A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Sunday, August 25, 2024.
For the “Live in Church” audio of this message, select here.
If you haven’t already heard, my lovely bride and I have a new family member. We had prayed for a young kitty to replace our beloved Harry, and last weekend, we picked up Oliver (nicknamed Ollie), a four-month-old Siberian mixed kitty with a brown tabby color. We found him at a local PetSmart a week before we adopted him. He is cute, friendly, chatty and a little rambunctious. Of course, he’s rambunctious as a kitten should be. And he’s adorable.
We were told that Ollie liked canned food and would eat just about anything. We already had adult cat food in the house for our other cat, Charlie, so we decided to let Ollie try some. He absolutely loved the food and devoured it quickly. He has a very good appetite, and while he could most likely enjoy a nutritional kitten diet, we’re going to run with the adult diet for now.
It’s important to pay attention to your cat’s diet because it provides optimal nutrition for a healthy lifestyle and long life. When you take on a new family member, you do need to pay attention to how much your overall food budget is going to play out. It can have an impact on your own diet, and what is spent at the grocery store hopefully spurs on the best habits for everyone in the household to have a healthy diet.
So, how is your own diet? It’s always a good idea to evaluate what you eat and how much nutrition you are getting. Have you ever followed the Atkins Diet, or the Scarsdale Diet, or the Paleo Diet? There are many choices out there, but here’s a new one to consider. It has to do with your spiritual feeding habits. Let’s refer to it as The Christian Diet.
How is it going with your Christian diet? What are you taking in for your spiritual food? Is it rich in nutrition, or is it more like eating junk food?
We can all relate to what we eat on a regular basis, and I like how Paul uses food as a way of describing to his audience, the Corinthian church, at their level of understanding pertaining to God’s Word. Here’s a hint…it wasn’t very flattering.
1 Corinthians 3:1-4 NIV
1 Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
This assertion by Paul is based upon the realization of a serious division within the Corinthian church. He spoke to the members with terms that they could understand. His effort to teach the members a little more than the good news of Jesus had to be disappointing to him because the people he was speaking to were very immature. They were not just babes in Christ—they were like infants who could only receive milk for food. That’s why Paul said that they were not ready for solid food. They were believers in Jesus but they were immature in a number of areas:
1.) They were focused on matters of the flesh.
Believers in Jesus will struggle when the focus is, plain and simple, not on Jesus. The focus that hampers their growth is on everything else aside from Jesus. These are worldly influences that promote sinful practices. Paul found them guilty because their sinful nature was evident—it was out in the open.
If you look at our world today, I have seen evidence all over social media of the failings of people who are supposed to be followers of Jesus, and yet their sinful nature is out in the open for observation. It’s almost as if these perpetrators are trying to get attention as if they’re on a reality show. It’s all about the flesh and not at all about faith. Immature believers who have no shame will reveal who they really are:
James 1:7-8 NIV
7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
If you’re divided in your thoughts between God and the world, the world always wins. It will entice you to disregard the presence of the Holy Spirit.
2.) They’re jealous of others (v. 3).
When the focus is not on Jesus, it’s not hard to see how the attention to others can further detract from the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jealousy was seen by Paul because of the words people were sharing about one another. They were letting their emotions about others get the better of them. Jealousy is not about helping one get better or achieving more. In fact, it detracts from Jesus and reflects pettiness.
Of the items we’re covering that reflect fleshly behavior, I have seen firsthand how jealousy and envy derail any semblance of unity and productivity within the body of Christ. Jealousy and envy are due to discontent and resenting someone or something because of their status, possessions or popularity. Anything that robs from the focus of Jesus or the positive impact of the Holy Spirit, relationships within the body of Christ can be fake and superficial. Our service for Jesus Christ should always be about truth and authenticity. The flesh is always about self-focus and disdains truth and righteousness.
Jealousy is indeed a very big deal. It can, in fact, lead to greater fleshliness:
James 3:14-16 ESV
14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 15 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
Our flesh may produce outward behaviors that are readily seen as unacceptable, but jealousy and envy are quieter in nature but just as devastating as outward sin.
