Arrested Development

Arrested Development by Dr. D. James Kennedy

“For though by now you should be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God and have come to need milk rather than solid food.” Hebrews 5:12

Babies are universally loved and we are drawn to their sweetness and innocence, but if we visit a newborn and then come back in six months and that baby is still the same size as he was at birth, we know something is seriously wrong.

Something is interfering with that baby’s development.

I’m afraid there are some people in our churches today who are suffering from arrested development. They haven’t grown much.

I think the average church member probably grows to be the equivalent of a five-year-old. You know, a five-year-old can do a lot of things. He can throw a baseball and run around and ride a tricycle and get into some mischief and talk a lot and make some profound demands on the adults in his life.

Yet, there are a whole lot of things he can’t do. And spiritually I think people grow to about that point. They learn the basics of Christianity. They know the Lord’s Prayer and most of the Apostles’ Creed and probably at least six of the Commandments and a few selected verses that aren’t too long to memorize.

But, they stop there, thinking that this will allow them to get by in their walk with the Lord ... they forget about growing at that point because they believe they have attained spiritual maturity. Theirs is a case of arrested development, and they don't recognize that reaching a spiritual plateau is not what the Bible calls us to do.

Lord, give me strength to move beyond shallow spirituality. Thank You for the means of growth -- Bible reading, prayer, faithful church attendance, obedience to your commandments -- that are available to me. Help me to actively use them. Show me anything in my life that may be holding me back from growing in You.

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN MATURE SPIRITUALLY.