The worldly Christians

“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4)

Are you a Christian? Who is a Christian?

The word “Christian” is mentioned three times in the New Testament (Acts 11:26, 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). In a literal sense, it means ‘those who belong to a Christian party,’ or “Christ followers, believers.” In the Bible, the followers of Jesus Christ in Antioch were called “Christians” by unbelievers in Antioch as insult and degradation. They are so called because their words and actions resemble Jesus Christ. But nowadays, everybody who goes to church seems to be called a Christian. Instead of calling Christians who believe in Jesus Christ and are truly born again and follow Christ, those who are just religious or have high moral values are called Christians. One evangelist said: 'As a car just entering the garage doesn’t mean that it will be transformed, a person who goes to church doesn’t mean that s/he will become a Christian.’ In other words, becoming a member of the church, attending the church regularly, devoting to the work of the church doesn’t make us to become true Christians.

I want to take the time to reflect in the Word of God whether we are true Christians or not. Let us think about whether we are ‘worldly Christians’ or ‘spiritual mature Christians.’ We are going to be taught by the Word of God what kind of Christians should we be.

In 1 Corinthians 3:1, 3, when Apostle Paul writes the letter to the Corinthian church saints, he refers to them as “worldly” twice. Let’s think about who are worldly and who spiritual Christians are. Let’s have time to reflect on ourselves whether we are worldly or spiritual Christians. May we all be spiritual Christians and not worldly Christians anymore.

Look at 1 Corinthians 3:1 – “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ.” Apostle Paul tells the Corinthian church saints that he cannot address them as spiritual. The reason is because they are worldly. Who are the worldly here whom Paul is talking about? The term “worldly” originally means an unbeliever, but in today's text, it refers to a person whose faith is so immature and s/he is almost like that of an unbeliever. There are three ways in which Paul describes the worldly Christians who are like unbelievers.

First, the worldly Christians are like “mere infants.”

Look at 1 Corinthians 3:1 again: “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly--mere infants in Christ.” What is one of the characteristics of infants? They tend to be deceived well. This is what Paul says about spiritually immature infants in Ephesians 4:14: “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.” The worldly Christians who are almost like unbelievers are like infants who are easily tempted by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. And their faith of the heart is easily shaken by the wrong lessons and the wrong teachings that their ears are enticed. The reason is because there is no spiritual perfection of faith. Their faith is so weak that they are easily tempted and easily shaken. In the end, the worldly Christians are deceived like infants and fall into sinful temptations of the world to sin against God. What sins do they commit against God? Like the unbelievers of the world, they live as unbelievers do, in the futility of their thinking (Eph. 4:17). For example, having lost all sensitivity, they give themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more (v. 19).

Second, the worldly Christians eat "milk."

Look at 1 Corinthians 3:2 – “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” No mother feeds a newborn baby food or meat. The newborn babies are fed with breast milk or milk. It is because the newborn baby doesn’t have the ability to digest food or meat. How can the newborn baby chew meat with teeth? Likewise, the worldly Christians who are like the newborn infants should eat “milk” since they cannot eat sold food. Here the “milk” refers to all the basic doctrines taught in the Bible. The writer of Hebrews says it is the elementary teachings about Christ (Heb. 6:1). This can be said of faith at the elementary level. What do you think about someone has the elementary level of faith even though s/he has been going to church for 20 to 30 years? Shouldn't s/he finish six years of elementary school and then graduate from middle school, high school, university, and graduate school? In other words, if s/he has lived a long life of faith, s/he should have eaten God's Word steadily, his faith has been growing, and s/he should have mature faith by now. It's a serious problem because s/he is an adult physically but an infant spiritually. The worldly Christians need to be taught the elementary truth of God’s word (Heb. 5:12). Although they know the basic doctrine, they don’t know the deeper doctrines because they are slow to learn (v. 11). As a result, because of the lack of deep spiritual discernment, when Satan and this sinful world tempt them, the worldly Christians easily fall into temptation and sin against God because they can’t discern the good from evil.

Third, the worldly Christians break the unity of the church by jealousy and quarreling.