1 John 3:15 NKJV
Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
I hope that you can see that an unhealthy, or even a non-existent spiritual diet does little or nothing to build up the believer in Jesus Christ. In fact, it has degenerative qualities.
3.) They’re argumentative (v. 3).
Immature believers can be argumentative. Not for the sake of trying to expand our thinking as the Bereans did (Acts 17:17), but its more about being right and disregarding the point of view of others. It is rooted in arrogance and self-focus.
1 Samuel 2:3 NIV
“Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.”
The modern day thinking for many today is to not take responsibility for one’s own actions. It is easier to shame others, throw out insults, and stand firmly on the need to be right even when it is apparent that they are wrong.
Shames, insults and the need to be right. This behavior will most certainly push people away from the offender.
Romans 12:3 ESV
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
4.) They elevate human leaders as their focus.
Let’s look at this portion of the passage for additional insight:
1 Corinthians 3:4 NIV
For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, ” I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
The Corinthians were referring to Paul and Apollos as their leaders rather than recognizing that they needed to put their faith in Jesus. This is another sign of immaturity for the believer. There is a lack of understanding in what it takes to grow and mature in faith. Sure, it’s cool to recognize the good things that Paul and Apollos did, but Paul makes it clear that the focus is not to remain on human beings, but on that of God Himself:
1 Corinthians 3:5-9 NIV
5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.
Whatever the reasons are for a believer in Jesus to be distracted from Jesus, it essentially refers to an immature believer with a poor diet in the knowledge of God’s Word. Peter was trying to steer the Corinthians back to the basics when it came to their object of faith—and that is Jesus Christ:
1 Corinthians 3:10-11 NIV
10 Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
The Christian Diet is a healthy diet that consists of the believer taking in healthy portions of God’s Word on a daily basis as reliance on the Holy Spirit provides wisdom and understanding. These are the “nutrients” necessary for growth and maturity in Jesus Christ.
Let’s use poetic license to make this our definition of a healthy Christian diet.
Matthew 5:6 NLT
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied.
Now I want to refer to another reference to food and drink in Scripture that speaks to what Jesus provides for us foundationally in a healthy relationship with Him.
We’re going to pick up where Jesus had just fed the 5,000 men plus women and children in the land of Galilee just before Passover. He had a number of people following Him because of the miracles He had performed, but they were following Him more out of curiosity and wanted to see more of what He could do. When they found him across the Sea of Galilee at Capernaum, Jesus spoke to them:
John 6:26-34 NLT
26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”
28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”
30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”
Jesus knew the hearts of those who were pursuing Him. First of all, unlike the dialogue between Paul and the Corinthians, a number of those pursuing Jesus were not yet believers.
John 2:24-25 NIV
24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.
With the knowledge that Jesus knows every one of us, it would be appropriate for anyone who is curious about Jesus to do so because you have a genuine desire to get to know who He is.
You are not to do it because someone tells you to do so, or because you want to fit in with another group of people by doing so, or to expect Him to give you something as if you were in a quid pro quo relationship.
You do it because you understand the love of Jesus in the midst of your efforts to learn more about Him.
Jesus meets those who understand the words shared here with the crowd in Capernaum by making the declaration of who He is. It’s not about being fed more food or having drinks or even seeing more miracles. He is the answer for those who hunger and thirst for Him.
John 6:35-40 NLT
35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. 37However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”
The Christian Diet is not based upon physical eating and drinking (although we can make the case that we need to focus on our bodies as temples for the Holy Spirit as noted in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This Christian diet is all about having a heart’s desire for Jesus and learning more and more about Him every day. He is our bread of life, and He is our living water.
Matthew 4:4 ESV
But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
John 4:14 ESV
“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Remember His words…whoever goes to Him will never be hungry again, and whoever believes in Him will never be thirsty. His words line up with the gospel message that we know and experience as believers:
1 Timothy 2:3-6 NET (New English Translation)
3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, 4since he wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, revealing God’s purpose at his appointed time.
Reflect on these words and decide if you need to change your spiritual diet. There’s no better diet than the Christian Diet. Jesus is the bread of life and the living water. There’s nothing better than these.
You’ll never be hungry or thirsty again if you believe in Jesus.
Copyright © 2024 Melvin Gaines
Melvin Gaines 