Spiritual Spit-up

An alarming number of people have been throwing up in Bible class, during sermons, and in small group discussions for as long as I can remember.

You may say, "Ernest, this is not happening at my Church."

You say this for three reasons:

1. You did not know my name was Benjamin, so you called me Ernest.

2. It has been happening for so long that you are used to it.

3. You think I mean literal vomit

I am, of course, not talking about a physical stomach evacuation. I am talking about Spiritual Spit-up.

Spiritual Spit-up is similar to spiritual milk and meat but much more difficult to watch. 

The Hebrew writer says, “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.”

If spiritual meat, or solid food, is the nourishment of the mature, and spiritual milk is for the immature, then what is spiritual spit-up?

Spiritual spit-up is simply this: the regurgitation of that which you have been spoon fed all your life. 

Nothing new. Nothing thoughtful. Nothing insightful. The easiest route. 

It is easier, when faced with a difficult scripture, to just repeat what you have heard about that passage. When we are confused we fall back to the old party lines like a politician answering a question about taxes.

It is sickening to watch, and we all do it on some level - interpreting passages based on the previous generation's interpretation instead of our own honest study.

So watch out for this in your Church. Be aware of the problem when you sit down with your small group because it can happen anywhere, anytime, and it is always messy.

Some need spiritual milk, others need solid food, but if one is simply regurgitating what he has always heard, then he is receiving no nourishment at all.