John, puzzled, says,” Why?”

 “Because they are not afraid of Jesus at all, but they have a great fear for voodoo,” replied Paul

Q. Culd Paul digest solid foods? Was not Jean a baby in Christ also? Yes, he did not stand up to remind Paul the teachings of the Word of God.

Scenario 2

Years ago, I was in a parking lot talking with a sister about the immorality in the church, her opinion knocked me to the ground. She told me, “Pastor, I do not care if a pastor is immoral or not. This is his own business with God.” Baby Christians do not condemn wrongdoings. They, indeed, have always excuses for them and immorality is fine with them.  If you are still confused about good and evil, it is lack of conviction, for a baby has no conviction. If you were a spiritual adult, you would be convinced there is a clear line between right and wrong.

Where are you as a Christian? At what stage you are? At what stage is the church of Jesus Christ as a whole?

 For the last seven days, I have been receiving messages regarding a presidential decree legalizing abortion, incest and reducing the sexual majority to 15 years of age.  It is interesting to note that both the Catholic Church and the Haitian Protestant Federation are rebelling against the decree. But if Haitian society, and especially the Catholic and Protestant Church, had not failed in their moral and spiritual mission, this decree would never have been issued.

It is the inescapable curse that falls on Baby Christians who have voted for a Baby President. Child who asks for hot okra (gumbo)you give it to him right in the palm of his hand. A spiritual pastor should know who a baby is and who is not so he can know what to feed each of his flocks.

I believe that it is about time for the Christian Church throughout the world to wake up and face a mirror to see with shame and pity that we are in a baby state. We need the Savior’s help to make us aware of the urgency of solid foods to help us distinguish good from evil and make the right choice for an adult stature in Christ.

God bless you.

The evident signs of a Baby Christian ( Part II)

Two weeks ago, we have started dealing with the evident signs of a Baby Christian in Heb 5:12-14. We have said that “A Baby Christian neglects the practice of the Word of God” and listed six signs:

1. Laziness in the faith

2. Confusion of good and evil

3. Careless words 

4. Pride               

5. Hypocrisy        

6.  Divisions.  

 We already covered two of those six signs: Laziness in the faith and Confusion of good and evil. Today, we are going to cover the last four: 

Careless words

Pride   

Hypocrisy  and

 Divisions.     

Let us continue with Sign #3. Careless words  (Mindless talk)

 I already shared two scenarios with you regarding how some believers failed to exercise their senses to discern good and evil. Now this third scenario is about how believers speak without thinking or just speak careless or idle words.

Scenario 3

James is back from work and tries to share some rumors with his wife, Jeanne.

James said: Do you know that Gaby's economic situation has completely changed? He was able to afford himself a new house with pool, a brand new car? 

Jeanne said : What happened?! Give me some water to drink, do not get cold water, bring me tap water.

James  ran and picked up a glass in a basket next to the sink, filled it with water and ran to his wife, who even after taking two drops of water didn't know what to say or how to say it because she was so emotional. She was just mumbling.

Jeanne (continued): What? What? After catching her breath, she says: “How do you know? Who told you all of this? So far, he never drove a new car to church.”

James said : The word is spoken, small town.

Jeanne said: He may have won a case and did not tell anybody about it? You know people do not like to talk about their private business. Believe me, one thing I know he came here without a penny. Who knows, he might be stealing?

James replied: Who knows? But if it were a lawsuit, I would know it. The progress he has made is tremendous in such a short period of time. He has overtaken us completely. So, I need to know what he is doing so I can do it also.

 Do not you see that both James and Jeanne are still Babies in Christ? None of them alluded to any biblical truth to bring the other one to his senses. Before any suspicion, any rush judgment, the question should have been: “What is he doing?”. In fact, Gaby was a sewage inspector. In port Saint Lucie, the average annual salary is  $40,991 per year or $3,807 (8%) less than the national average annual salary of $44,798. These employees  are supposed to work long shifts checking and finding clogs, leakages, and cracks in the underground sewer system and they literally have to swim through a lot  of smelly stuff.  It is a tough job that not many people want to do, but it pays well. Will James be willing to do it?

