When babies are born, they are expected to hit developmental milestones at a certain rate. When they don’t meet those milestones or when they start to regress, doctors will sometimes offer the general diagnosis of failure to thrive. This medical category is a useful illustration to help us think carefully about our spiritual health.

The author of Hebrews is deeply concerned about the spiritual health and perseverance of his listeners. It is for this reason that the author offers multiple warnings throughout the book. There is, however, significant debate among Bible interpreters about the intended audience of these warnings. Are the author’s warnings directed at believers or almost-Christians. Are the warnings hypothetical or real?

We can’t venture into an answer to these questions here. Suffice it to say that I take the view that these warnings are all directed at Christians and serve as a means of their perseverance. You may read a long-form defense of my view here.

In this article, I want to focus on the first of those warnings, located in the second chapter of Hebrews.

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard, while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2:1-5)

The word “neglect” in v. 1 is conceptually connected to the word “drift” in v. 3. The warning is not emphasizing an overt, all-of-a-sudden rejection of Jesus’ great salvation. The warning is about a mere carelessness, inattention, apathy; the slow growth of desires for other things, as Jesus mentions in Mark 4:13, that begin crowd out desire for God.

A Slow Drift

This is like the captain who, out of weariness over the regular routine of securing his ship at port, doesn’t have the crew anchor the boat upon arrival. Yes, the wind is calmly blowing seaward, but surely we don’t have to secure the anchor in light of such a peaceful breeze, the captain reasons.

So, the men disembark from the ship, collect supplies in town, and come back to the ship to sleep.

Well, over the night that gentle breeze carries the ship out toward the ocean and right into a rock formation at the mouth of the inlet. The hull of the ship is pierced by the rocks and the ship eventually sinks, but not because the captain was driving his boat recklessly into a reef. He just chose to not secure the anchor, and a little breeze carried the captain and his men to their doom.

Falling away from Christ may look abrupt. A person finally says, “I’m done with Christ and his church.” But it never really is abrupt. That seemingly swift decision is merely the result of a slow drift over time: a shipwreck due to a light breeze and a little neglect.

The warning to every professing believer listening to this letter when it was read 2000 years ago and everyone who reads it to this is this: do not neglect this great salvation. Do not drift away from Christ or you will face a just retribution that is worse than what disobedient Israelites faced.

Spiritual Failure to Thrive

What are some signs that you are drifting away from the gospel? These symptoms can all be grouped under what we can call a spiritual failure to thrive.

Sign #1: Disinterest in Jesus Christ. Throughout the letter, the author exhorts his listeners to consider Jesus (Heb 3:1; 12:3), fix their eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:1-2), and even rebukes them because they are losing interest and not wanting to know him in a deeper way (see Heb 5:11-14). A sure sign that you are failing to thrive spiritually is a growing indifference toward Jesus Christ.

Sign #2: A heart that is growing less sensitive to the Word of God. The author of Hebrews warns against this hardening against the Word of God in chapters 3-4. We are not to be like the rebellious Israelites who didn’t receive God’s word with faith. We are to keep our hearts soft and receptive and sensitive and hungry for the word of God. Apathy toward the Word of God is a sign of spiritual illness.

Sign #3: Unbelief toward the promises of a future city. Throughout the letter the author encourages his listeners to look to the heavenly city and to be like the saints of old who gave up earthly wealth, fame, and comfort for the sake of their future reward of God and heaven (see esp. Heb 11:1ff). Faith in our heavenly future is the fuel that keeps the engine of the Christian life running. When we are not believing in and hoping in these promises, this is an indication that we are failing to thrive spiritually.

Sign #4: Not growing in our ability to discern truth from error, good from evil. In Hebrews 5:11-14, the author admonishes his listeners because they were existing too long in spiritual immaturity. One of the signs of this immaturity was their inability to discern between truth and error. Maturity, on the other hand, is demonstrated when you are able to judge sharply between truth and error, good and evil, right and wrong.

Sign #5: Inability to teach others the truth of Scripture. Similarly, the author rebukes his listeners because their immaturity was disabling them from teaching others spiritual truths. He is not implying that every Christian must be able to teach from the pulpit or in large group settings. But every Christian should have a growing grasp on Scripture to the degree that they are able to articulate, from the heart, the truth of the God’s Word to other people. A growing, thriving Christian who is not drifting away from Christ is someone who is growing in their ability to speak well and accurately of Christ and God’s Word.

Sign #6: Drifting away from the body of Christ. One of the letter’s most severe warnings is preceded by an exhortation to not neglect the public and physical gathering of God’s people in corporate worship and fellowship. Our ability to hold fast to our confession of faith in Christ is vitally connected to this regular fellowship: “Let us hold fast our confession, of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another with love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more, as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:24-25).

The author then goes on in the next verse to issue a strong warning and link the warning to what he just said about regular corporate fellowship.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries (Heb 10:26-27)

As we see throughout the book of Hebrews, one of the primary ways that God keeps us in the faith is through the local body of Christ and the exhortations we receive from fellow believers (see also Heb 3:13-17). One of the clear indications that a professing believer is failing to thrive spiritually is when they begin to drift away from that source of exhortation and encouragement in their local church.

We need to be aware of signs of spiritual illness and a failure to thrive. When we start to find ourselves disinterested in Jesus, his Word, and our future inheritance, we should be concerned.

When we realize that we are having a difficult time discerning between truth and error, or that we are unable to teach others the truth of the gospel, we know that we are in spiritual trouble.

If we begin to drift away from the body of Christ, we are in a precarious place.

These are all signs that we are failing to thrive spiritually, and we need to turn back to the Lord with all our heart and ask him to renew us, strengthen us, and fill us again with passion for Christ and love for the things of God.