What's Under Your Mask? (Part 1)

There are times where the truth can be something that is hard to hear because it convicts us or strikes a nerve within us or perhaps it is simply something that we don’t want to hear in the first place. As Hebrews 4:12 reminded us a few weeks ago, God’s Word is truth. God’s Word has the authority to tell us what is right and wrong. What we should do and what we shouldn’t do. Because of this, God’s Word has the power and right to change the way we live and the way that we think… Yet, there are many who reject this idea. Instead of allowing the Word to change them, they desire to change the Word. What is the result whenever this happens? In one word, we drift. We might still do some nice things on the outside. We might show up to Sunday school or worship service. We might volunteer or help someone in need. But the minute we think that we can coast or not care about the Word of God changing us from the inside to the outside, we demonstrate that we don’t really get it in the first place. See, it can be so easy to wear a mask. To put on the fake smile. To act the “church” way but deep down, it’s a show. It’s an act. It’s fake. You’ve seen people “just playing the game” haven’t you? How can we tell? It’s one way at church, but whenever service gets out and it’s time to eat out… it’s a different story. Did you know that historically, Sunday afternoons are whenever restaurant workers report receiving the lowest amount of tips? This is coming primarily from the “church” crowd! What an awful reputation of claiming to have received generous grace from Jesus but not sharing generously with others! We play the game whenever we act one way at church or through text messaging, but we act a totally different way at the basketball game or on Facebook. We put on a mask and the danger of this is that we can fool ourselves into thinking that we can also deceive God.

In CS Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, the Last Battle, there is a scene that represents heaven and it’s a great reunion of the beloved characters throughout the series with one exception… Susan, the oldest sister, isn’t there. There is discussion about why she isn’t there even though she had been a key figure in the beginning of the story.

“ ‘My sister Susan,’ answered Peter shortly and gravely, ‘is no longer a friend of Narnia.’

‘Yes,’ said Eustace, ‘and whenever you try to get her to come and talk about Narnia or do anything about Narnia, she says, “What wonderful memories you have! Fancy you still thinking about all those funny games we used to play when we were children.” ’ ”

Susan has moved onto other things. Friend, Lewis is sharing with us a character that we know all too well. The person who looks like a believer on the outside but deep down, they are not that person. A person who came to church and even served in various capacities for a period of time, but who turned away. Why would this person turn away? Why do people who come to church reject Jesus? Over the next 3-4 weeks, we’re going to look at this difficult subject as we unpack the truth from the Word of God in Hebrews 5:11-6:20. These are going to be hard messages because they’re going to convict and challenge us to not give into the temptation to drift away from Jesus and replace Him with something else. Today as we begin this, let the Word of God be central in our mind. Maybe you are the person that the preacher of Hebrews will call out today. Maybe you know someone who is. Maybe you are one who has yet to respond to Jesus as Lord. Whoever you are, let the Word change you today because it is true.

Hebrews 5:11–14 CSB

11 We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand. 12 Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food. 13 Now everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced with the message about righteousness, because he is an infant. 14 But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.

The preacher of Hebrews stops his deep dive into the priesthood of Jesus Christ for a period of time and calls some of this church out for why he has to stop in the first place. It isn’t because he is a boring preacher. It isn’t because the congregation isn’t smart. It isn’t because they don’t have enough time… It is because they are too lazy to understand. They are not mature enough to handle the depth of Scripture. They don’t care. They want their milk. FBC Salem family, may this never be said of us… may we never get to a point where we crave the milk and reject the meat of God’s Word. This is in love, but there are some here who are this person. There are some who have been coming to church for years and it’s long been time for you to grow up and you’re still on milk. How can that be true? Because there’s 300 of us here. Don’t waste another day with your mask on. Stop playing the game. Your brothers and sisters need you to grow. Let’s ask God to guide us as we unpack this text and grow in our spiritual walk today.

Check Your Hearing (11-12)

As we get older, our hearing usually gets progressively worse. How do we know this to be true? The older we get, the more we have to have things repeated! What’s interesting, though, is that if you have children, you know that they don’t always listen either. You have genuine hearing loss that impacts millions, but there’s something that impacts billions of humans around the world and that is selective hearing. You’ve never been one of its victims, have you? You’re having a conversation and you’re disinterested but instead of backing out of the conversation you nod your head but mentally you are disengaged. You aren’t listening. Maybe your parents have asked you to do something and you pretend not to hear not because you didn’t hear them but because you didn’t really want to do what they told you to do so you pretend to not hear in the first place. Because we don’t always hear things, sometimes messages have to get repeated over and over and over. So far in the book of Hebrews we have seen this type of message be repeated time and time again. Let’s look at this repeated message

Hebrews 2:1 CSB

1 For this reason, we must pay attention all the more to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away.

Hebrews 3:1 CSB

1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession.

