It's time to man up!

Man up... that's an interesting phrase. It basically means to act like a man.  Do what a adult should do. Take on responsibilities for your actions. Grow up! In the protestant Christian religion, we don't have a rights of passage like other cultures have. There's no bar mitzah or bat mitzah, confirmation, or rumspringa. If you were to ask a dozen people what it means to be an adult, you would get a dozen different answers like, being old enough to vote, getting your license, being able to drink, moving out on your own... the list goes on. So, how do you know when you're grown?

It seems like we're in a culture where people are stuck in adultolescence. This isn't really a new thing. Life can be hard and it's nice to have a diversion every once in a while. I am a life long kidult and I don't see anything wrong with keeping a youthful outlook on life as long I take care of my have to's.

My question is: "What about when it comes to our faith?" This isn't a new question. It frustrated Paul back in the early church.

1 Corinthians 3:1-3
New Living Translation (NLT)
 1 Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. 2 I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready, 3 for you are still controlled by your sinful nature. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your sinful nature? Aren’t you living like people of the world?

Paul was basically saying "Grow Up!"

I think part of the reasons why people struggle with Christianity is because they have to make hard decisions. Painful decisions. It's hard to deny yourself what you want because you feel that an invisible God is prompting you to make a decision that you know deep down inside is the right thing to do... but what will your friends think?

We want to read the good and happy parts of the Bible, but don't want to read about what we have to do to resist sin, or sharing what the Bible says to others, putting ourselves out there to care for those who are less fortunate than we are.

What do you believe?

 Does your faith impact your life?

 Can you really explain to someone else what you believe other than to say "Jesus died for me so I could have everlasting life?"


Does your "sinful nature" still govern your actions?

Does it sound like I'm angry? Frustrated? Annoyed? I AM!


I'm not so frustrated with you, but with all the years that I lost because I wanted to be a kidult in Christ.  However, exposure to what the Bible says as I read it for myself and meditate on it shows me the vanity of how I have been living... and I want more. I want to see what it's like to grow up and see what God has in store for me when I actually listen and follow what he says.

Let me put this another way... if you had to live only on milk as an adult what would happen? You would wither away. You would lose your strength and ability because you don't receive all the nutrients that you need to function as an adult.

If you want to know why you make the same mistakes over and over again... it's because you haven't built up the strength to do better.

Hebrews 5:13-14
New Living Translation (NLT)
13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.