SERIES: “OVERCOMING OBSTACLES THAT OBSTRUCT OBEDIENCE”
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1-23
TITLE: “THE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHILDISHNESS AND THE MARKS OF MATURITY”
INTRODUCTION: A. A young boy came to his father after church one Sunday. He said, “Dad, I want to
ask you something.”
The father said, “What is it son?”
“Dad, I’m kind of confused. In Sunday school this morning, the teacher kept
telling us about the children of Israel – how the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea,
the children of Israel built the Temple, and the children of Israel making sacrifices.
Didn’t the grown-ups ever do anything?”
B. The apostle Paul has already explained in 1 Corinthians Chapt. 1 that there are two
kinds of people in the world: unsaved and saved; non-Christian and the Christian
--He points out to us in Chapter 3 that there are two kinds of Christians:
1. Carnal (fleshly) and spiritual
2. Immature and mature
C. Difference between being childlike and childish:
1. Childlike
--Mt. 18:2-4 – “He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he
said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you
will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like
this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’”
a. Trusting
b. Humble
c. Eager
d. Loving
2. Childish
a. Immaturity is to lack the qualities of being fully developed – physically,
emotionally, and spiritually
--Just this week my wife said to me, “Sometimes you can be so immature!” So I
stuck my tongue out at her.
b. Marked by irresponsibility
1). They can’t do important things without being reminded
2). Sometimes just don’t care whether they get done or not
c. Also marked by instability
1). Never consistent
2). Sometimes you can depend on them and sometimes you can’t
--You really don’t know what to expect
D. Paul gives us four indicators that show whether Christians are immature or mature
I. WHAT WE EAT
--1 Cor. 3:1-5 – “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? 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.”
A. Paul says that spiritual maturity or immaturity is caused by one primary factor: our spiritual diet
--Heb. 5:11-14 – “We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.
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! 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.”
1. The immature Christian should have left the milk bottle and moved on to solid food but their
immaturity shows in that their still being nursed on milk.
2. The mature Christian eats a steady diet of meat
B. The traditional interpretation of this passage from Hebrews has usually been that “milk” represents the
easy things in God’s Word and “meat” represents the difficult things.
1. The mature Christian eats a balanced diet from God’s Word
--Word of God is called “spiritual food” several times in the scriptures:
a. Bread – Mt. 4:4
b. Meat – Heb. 5:11-14
c. Honey – Ps. 119:103
2. The immature Christian lacks proper nourishment
--they like to snack foods and junk foods
3. A prime indicator of immaturity and maturity is shown through the kind of preaching and teaching
they enjoy
a. Immature Christians like to be entertained and to feel good about themselves when they leave
b. Mature Christians want to be edified and enlightened
II. HOW WE RELATE TO EACH OTHER
--1 Cor. 3:3-5 – “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? 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.
A. Paul mentions several thing that indicate immaturity
1. Jealousy and quarreling
a. They disagree and fuss a lot
b. Usually over things that aren’t important
2. An identification with heroes
-- “My hero can whip your hero!” “Cannot!” “Can too!” “Un huh!” “Uh huh”
B. Several things that indicate maturity
1. Practices love and seeks to get along with others
--will only take up a fight over the most important issues
2. Appreciates the leadership of others but recognizes that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory
of God
--healthy respect for other mature Christians but also recognizes that we all struggle with the flesh
III. HOW WE WORK IN THE FIELD
--1 Cor. 3:6-9 – “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants
nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man
who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s
fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.”
A. Paul takes an image from Jesus’ Parable of the Sower
1. Mt. 13:3-9 – “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the
path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It
sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were
scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up
and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty
or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”
2. A parable that used one Sower is now applied to the whole congregation of believers
B. What indicates immaturity or maturity in the field?
1. Childish, carnal Christian just “play” at working in the field
a. They focus on the work of individuals
b. Forget the purpose of being in the field
2. Mature, spiritual Christians are careful about how the work is accomplished
a. They focus on what God is doing through the laborers
b. They forget about who does what and they work together to build the kingdom of God
C. These indicators are based on how we use our spiritual gifts
1. The Bible teaches that when we become Christians
a. We receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit
b. But we also receive at least one spiritual gift from the Holy Spirit to do works of service in the
name of Jesus Christ
2. Paul deals with the subject of spiritual gifts in greater detail in chapters 12-14 but for right now we
need to understand two things:
a. Immature Christians use gifts as toys to play with and as trophies to brag about
b. Mature Christians use gifts as tools to work with and utilize their gifts to the glory of Jesus Christ
IV. HOW WE BUILD THE BUILDING
--1 Cor. 3:10-20 – “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone
else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation
other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold,
silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will
bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what
he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be
saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s
temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for
God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple. Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he
is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a ‘fool so that he may become wise. For the
wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: ‘He catches the wise in their
craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.’ So then, no more
boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or
death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”
A. Building and construction analogies are used several times in the New Testament to teach us about
building the church of Christ
--Eph. 2:19-22 – “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s
people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with
Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises
to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a
dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
B. What are the indicators of immaturity and maturity in building the body of Christ?
1. Immature Christians build something that will not last
a. They’re goal is to build something that will last only as long as they need it
b. They build it out of what is convenient
2. Mature Christians build something of quality
--Something that will last throughout eternity
C. If we’re going to build the way God wants it built, we have to follow some guidelines
--Ps. 127:1 – “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”
1. We have to build on the right foundation – vss. 10-11
2. We have to build with the right materials – vss.. 12-17
--two completely divergent building materials:
a. First is identified as wood, hay, and straw
--they represent thing which are temporary, ordinary, cheap, easy to obtain
b. Second is identified as gold, silver, and precious stones
--They represent things that are permanent, beautiful, valuable, hard to obtain
3. We have to build according to the right plan – vss. 18-20
4. Must build with the right motive
--that motive is the glory of God
CONCLUSION: A. Paul’s illustration of building points us back to Jesus’ teaching at the end of the Sermon
on the Mount
--Mt. 7:24-27 – “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into
practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the
streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because
it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does
not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain
came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell
with a great crash.”
B. The difference in immaturity and maturity are determined by four things
--you need to answer these questions tonight:
1. What are you feeding yourself?
--You are what you eat
2. What are you sowing?
--What you sow is what you reap
3. On what are you building?
--on sand or the solid foundation of Jesus Christ?
