Therefore, leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of instruction about washings and laying on of hands, and about the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment (Hebrews 6:1-2 NASB).

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Do you have memories of elementary school? What were your favorite parts? For many, it was recess! Others may remember “specials” - PE, music, art. Did you love learning to read or were you fascinated by science? Do you have memories of your Kindergarten or first grade classrooms or teachers? I think I can almost smell the paper, crayons, and books of those rooms. I have fond memories – though I was accused of being a teacher’s pet at times. From an early age I wanted to become a teacher like one of those favorite elementary teachers.  

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But, as much as I loved elementary school – and dedicated some of my adult life to going back to teach there – it is not a place to repeat over and over. We grow up and mature. Can you imagine a teenager sitting in Kindergarten? While it may be fun for a season, there is a time we must move on and grow up.

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The writer of Hebrews has just written in Chapter 5 about the immature believer versus the mature. The immature is still only wanting to drink milk when he should be ready to move on to solid food. Remember the phrase “practice makes perfect”? Well, Hebrews 5:14 alludes to that, saying that “solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” Here the focus is on training to discern good and evil. Did you ever consider that may take practice? This is a practice – pressing toward maturity – a growing.

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Today’s verse begins with “therefore.” Remember, that always means we must look back to see what it is “there for.” The writer is referring to his previous statements about solid food and growing in maturity and discernment. So, now we need to think about the next thing – it's time to leave the basics behind. It’s time to press on to maturity.

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The writer isn’t saying that the foundation is not important. We must have a solid foundation in the gospel. We need to know that Jesus alone paid the price for our sins. We need to repent – or turn away from our old ways of doing things and our sins and dead works – to accept His gift by faith. This is part of a firm foundation. We must know that we are deeply loved sons and daughters of the King – we have a new identity.  

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There are other teachings that the writer of Hebrews uses as examples of the elementary – baptism (washing), prayer (laying on of hands), resurrection, and judgement.  Again, these are important, just as learning the alphabet is important or basic addition is foundational, but we don’t stay there. We move on to learn to write sentences, paragraphs, and then essays. We use basic math facts to later build upon one another to create complex equations capable of sending rockets into orbit. We press on to maturity.

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I love the way The Message version paraphrases these verses:  

“So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on ‘salvation by self-help’ and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!”

Where are you?  

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If you are still exploring who Jesus is or are a brand-new believer, you are absolutely in the right place by focusing on the foundational truths. You need a strong foundation!  

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But, if you’ve known Jesus for a while, and you’ve been baptized, are you still just circling around the things that you know or are you pressing on? Are you getting on with it? This message in Hebrews is meant for those who are stuck rehashing the basics when they should have moved on!

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While we never want to lose sight of our foundation – and we want to be sharing that foundation with others – we need to keep building. Have you ever seen a building where only the foundation has been poured, and then it’s sat that way for a long time? You begin to wonder what’s going on! Buildings are supposed to be built on top of foundations.

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So, how do we press on and build? There are spiritual disciplines – formation practices – that take us beyond the basics. Consider how you are growing in prayer, generosity, solitude, fasting, confession, communion, Sabbath.  

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To counteract drift, we must be in drive – these verses echo the same theme: press on. Spend a few minutes asking the Holy Spirit to show you where you’ve been stuck in elementary things and, most importantly, where He wants you to press on to maturity by building in a new practice. Let’s get on with it!