Trenches

First Corinthians 13:11 stands as the word for spiritual maturity: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things.” That verse calls the church to stop staying in a child place when God is trying to grow faith, understanding, and love.

The question about the black community being “over churched” becomes a deeper question, not just whether there are too many churches, but when church life lost the knowledge of God. Knowledge makes people interested in the word of God because knowledge makes a person really want to know what God is saying. Bad knowledge in the community is hard to correct, so the call becomes “ministering in the trenches.”

The trench image carries the whole burden. In the military, a trench is a defensive place, like a foxhole, but in spiritual life it becomes the place where the church digs in and does not run. Faith gives courage, God gives protection, and love gives power. Love is not judging people, and love is not turning backs on people. Love wants the community to do better, serve God, and lift itself up.

The enemy wants people fighting one another, judging one another, and turning away from one another. God calls his people to love one another, strengthen one another, and stand together. Darkness has to be seen before light can be shined into it, so spiritual maturity does not hide from broken places. It stays dug in with God until his light shines through.

Ephesians 6:12 makes the fight plain: the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places. People are not the enemy. Darkness is the enemy. That means truth can be spoken to someone living a poor quality of life, not as condemnation, but as love that refuses to leave a loved one “down in the mud.”

The old generation gave deeply to the church, but the new generation wants knowledge. They want to learn the word, dig into the Bible, and understand things that got skipped over before. Love must conquer the sacrifices made in the trenches, because church warfare does not work without love. Love looks outward toward others, while selfish desire turns inward.

The trench may look defensive in the world, but in God it becomes the place of advance. The church is called to stand like “a tree that’s planted by the water” and not be moved until God moves it. Once darkness is exposed, mature faith does not attack people. Mature faith ministers to the broken places where darkness tried to take root.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Spiritual maturity puts childish things away. First Corinthians 13:11 makes maturity more than age, position, or years in church. Childish speech, childish understanding, and childish thinking have to be laid down when God grows a person up. Spiritual maturity means faith no longer reacts from immaturity, pride, or confusion, but learns how to stand, love, and discern what God is doing. [31:27]
• 2. Love gives power in the trenches. The trenches are not easy places, and love is not soft talk with no backbone. Love is the power that keeps ministry from becoming judgment, bitterness, or self-display. Faith gives courage, God gives protection, but love keeps the whole fight aimed at healing instead of winning an argument. [06:39]
• 3. People are not the enemy. Ephesians 6:12 keeps the fight in the right place. The battle is not against flesh and blood, even when flesh and blood is where the pain shows up. Mature faith learns to confront darkness without destroying the person who has been wounded, confused, or held by it. [15:42]
• 4. Truth spoken in love lifts people. Love does not leave people “down in the mud” just to avoid offense. Truth can call a person higher without treating that person as less valuable. Real love is willing to say hard things because it sees what God can bring a life from and refuses to pretend brokenness is freedom. [16:31]
• 5. God’s people must stand unmoved. The spiritual trench becomes a place of holy firmness, not fear. The enemy may change faces, and the attacks may keep coming, but faith that is dug in with God does not have to run. A strong defense in God becomes the ground for a wise offense against darkness.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:22] - Reading First Corinthians 13:11
• [01:17] - Moving the Church Forward
• [02:12] - Is the Black Community Over Churched?
• [04:13] - Ministering in the Trenches
• [05:22] - Love Must Lead the Fight
• [07:28] - The Enemy Wants Division
• [08:27] - Digging In Against Darkness
• [10:51] - Faith Proven Through Love
• [12:12] - Generations, Churches, and Knowledge
• [15:42] - The Real Battle Is Spiritual
• [18:38] - Love Makes Weapons Useful
• [20:59] - Love Versus Selfish Desire
• [24:59] - God’s Vision Over Perfection
• [27:11] - Standing Like a Planted Tree

1. In 1 Corinthians 13:11, what three childlike things are named before Paul says he put childish ways away?
2. What does “ministering in the trenches” mean in this message, and why is that picture so important? [04:13]
3. What three things were connected together in the fight against darkness: faith, God’s protection, and love? [06:39]
4. According to Ephesians 6:12, who is not the real enemy, and what kind of enemy is the church really facing? [15:42]

1. If spiritual maturity means putting away childish speech, understanding, and thinking, what might childish faith look like in a church or in a believer’s life today? [31:27]
2. If people are not the enemy, how should that change the way believers respond to people who are living in confusion, brokenness, or open sin? [16:31]
3. The trench looks defensive, but in God it becomes a place of advance. What does that suggest about standing firm without becoming passive or fearful? [27:11]
4. Love looks outward while selfish desire turns inward. How does that help a group tell the difference between helping people and simply trying to control them, impress them, or win an argument? [20:59]

1. Where is there a temptation right now to respond childishly—with quick words, shallow thinking, pride, or hurt feelings—instead of responding with spiritual maturity? What would it look like to put that away this week? [31:27]
2. Is there a person or group that has started to feel like the enemy to you? How might Ephesians 6:12 help you deal with the real darkness at work without hardening your heart toward people? [15:42]
3. Love does not leave people down in the mud. Is there someone in your life who may need truth spoken with care and love? What makes that hard, and what would a faithful conversation look like? [16:31]
4. The church must stay in the trenches and not run from broken places. What broken place in your family, neighborhood, or community have you been tempted to avoid? What might it mean to stay present there with faith, prayer, and love? [04:13]
5. Knowledge of God creates hunger for the word of God. Where do you want deeper knowledge right now instead of just surface familiarity? What step could help you grow—reading, asking questions, studying with someone, or something else? [14:24]
6. Love makes every spiritual weapon useful. When you try to help others, what helps you stay loving instead of becoming irritated, judgmental, or self-focused? [18:38]
7. Being planted like a tree by the water means staying where God has placed you until God moves you. Where do you need that kind of steadiness right now? What would it look like not to be moved by pressure, disappointment, or slow results? [27:11]