This is an epidemic. One that all of us (me included) who are professing Christians are guilty of. It doesn't matter if you are a small group leader, sunday school teacher, parent, friend or pastor. If you do not get past feeding simple truths of the gospel to people they will search elsewhere for something that will fill them up, since you aren't showing them how to get it.
This is a widely taught concept but I want to take it from a very different angle. Yes we have all heard about how we should long for more substantial things when we grow up (meat) rather than be satisfied with the food of infants (milk). What if in your search of meat you go find something that makes you feel full, but you aren't at all? This is what I see us letting people do.
During times of famine people in the past have turned to the practice of eating dirt and mud to survive. Now if you know anything about basic nutrition you will know, this is not exactly a well balanced diet. Clearly these people did not do this because they thought it would be a good way to start the day, much like a glass of orange juice. They did this because they longed for the feeling of being full and satisfied. They didn't have the means to fill up their bodies with food properly so they found the closest thing to fill their stomachs and feel full.
This is the same thing we are doing with young Christians or people seeking for truth in the gospel. We expect them to get by on sips of milk and feel full. How can you expect this? As a big guy I can't see how anyone would let a guy like me subside on mere sips of milk and think I couldn't benefit from a full meal. I would starve to death after a while! You need more than just bare minimum.
People will start to starve from a lack of spiritual nutrition. They WILL look elsewhere. That is guaranteed. As humans we long to understand truth and the world around us. We expect to grow past the level of infancy where all that is needed is trust in your parents (in this instance God), but we want more than that. This is why so many people find satisfaction in things other than Christ (whether that be full blown unbelief or in a destroyed and unrecognizable version of Christianity). This is why there are so many people turning to atheism. They don't want to be spoon fed. They want real solid truths that they can subsist on. So whether you are a mom, assistant to the vice sunday school teacher or a world famous pastor you must give your people the solid Biblical truths, not just tiny bits of truth. If you don't they will start eating dirt (atheism, a self serving Christianity, etc) to feel full.
People will start to starve from a lack of spiritual nutrition. They WILL look elsewhere. That is guaranteed. As humans we long to understand truth and the world around us. We expect to grow past the level of infancy where all that is needed is trust in your parents (in this instance God), but we want more than that. This is why so many people find satisfaction in things other than Christ (whether that be full blown unbelief or in a destroyed and unrecognizable version of Christianity). This is why there are so many people turning to atheism. They don't want to be spoon fed. They want real solid truths that they can subsist on. So whether you are a mom, assistant to the vice sunday school teacher or a world famous pastor you must give your people the solid Biblical truths, not just tiny bits of truth. If you don't they will start eating dirt (atheism, a self serving Christianity, etc) to feel full.
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