Hebrews 3:8 CSB

8 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness,

Hebrews 4:1 CSB

1 Therefore, since the promise to enter his rest remains, let us beware that none of you be found to have fallen short.

Hebrews 4:14 CSB

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession.

Pay attention, consider Jesus, hold fast our confession, don’t harden your heart. Why the need to repeat this message over and over? Because of what we find in Hebrews 5:11

Hebrews 5:11 CSB

11 We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand.

This congregation needs to hear more about the greatness of Jesus’ priesthood and Jesus’ sacrifice in their place and the implications that He has on their present lives… but the problem that they have is that they are too lazy. The literal Greek word carries with it the idea that they are slow to understand or dull or numb to what is being said. Hebrews 6 contains one of the strongest warning passages in all of Scripture, but before the warning in Hebrews 6 there is the conviction in Hebrews 5 that leads to the warning. The reason that some in this congregation aren’t growing. The reason that some are falling away and no longer attending the gathering of the saints, it’s all because some are too lazy to understand. They aren’t listening. They need milk - not solid food. If we fail to listen to Jesus, we demonstrate our spiritual laziness.

If the diagnosis is that they have a hearing problem and aren’t understanding what is being said, let’s dig a little deeper and see why they have this problem in the first place. Is the problem due to the pastor? Not in the text. Is the problem due to the Sunday school curriculum? Not in the text. Is the problem due to the songs that they sing during congregational worship? Not in the text. What is in the text? They should be teaching others but instead they are in need of a teacher because they’re still on a diet of milk. What is the problem here, church? Some who attended this church came to church for years… but they never grew up. They were still toddlers. We love toddlers, don’t we? Honestly! Over the last year or so it’s been such a blessing to see the Lord bring life into this congregation and to have a nursery full of little boys and girls and to know that there are more on the way. Some churches say that they love toddlers until they make a noise - not here. Toddlers make noises, we all made noises. Those noises are a sign of a healthy, growing church and those noises might distract someone around you, but parents, know this: they’re not going to bother me one bit - keep bringing your kids to church!

We love toddlers, but it would be difficult to raise a toddler who never grew out of the toddler stage their entire life, wouldn’t it? There comes a point where it’s time for that toddler to grow up to the next stage because a 10 year old isn’t a 2 year old… but sometimes they act like it. This is the same thing for us spiritually speaking. We are called to grow, not only from a physical standpoint but to grow spiritually and become more like Jesus Christ as His followers. These people had received the good news

Hebrews 4:2 CSB

2 For we also have received the good news just as they did. But the message they heard did not benefit them, since they were not united with those who heard it in faith.

But, they weren’t being changed by the good news. They weren’t progressing in their spiritual walk. Why were they not growing? Because they hadn’t fully understood the good news. The good news hadn’t changed them. A Gospel that doesn’t change you is a false gospel. The problem that this congregation is facing is that they are immature. They have received the good news and not been changed by it. They should be teaching the good news to others but instead they are in need of being led by the hand by someone else. They are spiritually immature! Spiritually immature people prefer fads over facts, comfort over conviction, entertainment over edification, and being spoon-fed over being Spirit-filled.

They put on a mask on Sunday morning and played the game well… but they weren’t changed by the Gospel. They were stuck on a diet of milk. They required someone else to do everything for them instead of participating and serving themselves. Does this sound familiar to you? Does this not sound like the American church?

We want stuff to get done, but we don’t want to do it… that’s someone else’s job. We want to grow in our walk with the Lord, but we don’t want to put in the work to grow our spiritual disciplines each day that it requires. Why do we struggle with this? Because we’re a microwave society - we want instant results. But this isn’t the Christian walk. Maturation takes time. You don’t go to a newborn and give them a sirloin steak because that’s going to be dangerous and a waste. You give them milk. Milk is needed for infants. This is why teachers are called in places like 1 Timothy 3:6 to not be a recent convert. We start out our Christian lives as infants but as we grow, we are expected to change our appetite as well, just like a child does. A teenager who only drinks milk isn’t going to receive all that they need - they need solid food! They need some steak!

