1 Thing the Growing Church and Christians Should Seek
Last week, we discussed the 5 things that Peter says a Church is not. This week, will continue with Peter and look at what a church should be and do. In 1 Peter 2, Peter gives a list of what churches need to remove, but instead of giving us a specific list of what we should be, Peter tells us that we are to be babies seeking milk.
Spiritual Milk
Peter says that the growing church needs to rid themselves of malice, slander, envy, hypocrisy, and deceit. He then says to be like babies. This is different than what Paul says 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. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?”
Paul says we need to stop being like babies and craving milk. This is a completely different metaphor that Peter is using here. He's not using babies as something that we shouldn't be like; he's saying to be like babies is a positive thing. Peter and Paul were very different people. Paul would give us a list of things not to do and then a list of things to do instead, while Peter gives us a list of things to get rid of and then says what we are to be. In verse 2, Peter says we are to be like newborn babies craving your Spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.
When babies are hungry, they often cry, whine, and make other noises to alert us to their needs. They can't say the word nourishment, but that's what they're craving. They're craving something to sustain them to grow them up. A baby crying out is desperate for nourishment. This is the image that Peter gives to us from a growing church and for the growing Christian. This is what the growing Christian is like: you're like a newborn baby.
We're supposed to crave pure spiritual milk so that by it you may grow up in your salvation. Another way to translate this verse, which the King James has, says to crave the milk of the word. It's a bit more understandable for us to get what he's saying. That we are to crave God's Word, as God's people, like newborn babies. We are to crave the nourishment of God's Word to us now. When we're not in God's Word, we get cranky and cry out desperately. Peter calls the growing church to be like newborn babies, craving the pure spiritual milk for the pure milk of the word, to crave God's Word.
Christian Growth
Do you notice that it's God's Word that is the active ingredient for the Christian to grow up? God’s Word is the nourishment that leads to Christians’ growth. There are a lot of things Peter could have told these folks in these different churches, who are being persecuted. He could have said to pray together, meet together, and check up on one another. Peter could have given a list of bodily things they could have done together, but he didn’t. He says to grow up and crave the nourishment of God's Word.
That is how Christians grow: we grow in God's Word. By growing in God's Word, we grow by God's Word. If you want a child to grow, you must feed them. When Jesus was on the cross, He said to one of his disciples Feed my sheep. You want someone to grow, they must eat. It's not optional. Imagine what the outcry would be in your household the next time your children say they're getting hungry and you just skipped the meal. If you keep skipping meals, you become malnourished. If we want to be a growing church, if you want to be a growing Christian, then like newborn babies crave the Word.
Some of us wonder why there's malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander in our hearts that we can't get rid of. We're not eating very healthily. We need to think of the things that we are nourishing ourselves with. What are we spending our time doing, watching, and reading? Are they good for us? We need to be in the Word.
We are a growing church and a growing Christian, and we will continue to be a growing church as we grow in the Word. Not as we grow with a specific five-point plan to get more butts and seats. Not as we grow with a three-point strategy done by a consultant to do X, Y, & Z. God's Word is the nourishing agent for the Christian life and the church's life
Growing in the Word
You can grow together with other brothers and sisters in the Word. There are wonderful Bible studies being held at many churches and even online. I encourage you all to find a Bible study group, a friend, or your spouse and spend time together in the Word with others. If you need help finding a solid Bible study near you, reach out to us, and we would love to help connect you with a Bible study in your area.
We grow our children when they're young. We grow when they first start to hear about who Jesus is and why he matters, and so we nourish them. We feed them with things like Sunday school, Family Worship, Bible Studies, homeschooling, and more.
We not only grow the word together, but we can grow in the word individually. Reading the Bible at home on your own. We have a privilege that most believers throughout history never had. We have Bibles in our own homes, in our language, and you're educated enough that you can read them. Most Christians throughout time in history have not had that privilege.
I want to encourage you that by reading the Bible, you're able to grow. God is growing you in your homes as you read his word and worship together. God's Word is incredible.
I encourage all of you to take time to be in God’s Word. To read and study His Word and see how your life and your church’s life are changed.
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