You might know that saying,” Mouth eats all food, but it does not say every word.”/ What prevents you from applying it? If you are still addicted to careless or idle words after being a Christian for 5, 10, 40 years you are still a Baby Christian.  Do not be afraid to call things by their names. So, a Baby Christian  is  a baby, an adult is an adult, a senior is a senior and so on. Matthew 12:33-37 was Jesus’ response to a group of Pharisees who just accused him of being demon-possessed in v.24. A Baby Christian is subject to condemnation because they do not weigh any of their words. Please, listen, words have power. They can bring love, friendship, encouragement, consolation, life as well as death depending how you use them. They can kill, build, or destroy a relationship. Many Christian homes have been destroyed, not because of financial stress or infidelity, but due to the overuse of careless or idle words. So, in the midst of trials the world knows it  is easy to drive a Baby Christian crazy and take out of their mouths words of praise and adoration so powerful as the following:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job1:21

“And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.” 2 Corinthians 1:3

Please your attention to what I am going to tell you, especially when you communicate with a member of the grieving family.

1.        Just as there is a time for everything under heavens, there is a time for logic and theology as well. 

2.       When someone is in a dark moment, please show empathy by listening more than you talk.

3.        Every word matters 

4.       Too many words can be too much for the grieving person to hear. 

5.       Too much is not necessarily more efficient.

Sign #4: Pride

Pride is the #1 enemy of the church and leads to a multitude of denominations, some more proud than others. It is an emotion hidden deep inside each one of us, invisible to the naked eye unless we wear spiritual glasses. We always see it in others but fail to feel it in our own life. One of our big weaknesses as God’s people is having too much pride. Years ago, I met a nice believer who was a man of fasting and prayer. Nobody could think that the brother was so proud until the day I made some well-founded remarks to him in private and, for his own good. As a result, he left the church with 11 persons. Despite adult appearances, these people were all still babies in Christ. Baby Christians have a strong belief that they know how to do church more than their pastors.

They boast about serving God because they are babies in Christ.  Elijah did the same mistake also when he had thought that he was the only one serving God in Israel. But God rebuked him by telling him,” Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him." 1 Kings 19:18. What is God’s message today to those who brag about being  God’s servants? God is telling you today as he told Elijah 3,000 years ago that he still has a community of faithful servants although they are not spectacular or impressive. So, in every denomination under heavens, (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, etc.), there are hidden servants, silent servants, modest servants, poor servants that are still serving God in the shadow. They are not on TVs, on social medias like YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebooks. And, yet, they are great servants, approved by God. Glory to the Lord. Alleluia!/

Sign#5: Hypocrisy

Who is a hypocrite? A person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess. One guy says,”.  Do not preach me only by words, but teach me also by example.” How do you call someone who tells you not to do something and does it? He or she is called a hypocrite also, I mean a double-faced person. This is also someone who speaks double talk. In front of you, he has a language, but speaks a different language in your back. You and I need to practice what we preach. If you tell me ,”Do not lie, don't let any hurtful words come out of my mouth, do not commit adultery, do not  say anything  bad about others, please, for God's sake, do not do it yourself. Why do you want to know other people’s business and do your best to hide yours? Matthew 23:27-28 describes brilliantly the state of being hypocrite.

Matthew 23:27-28

A Baby Christian takes care of the outward appearances but neglects the inside. Please do not trust appearances, for they are often misleading. Often the facade of the house masks reality.

Sign # 6: Division

1 Corinthians 3:1-4 Paul did not expect Corinthians to be mature overnight, but by the time being they should have made some progress. I am ashamed for those who have been in the church for long time and are still babies. Baby Christians like to see gossips, envy, strife, clan, division among church members just to pick up their phones and tell some friends," There is a drama going on in the church. You did not hear the church split in 4, I saw that for them. They never took advice.” The father of division is the devil, is not he?  Baby Christians are always looking for attention.They enjoy having fans and want the church to go in four different directions just to please themselves.They act just like the members of the Corinthian church. One group says, “We are of Pastor Jean; another says,” We are of brother so and so.”  A third group says, “We are of sister so and so.” and a fourth one says, “We are of Deacon so and so and so on.”

Just like stubborn children Christian Babies love doing whatever they want to do. Yelling at them does not matter because they refuse to listen.You can teach and preach them, but it goes in through one ear and out through the other immediately. They are still carnal. It is “me fist” in everything they say or do, in the house, in the job, in the church, at school, in the street. 

When dealing with any believer, either he or she is part of your congregation or not, you need to stay alert to the six signs mentioned: Laziness in the faith, Confusion of good and evil, Careless words, Pride, Hypocrisy and Divisions.

 Ask God guidance, intuition and serenity  to help you discern if their advice, remarks, proposals, projects  come from God or egoism (their self-interest).

God bless you.