Whenever you and I first were saved, someone taught us the basics to the Christian life and we’ll see these next Sunday in Hebrews 6:1-2. Repentance from works, faith in Jesus, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Those things are crucial and we remind ourselves of them often… but there are deeper truths in Scripture as well that we must study in Scripture and apply to our lives. Think of an advanced math class that you’ve taken. For some that is a form of calculus for others it is geometry or algebra 2. How did you get to that level of math? Only by first learning something more basic. Before you could do calculus, you had to know algebra. Before you could do algebra, you had to learn how to multiply. Before you learned how to multiply, you had to learn how to add. You built up from a solid foundation. This is how it works in our spiritual lives. We listen to the Word. We respond to the Gospel in faith. And we continue to mature and grow as we study it and are led by the Holy Spirit. Before we go further, we have to look at our ears. Are we hearing the Word? If the answer is yes, then we have to ask are we responding to the Word and are we growing in the Word? This requires us to, second,

Check Your Heart (13-14)

One of the problems that we have as humans is that we have a sinful heart and this automatically sets us at odds with God’s Word. We are created in God’s image, but sin distorts that image. We can’t look inside our heart to figure out what to do, we have to look first to God’s Word. If we have heard God’s Word, especially those of us who have been in church for the majority of our lives, we might think that we’re fine because of our works or our church attendance or our actions. At least we do this or at least we’ve heard that… at least we’re not like this person or that group. The problem that many have is not being lazy in the sense that they don’t hear the Word because they never come to church in the first place… but that they are lazy in the sense that they don’t apply it to their lives and live it out. It’s a heart problem, many times. How can we tell if we have a heart problem? Baseball season is about to start and even if you’re not really familiar with baseball, you likely know that there are 4 bases on a baseball field. After you hit the ball, you run to first base. If you hit it into the gap in the outfield, you might run to second base. If you’re really fast you might run to third base… and then the whole goal is to eventually run home and whenever you do, you score a run. It might look good on your baseball card to get to first and second base a whole lot, but your team needs you to get home because that’s how you win the game.

As we think about spiritual maturity, one of the best ways to think of it is in terms of a baseball field. Whenever you are saved by grace through faith in Christ, you are a new creation and given a new heart and you’re at first base. Not everyone is saved - not everyone gets to first base, some people strike out, others fly out, some ground out… you made it to first base, you’re saved, this is good news and cause for some celebration! But this isn’t where you stop. You’re trying to score. Whenever you’re saved, this is where your Christian life begins. There are other things for us to do as we seek to accomplish God’s purpose for our lives. The data that we have from churches and Christians alike is that most Christians get to second base in their spiritual maturity. Not only are they saved but they get to second base and they’ll attend a church and possibly even come to Wednesday night Bible study or Sunday night service. This is where most Christians stop. Attendance. Consumption. But nothing more… Very few get to third base which involves the personal component of our faith as we not only study God’s Word at church but also at home and we serve within the context of the local church. But even fewer come home and accomplish Christ’s purpose for each one of us and that is to be a disciple-making-disciple. Our purpose is to know Christ and to make Him known to others! This requires us to mature - see, maturity isn’t about physical age… You and I know some older people who are not as mature as we’d think they’d be and you and I know many younger people who are mature far beyond their earthly years! If you weren’t able to be here on Wednesday night, go back and listen to Will’s testimony and you’ll be blown away by what God has done and is doing in the life of my friend.

Why do most Christians stop at 2nd base? Because of what we see in verse 13. So many are tempted to live on milk alone. For a period of time, it is good to be on milk. Milk helps us grow, especially whenever we’re young. Whenever you’re a new Christian, you need to be on milk and you need to understand the fundamentals of the faith and grow steadily. But you can’t live on it alone. You can’t be spoon-fed everything. You have to own your faith and this requires you to study the Scriptures for yourself and to serve faithfully and worship with God’s family consistently. Thomas Schreiner shared it like this, “There is no idea here that we can be confident of the salvation of those who remain ‘spiritual infants’ for years and years.” If you’re stuck at what appears to be second base and you’ve been there for years and years and you’re still on a diet of milk… you might not have ever reached first base in the first place. If we’re not maturing, it might be because we have a fundamental heart problem and we haven’t been saved in the first place. In other words, to willingly remain an infant and to never desire to advance along the base paths is a sign that there is a heart problem as we haven’t been changed by Christ and we don’t understand His message of righteousness.