Look at 1 Corinthians 3:3-4 : “You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?” When Apostle Paul hears that among the Corinthian church saints some of them boast “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos” and forms a faction in jealousy and quarreling, and thus not keeping the unity of the church, he tells them they are worldly. Who are the worldly? They aren’t unbelievers but those who are being affected by corrupt nature. This is acting like mere men (v. 3) and following the not born again natural man's character. In a word, the worldly Christians are those who live according to the fleshly desires of the old nature before they believe in Jesus, rather than being led by the Holy Spirit. What is the works of the flesh? Look at Galatians 5:19-21: “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

There are so many worldly Christians now who live so much like unbelievers. There are so many worldly Christians who live in conformity with the world, pursuing the works of the flesh according to their old sinful habits, rather than being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit. There are so many worldly Christians who raise conflicts in the church, thinking about and following the things of the flesh, not only outside the church but also in the church. Therefore, the church, which is the body of the Lord, is becoming more and more transformed into a community of unbelievers who are no different from the world rather than becoming a spiritual community. That is why the church is being criticized by the people in this world.

What Christians should we be? We must be the spiritual ones (1 Cor. 3:1). Who are the spiritual ones? Originally, the spiritual people refer to Christians who have been born again by receiving the Holy Spirit. And Paul says four things about these spiritual Christians 1 Corinthians 2:6-16:

(1) The spiritual Christians are those who know and believe in the hidden wisdom of God that is Jesus Christ and His crucifixion of the cross.

(2) The spiritual Christians are those who know what God has bestowed upon them by grace. In other words, the mature Christians are those who know God’s gracious gift of eternal life and all the spiritual blessings that God has prepared for those who love Him.

(3) The spiritual Christians know the Holy Spirit’s spiritual teaching through His servant because they have spiritual discernment and also receive the work of God's Spirit.

(4) The spiritual Christians have the mind of Christ.

However, the meaning of “spiritual” in 1 Corinthians 3:1 is different from the one in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. We can summarize “spiritual” ones in 1 Corinthians 3: 1 in three ways:

(1) The spiritual ones are not unbelievers, but mature Christians.

Who are mature Christians? Those who know and believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Eph. 4:13) and are standing firm in their faith. So they aren’t being shaken by all the wrong teachings and cunning and craftiness of this world. As the believers who stand firm on the rock of God's Word, the spiritual Christians live holy lives apart from the world.

(2) The spiritual ones eat “solid food”.

Look at 1 Corinthians 3:2 – “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” No grown-up adult lives like a newborn baby with only breast milk or milk. The grown-up adults eat solid food and meat. What Paul says is that the spiritual Christians, or mature Christians, are at the spiritual level to eat solid food. What is the “solid food” here? (cf. Heb. 5:12, 14) Then who are the mature Christians who eat the solid food?

(a) The mature Christians are those who have experienced the word of righteousness (Heb. 5:13). In other words, the mature Christians are those perfect ones who are justified by believing in Jesus Christ and who are participating in Jesus’ sufferings in order to learn to obey like the Son of God Jesus did (vv. 8-9) and live righteous lives. .

(b) The mature Christians are those who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil (v. 14). The mature Christians are those who have spiritual discernment to discern between good and evil, holding onto good and avoiding every kind of evil (1 Thess. 5:21-22).

(d) The mature Christians are those who agree with one another and those who are perfectly united in mind and thought (1 Cor. 1:10). They never speak different words in envy and quarreling, and cause conflict that breaks the order and peace of the church with different mind and different thought. The mature Christians are controlled and led by the Holy Spirit in order to keep their unity of the Lord’s church. They don’t follow the desires of the flesh but follow the Spirit. And they bear the fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Gal. 5:22-23).

We should be spiritual Christians rather than worldly Christians. We should no longer to live a foolish Christian life that bears the sinful fruit of envy and quarreling, pursuing the work of flesh that is no different from unbelievers. Rather, we should get rid of the works of the infants who are being taught the elementary truths of God’s word but should be mature Christians, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Therefore, we should be able to eat solid food and to discern good from evil with our spiritual discernment, holding onto good and avoiding every kind of evil. In the meantime, we must keep the unity of the church as we are being led by the Holy Spirit and are bearing the fruit of the Spirit.