Do Not Walk as Mere Men (1 Cor. 3:1-3)

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
(1 Corinthians 3:1-3, NASB)

Just as we start life with milk as our sustenance and then grow to eating solid food, we start our spiritual lives with biblical “milk” and then grow in maturity by “eating” more solid biblical truth. At first, we need to be taught by godly men and women, but then we should get to the point where we prayerfully meditate on and study the Bible for ourselves, spending time thinking through and applying what we study.

If we never get to this place, we continue to live as spiritual infants, and that’s tragic.

Unfortunately, I think this is where so many Christ followers are in their spiritual journeys. And ever more unfortunately, this is why they so easily succumb to the lies of the enemy. Because they don’t study God’s word for themselves, prayerfully considering what God is telling them, they can’t discern what truth really is.

Believers are always at war with the flesh, but immature believers allow the flesh to win out more often than not. Paul seems to be saying that they’re content to be Christians by name, but fleshly by nature. They’re living, as one commentary put it, “like ordinary, unconverted men” (Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament).

If we’re truly followers of Christ, there should be a distinct difference in how we live in comparison to nonbelievers. We should desire to grow in faith. We should strive to live as Jesus did, demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We should be the light of Christ to a dark world (Philippians 2:15).

And if we’re not? If we’re just going through the motions? It would be better to not call ourselves Christians at all—and at least live honestly as “mere men.”