This message is harsh and its convicting for us to hear and think about in light of our own lives and walk with the Lord… but the preacher of Hebrews doesn’t leave his audience without hope. The more that we draw near to God, as has been the reminder throughout the first 5 chapters of this book, the more that we leave the milk and grab onto the meat. Our hearts like to hear messages that lift us up and refuse to convict us of our sin and need for help and salvation… but the more that we grow in our understanding of Scripture, the more that we realize that we desperately need Scripture each day. As the hymn says, I need thee every hour - we need our God every second! We need more of Christ and less of us to paraphrase John 3:30

John 3:30 CSB

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

The more that we realize how sinful we truly are and how gracious God truly is in sending Christ, the more we will grow spiritually. And as we grow spiritually, that newfound understanding not only impacts the way that we think but it impacts the way that we act. We are able to discern between good and evil and right and wrong. We look around our world today and we live in a society where everything is gray - it’s all permissible - it’s all fine… but Biblically, we know that there are some things that are black and white. We need discernment to know where to stand and what to do and this will only happen if we grow in our understanding of God’s Word. If we have a changed heart. If we can tell the difference between a good message and God’s message. This is a mark of spiritual maturity and it requires us to check our heart and to make sure that it is tuned to sing God’s praise - not boast in our own.

Check Your Hands (9)

As we check our heart, we reflect back to the good news of verse 9 from last week. As we think about the temptation to put on a spiritual mask and play the church game, there can be this strange feeling that our obedience or our checking off of boxes is what in fact saves us.

Striving for spiritual maturity is not an option in the Christian life.

Douglas J. Moo

The reason that this isn’t an option is because Christ commands us to grow! In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells His followers this

Luke 9:23 CSB

23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

We don’t just take up our cross when its convenient. We don’t just obey whenever it’s the easy thing to do. Part of maturing to be more like Jesus is understanding that even when we don’t feel like doing what is right, we still must do what is right!

Faith in Christ is the root – obedience for Christ is the fruit

We are not saved by our works and our obedience. Those things could never save us as Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us. Faith is what saves as Romans 4 tells us clearly! Faith is the root and obedience is the natural fruit that comes from that type of life. Obedience matters greatly because a saved heart is an obedient heart.

We do not obey to be saved, we obey Christ because we are saved

Check your actions today. Are you living out Hebrews 5:9? Are you obeying Christ and what He commands? This is a sign of spiritual maturity or a mark of spiritual immaturity. As we take off our mask and examine our lives in light of God’s Word, we have to look at our head, heart, and hands and make sure that we have responded correctly to the Gospel. In order to do this, let’s ask ourselves a couple of questions together!

Diagnostic Questions

In light of this warning passage and the danger of staying in our comfort zone and continuing in a diet of milk and not moving to meat, we have to see where we’re at today. Let’s look at a couple of questions together and make sure that we are all responding to God’s word correctly and, if we are saved, that we are growing in Christlikeness today.

What is Your Spiritual Diet?

We see a lot of food discussion in Scripture and some of these passages have been turned into various diets of sorts. There is the Daniel Fast as people will fast for 21 days and eat a primarily vegetarian diet of plant based fruits and vegetables and lots of water. In the book of Acts, by God’s grace, Peter has a vision of a buffet of foods coming from heaven and the voice of God says that he is to take and eat. Now those words, take and eat, might cause us to squirm a little bit because those are the words of the enemy in the Garden of Eden - take and eat of the fruit… but these are the same words used by Jesus in the Lord’s Supper in regard to His blood and body given for us. Because of Jesus, all things are now considered clean and its a matter of conscience as to what we eat. The New Testament doesn’t give us a physical diet that we must partake of - but it does give us a spiritual diet that we must adhere to. We are called to grow from milk to meat. Where do you fall on that scale?

