This is actually a great question, but it’s not one that many Christians want to answer. This is probably because it might feel like you are being investigated in order to answer it. I’m hoping to avoid that sense of “looking into your life” and in turn judging you. Still, Paul spoke of carnal Christians and having a good understanding of what he meant and studying the idea is well worth looking at. So please don’t let this article push you away, rather take a look and see if it might help.
At first most believers would focus on the idea of a carnal Christian as a sinful Christian. This stands to reason because when Paul spoke to the Corinthians about their being carnal it was in context of some pretty serious sins in their lives. That said, being carnal may not only refer to sin alone, but also to the fact that carnal Christians focus primarily on the physical and rarely on the spiritual.
This means that being carnal is being in touch only with what we see, feel, touch and hear. It means being insensitive and hardened to the Spirit and that which is spiritual, which is God’s word.
Jesus said: It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life. John 6:63
Jesus is telling us that His very words are spirit and life. If we are carnal and predominately sensitive and softhearted to the physical only, then we will bypass what is spirit. If we are carnal in this way, we will not let the Word of God be planted in our hearts in a way that will change our lives and bear fruit. That, my friends, is what a carnal Christian is, and eventually sin will also be part of that picture if one persists on that path.
In Matthew 13 we have the parable of the sower. Seeds, the Word of God, are sown (planted) into various kinds of soil, from good soil to not so good soil. The carnal Christian represents some level of the not so good soil. This is because the seeds sown in their hearts never get a chance to grow. They never allow time to be still long enough for the seed to take root. The cares of the physical world, that they are predominately sensitive to, choke the Word in their carnal hearts. But that is in no way meant to condemn you if the shoe fits. Rather it is to help you change things up a bit. It would be to your interest first to begin to ask God to help you become more sensitive to Him and less sensitive by the world and circumstances around you.
If you were to allow yourself time to let the Word of God transform you, you would by default start to become more sensitive to Gods Word and less to the world around you. The Word would take root in your heart, and a whole field and crop will begin to grow in time. It’s not overnight we are talking about. This takes time, and that’s is where many Christians fail. They won’t allow time for Gods Word to grow in their hearts, and in turn, they walk in a more carnal way, sometimes not even knowing just how much the world effects them.
The answer is actually quite simple. Taking time in Gods Word is a must, and taking time to allow that Word to grow in you is also a must. In the very same chapter in Matthew, Jesus makes it very clear that some will see but not perceive, and some will hear but not understand. (See Matthew 13:14-15.)
We don’t want to be like that, meaning carnal. We want to live life abundantly, and we can do so by allowing ourselves to become sensitive and focused on that which is spiritual, in heaven where Jesus is, and less so on the physical only. This does not mean you won’t enjoy things that are here on earth, but rather that you will add to all these physical blessings a heart that is very sensitive to that which is from heaven, that which is spirit, that which is God’s Word.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4
In this verse Paul is saying that we can set our affections on things above, where Christ is on the right hand of God. He is speaking of being predominately sensitive and focused on that which is above. That is the beginning of the carnal minded Christian becoming a spiritually minded Christian. Thanks be to God for His grace and love.
