Some Christians never grow up because they stop pursuing God for themselves and settle for being spiritual consumers. Hebrews 5:11-14 rebukes believers who should have been teaching others but still needed someone to explain the basics. They were living on milk instead of solid food. The passage shows that spiritual maturity isn’t about how long you’ve been a Christian. Spiritual grown-ups study God’s Word, train themselves by putting it into practice, and help others grow.
Setting the Scene in Hebrews 5:11-14
Our series studies this passage before stepping back to the priesthood section that comes just before it. In the text itself, Hebrews 4:14-5:10 introduces Jesus as our great high priest, appointed by God in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 4:14-5:10). Melchizedek was the mysterious priest-king who blessed Abraham (Genesis 14:18-20) and who appears again in Psalm 110:4. The author clearly wants to explain how Jesus fulfills that ancient pattern.
But in verse 11, he stops. Before he can go deeper, he has to deal with a problem in his audience. This digression runs through Hebrews 6, and he finally returns to Melchizedek in chapter 7. In the previous lesson, we saw that God’s Word is alive and cuts to the heart (Hebrews 4:12-13). Here, the author shows what happens when believers stop letting it do its work. For a topical overview of maturity, see What Does Spiritual Maturity Look Like?
A Failure to Launch
In 2018, a story went viral about a 30-year-old man in New York whose parents took him to court to get him to move out. He paid no rent, did no chores, and ignored their written notices to leave. A judge finally ordered him out of the house. People laughed at the story, but the author of Hebrews might look at many churches and see the same thing: believers who have been in God’s house for years but have never launched.
The author begins with a frank diagnosis.
Hebrews 5:11 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand.
The problem wasn’t that the topic was too hard. The problem was the listeners. The Greek word behind the NIV’s phrase is nōthros, meaning sluggish or dull. It literally describes ears that have become lazy. The author uses the same word in Hebrews 6:12, where he urges them not to become lazy but to imitate those who inherit God’s promises. These believers hadn’t always been this way. They had become dull over time, like muscles that weaken from lack of use.
Old Enough to Teach
Next, the author compares where they are with where they should be.
Hebrews 5:12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!
By this time, they ought to have been teachers. The author doesn’t mean everyone should become a formal Bible teacher, since James warns that not many should (James 3:1). He means that mature believers should be able to explain their faith and help others grow. Instead, these believers needed a refresher course on the elementary truths of God’s word. The Greek word is stoicheia, which can refer to the letters of the alphabet. They needed to relearn their ABCs.
The New Testament uses the milk image in more than one way. Peter uses it positively, urging new believers to crave pure spiritual milk so they can grow (1 Peter 2:2). Milk isn’t bad. Every believer starts there. But Paul uses it as a rebuke for the Corinthians, who should have outgrown it (1 Corinthians 3:1-2). Hebrews uses it the same way. Milk is good for babies, but a grown adult living on a bottle is a sign that something has gone wrong.
Spiritual Grown-Ups Don’t Just Read, They Study
The author then explains the difference between milk and solid food.
Hebrews 5:13-14 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
An infant can’t feed himself; he waits for someone else to do it. In the same way, spiritual infants depend entirely on what others tell them about God. If your only spiritual nourishment comes from a 30-minute sermon on Sunday, you’re on a liquid diet. Solid food means digging into God’s Word for yourself.
Reading the Bible is like taking a scenic drive and enjoying the landscape. That’s good, and daily reading helps God’s Word sink in. Studying is like getting out of the car to read the historical markers. One helpful approach is inductive Bible study, which starts with the text instead of a conclusion. First, observe what the passage says. Second, interpret what it meant to its original audience. Third, apply it to your life today. The Bible was written to people in specific cultures thousands of years ago, but it was written for us too. This approach is called exegesis, drawing meaning out of the text, rather than eisegesis, reading our own ideas into it.
Spiritual Grown-Ups Don’t Just Study, They Apply
Notice that the goal of solid food isn’t just a full head. According to verse 14, the mature are those who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. The word for “trained” is gymnazō, from which we get “gymnasium.” The word for “constant use” is hexis, which refers to a settled habit built through practice. Maturity comes through repetition, like an athlete building strength one workout at a time.
Many Christians have been educated beyond their level of obedience. They know a lot, but their lives look the same. James warns about this.
James 1:22-24 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
Knowledge without obedience produces pride, not maturity. The fruit of solid food is discernment, the ability to recognize good and evil in real life. That’s why the very next chapter warns that it isn’t enough to merely taste the goodness of God’s word (Hebrews 6:4-6). Christians interpret that difficult warning in different ways, but all agree that hearing truth without responding to it is spiritually dangerous.
Spiritual Grown-Ups Don’t Just Apply, They Teach
The author’s rebuke assumes that maturity leads to multiplication. They ought to be teachers. Growing believers move from being consumers to contributors. They stop asking only what the church can do for them and start asking how they can help others follow Jesus, whether that means leading a small group, serving in kids’ ministry, or mentoring a newer Christian. Paul describes the goal of this kind of maturity.
Ephesians 4:14-15 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 people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Teaching others is also one of the best cures for spiritual dullness. When you pour into someone else, you have to keep learning yourself. Many believers find their own faith comes alive again when they start helping someone else grow.
What This Means for Us
The question isn’t how long you’ve been a Christian. It’s whether you’re still growing. If your faith feels dull, it may be because you’ve been relying on others to feed you, or because you’ve stopped putting into practice what you already know, or because you’ve stopped pouring into anyone else.
The good news is that growth is always possible. God isn’t trying to shame his children. He loves us too much to let us stay infants. Like a good parent, he is nudging us out of our comfort zones and toward a life of purpose. Don’t settle for the bottle when God has a feast and a mission waiting for you.
The Takeaway
Why do some Christians never grow up? They settle for milk, depending on others instead of feeding on God’s Word themselves. Hebrews 5:11-14 calls us to launch into maturity. Spiritual grown-ups study the Word, train themselves by putting it into practice, and teach others. Maturity isn’t about age; it’s about moving from consumer to contributor.