Milk isn’t a bad thing to have in your spiritual diet - in fact, we all need to be reminded of the basics of the Gospel each day. We must drink that milk… but in order to grow, we also need solid food. We need the weighty things of Scripture too. Are you the person content with the status quo and business as usual so long as it doesn’t get you outside of your comfort zone? Are you content drinking milk each day and sitting in the same pew you’ve sat in for years and living for Jesus for 2 hours a week. Or are you desiring to grow and fulfill God’s purpose for your life? What is your spiritual diet? Are you growing? If the answer is no, then you need to check your heart and ask yourself question #2…

How has Jesus Changed You Since He Saved You?

If you are a Christian, you are a new creation. Romans 6:4 tells us that we are buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in newness of life. Is this your story? For some of you, it’s not. Some of you are the person in Hebrews 5:11 and you are not a genuine follower of Jesus and the reason why is because you have never been changed by Jesus. A Jesus who hasn’t changed you is a Jesus who hasn’t saved you. Jesus changes those whom He saves. If your life looks the exact same today as it did 10 years ago, friend, you’re in trouble and this message is a 2000 year old one for YOU to wake up and respond in repentance and faith to Christ. If you are saved, and if you have been changed, look at how Jesus has changed you. Look at the peace that He has provided for you. Look at the strength He has imparted to you as you trust more and more on Him as Proverbs 3:5-6 instructs us to do. Understand that He changes you to look more like His Son and those changes aren’t always easy or fun… but they’re purposeful and productive and for your ultimate good.

The Local Church is God’s Plan for Spiritual Maturity. What is Your Role in the Local Church?

Be Active

The book of Hebrews is written to a local church. There were some in this church, as we’ll get to in May or June in chapter 10 who were tempted to forsake gathering together. They weren’t active. They were by default, inactive. They showed up when it was convenient and nothing better to do. Whenever this is your attitude toward church, you will likely not grow or mature. Whenever you have to get spoon-fed milk by someone else year after year, you probably won’t grow. We are called to be active in the local church and this starts with coming to church but coming isn’t the only thing that matters in our maturation process, we also need to

Belong

The church is compared to a family and a body multiple times. Think of your body whenever you were a child - as you got older, your body began to grow but it didn’t always grow at the same rate. Maybe your upper body grew really quickly and your legs lagged behind, maybe it was the other way around. While you grew, though, your body held together because it was all connected. Whenever you’d fall down and hurt your left leg and you’d limp, your right leg would carry the weight. This is the picture of the local church. We’re a body, we’re a family. Some of us are more mature than others, but we’re all gifted uniquely by God to belong together and to worship together. This means that if we’re going to grow, we need to belong with one another. This requires us all!

Commit to Membership

Church membership is something that some people think isn’t Biblical in the slightest way because they often say that we’re all Christians and it doesn’t matter which church I’m a part of as long as I have a relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. This is true - being a member of a church doesn’t save anyone… but those who are saved should be members of local churches. Why? Because of spiritual maturity. Because nearly every single letter in the New Testament is addressed not to people… but to churches. These churches took care of their own people. These churches had elders or pastors who shepherded their people and they knew their sheep well. Without membership, there is no accountability. You can come and go as you please and that is the easiest way to grow lazy as Hebrews 5:11 warns us against. If you want to grow, you often need accountability. That is what you gain with membership. You gain a family who is there to support you. You gain brothers and sisters to be there for you when life knocks you down. You also are depended upon to contribute, not just consume. To mature, we need to commit to church membership and in love, some of you this morning need to step up and take this step. You’ve been coming for years in some cases and you’re a dedicated attender - take the next step in discipleship and maturation and commit to membership.

Serve

As you are active, belong, and commit to membership, we also know that God gifts us not to sit but to serve. As you think of all the ways that God has gifted you, how are you using those gifts? It’s easy to consume and receive… but God gifts us to contribute and serve within the context of the local church. Serving outside of the church is wonderful! But serving within His church is where we grow tremendously. We put our masks down as we serve and get our hands dirty with one another to our left and to our right.

The truth is sometimes hard to hear but it’s important nonetheless. We need to grow. Christ created us for His purposes and He didn’t create us to stay at first base. He created us to glorify Him. He created us to obey His commands. He created us to follow Him daily. As you look underneath your mask, what do you see? Are you genuinely hearing God’s Word? Are you responding to God’s Word in faith and obedience? Or are you just playing the game? If that is you or if you’ve never placed your faith in Christ as Lord, His call is simply this: Come. Bring Him your sorrow and pain and pick up His salvation and purpose for your life. Come to Jesus in repentance and faith and be changed forevermore.

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