But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready. (ESV)

The words of today's passage come from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, addressing multiple issues and problems in the church. Basically, he received a letter with all these questions about how to handle people’s issues within the church. Think of it as the infamous church email where everyone writes in to complain about how John Doe isn’t doing the things they think he should be doing as a church-goer.

Paul speaks to the issues, and in chapter 3, he says that the believers in Corinth are like dealing with kids – with the amount of time you have been at this, you should be a lot further along! Paul is speaking to something that is evident throughout our world: people are meant to grow.  

I would make the argument that, in our Christian walk, we sometimes think we are going to get this big revelation of everything at some point, kind of like a Jesus matrix download. We don’t see this anywhere else in the world, though. We don’t see seeds planted and then - poof - a full-on flower pops up. A moose calf isn’t born with the strength and size of a full-grown bull moose. Our kids, as much as they think they do, don’t know what an adult knows. Yet somehow, we think this is going to be the case in our journey with Christ.  

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And other times, we can get frustrated with someone who we are walking alongside for the same reason. We think, why don’t you get this? It’s so simple. Maybe it’s a mentee, a child, or a spouse. Just because something has clicked for us, doesn't necessarily mean the person we're discipling is going to get it quite yet. Have you been force-feeding steak to someone who needs Gerber green peas?

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So, what do we do with this? First, let’s start with our own walk: Ask yourself, what is one thing you once believed that God has expanded upon and shown you a bigger picture?  

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Second, we need to remember what Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: Love others as well as you love yourself. These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” (Matt. 22:37-40, MSG). If we aren’t loving people as we walk their journey with them, we are missing the most important and most critical thing – to love them as Christ does, to show them that no matter where they are mentally, physically, and spiritually, they are made in the image of God and they are loved. Do that and let God do the rest of the growing.  

God, you are so good, you know where we are at, and you love us unconditionally right where we are. God, as we are walking with the people you bring into our life, I pray we can see them in the light you see us in, too. Amen.