Spiritual Mentors
“For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” -Hebrews 5:13-14
Here Paul speaks of spiritual maturity, and tells of those that are to be considered spiritual babies. Just as Jesus told Nicodemus that a man must be born again, so too much we go through many analogous growing processes as well.
One of the first things that babies need is food to grow. (Or perhaps, more accurately, drink, as in milk.) Just as we wouldn’t expect a baby to be able to get up on its own strength, and feed itself, so too are new believers in the Lord.
When we are first saved, (and for some of us who have matured very slowly, our spiritual infancy can last many years), we need someone to help guide us into truth. Like babies, we are unable to do three things that mature Christians can do:
1.) We don’t have the ability to stand up and walk around. (We need someone to help us understand the will of God, and where to go on our spiritual walk with the Lord.)
2.) We are unable to distinguish what is actually nutritious food, and what is not. (We don’t know what books or messages are good sound doctrine, and which are false teachers.)
3.) Even if we are pointed to the right food, we don’t always have the ability to eat it under our own strength. (We may sense vaguely that the Lord is trying to teach us a specific lesson with a Bible verse or sermon, but we need help in understanding spiritual things.)
In these three things, it is necessary to have another feed us spiritually. In our Christian walk, as with babies, we are very dependent on others to get us off on the right foot.
And what if the parent is bad or neglectful? The baby’s health will suffer, and it may not develop properly. Likewise, as much as we hate to admit it, when we are new believers, we are dependent on others for sustenance until we can get enough strength to find God’s truth on our own.
If it seems an evil thing for a mother to not take care of her baby, so too is it an evil thing for a pastor or evangelist to neglect to care for his/her converts. The apostle Paul viewed some of his disciples, (such as Timothy or Onesimus) as sons. And so too ought we to view our Christian walk: if we are new believers, to find someone to disciple us as a father or mother, and if we have a new convert, to take care of them as a dear child.
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” -Acts 20:28
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