If you ever saw my oldest son, when he was younger, eating a hamburger, you’d see how quickly it disappears. I’m sure that you would find it hard to believe that there was a time when he was actually too young to eat one. Yes, but we have the movies at home to prove it! You’ve seen this little baby eating this mush that only babies eat. He didn’t have any equipment to chew a hamburger with, right? So we’d feed him this smooth, beaten-to-death version of the real thing – no chewing, no effort, it just kind of slides right on down. Now he has to work harder on it these days, like when you’re eating a steak. But he seems to have no desire to go back to the good old days of baby food. The best food will require some effort, but it’s worth it.

I’m Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about “Lazy Listeners.”

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Hebrews 5, and it’s about lazy eaters. I’m beginning at verse 11. The writer says, “We have so much to say to you, but it’s hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need somebody to teach you the elementary truth 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.”

Now, the writer of Hebrews is writing to some Christians who insisted on food that didn’t demand much of them. In this case, milk. They were lazy eaters. Well, that kind of laziness is all too common among a lot of us Christians today; we are, in North America, some of the most entertained Christians in history. We’re so spoiled by our radio preachers, our TV shows, our seminars, our Christian celebrities. We want our sermons to be funny, and exciting, red-hot challenging, and short. We want our speakers to be entertainers. We expect our teachers to be brief, to the point. How dare they talk too long! And we want our pastor to chop up our food for us and give it to us Gerber-ized. We like melt-in-your-mouth messages that don’t take a lot of effort.

Well, there are a few very gifted pastors or speakers who do 80% of the chewing for you. All you have to do is meet them with maybe 20% of your attention; you don’t have to put a lot of effort into it. But most of God’s messengers require careful attention from you, a determination to follow along with them, a willingness to make your own applications and connections.

There are some people who have a lot to say from the Lord, but they require you to come maybe 40-50-70% of the way. There are writers like that. You say, “This is hard to read.” But it’s worth sticking with it; it’s worth chewing. See, a spiritual leader doesn’t have to be funny or have a ton of charisma in order to feed you God’s Word. He doesn’t have to be some famous preacher or TV celebrity. God has put you under the teaching care of someone who loves God and cares about you; one of his servants. Don’t expect that leader, that pastor, that teacher, that writer to do all the chewing for you. Give your God-appointed teachers your very best.

When you listen to them, go prepared to chew, to work for your good meal. You’re too big for baby food. Lazy eaters never grow up. So, don’t be too lazy to chew a good piece of meat.