Moving On: From Milk to Meat in the Word of God
Texts: Hebrews 5:11-6:12, 1 Cor. 3:1-4, 10-15, Eph 4:11-16, 1 Pet. 2:1-3, 2 Pet.1:3-10
Intro: Almost everybody loves babies! I often hear people say, “Oh, they just grow up too fast!” Part of what makes them so appealing is that they are constantly growing and learning. Susan and I enjoy so much being around our delightful, brilliant, adorable, good lookin’ (etc. etc) grandchildren and watching them grow up. We often lament the fact that all of them are now school age children having left behind their pre-school years. But the truth is, that if any of them were still in diapers, crawling around, drinking only from bottles, we would have cause to be concerned. It’s a real shame when a baby doesn’t grow up. We start to worry if a child is slow to learn.
That’s also the first sign of spiritual trouble. Hebrews 5:11-12 says, “We have much to say about this (Jesus as our high priest), but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! The writer of Hebrews wanted to dig deep into the teaching of Jesus as our mediator and high priest, but he found those around him spiritually dull of hearing, and sluggish when it came to moving on from first principles to deeper spiritual truths.
Paul also wrote about this same problem when he addressed the believers in Corinth. He wrote, “Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly…” (1 Cor. 3:1-3a) On the basis of these passages are we to conclude that it is a bad thing for a Christian to seek for spiritual milk? Not at all, if the Christian is new to the faith and not yet grounded in the word.
Peter wrote about spiritual milk in one of his letters. He said, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2-3)
1. What is “Spiritual Milk”?
So what is spiritual milk? John MacArthur in his commentary describes milk this way,”Milk, not a reference to certain doctrines, but to the more easily digestible truths of doctrine that were given to new believers.” He compared milk to solid food by saying, “solid food, the deeper features of the doctrines of scripture. The difference is not in kind of truth, but degree of depth. Spiritual immaturity makes one unable to receive the richest truths.” Milk is like pre-digested truth, easy to swallow whole, but meat requires development of teeth and the action of chewing. There is more involved in the process of eating solid food.
In Hebrews we are given samples of the kinds of doctrines that could be called “Milk” (Heb. 6:1-2) “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.” Here is a list of 6 foundational truths of Christianity that were also foundational truths in the Jewish faith. Here is how these foundational truths relate to each other:
1. Godward truths (repentance and faith) mark the initiation of the spiritual life. Repentance and faith go together (Acts 20:21)
2. Manward truths (baptisms and laying on of hands) have to do with a person’s relationship to the local assembly of believers. Baptism is a symbol of spiritual cleansing and identification in Christ’s death, and laying on of hands is the sharing of blessing usually passed on from the elders or else the setting apart of someone to a particular ministry.
3. Future truths (resurrection of the dead and the final judgment) both deal with teachings about the end times. Some may assume these to be deep truths, but the writer of Hebrews called them “elementary teachings” and concluded that after laying this foundation we are to move forward to maturity!
From these three passages which all referred to spiritual milk we uncover certain things about how spiritual babies look.
2. How do Spiritual babies look:
The first thing we learn about spiritual babies is that they are unable to digest spiritual meat. Though babies are born not knowing anything or able to do much of anything, there is one thing they can do right from the start. They know how to suck on a nipple to get milk out of it. No healthy baby needs a class on bottle sucking, nor do they need to be talked into desiring milk. Peter referred to this when he encouraged Christians to crave spiritual milk like new born babies. The idea behind this is that by sucking on spiritual milk (the basics of the gospel message), the spiritual infant can begin the process of growing towards maturity.
I remember our grandkids had ravenous appetites towards mother’s milk and they all grew fat as over-stuffed ticks. All 4 of them were roly-poly by 3 months of age. There was an obvious direct corollary between milk ingested and weight gain. Likewise, spiritual infants who crave spiritual milk (ABC’s of the gospel) will find themselves beginning to be rooted and grounded in the word of God.
The problem in all this milk drinking is that if milk is all we ever crave, we will eventually grind to a halt in our growth. When Susan was nursing our daughters, she was constantly encouraged to supplement the milk with some solid foods. She would do so in small amounts, but both girls grew so well on milk she didn’t feel a need to make a shift too soon. However, I remember the day Kimberly introduced her daughter, Morgan to cereal at about 6 months of age. Morgan got her first taste of solid food and went crazy wanting more. Kimberly couldn’t get it to her fast enough to suit her. Morgan kept grabbing the spoon to get it into her mouth faster. She was ready to make the transition from milk to solid food. Her cousin, David, was also introduced to cereal at about 6 months. I would describe his reaction as “underwhelmed.” He kept spitting the cereal out of his mouth and grabbed for the milk.
So, what happens to Christians who keep gravitating towards milk long after they should be shifting over to meat? They can be identified by showing the following characteristics:
• Slow to learn deeper truths: (Heb. 5:11-12) There is a sluggishness about hearing anything beyond what they have already learned about the basics of the gospel message. (I had a certain group of kids in my youth group in Arcadia who made it clear that they were uninterested in studying the Bible or learning anything new about the Christian faith. All they wanted to do was have parties and fool around. I was demoralized by their laziness and apathy towards spiritual development. I actually called the elders of the church to pray about this obvious spiritual problem in those kids. Eventually, they got past their spiritual malaise , but it took a lot of prayer and work to root out those bad attitudes, and an infusion of devoted kids who turned into the kind of leaders who turned the group around)
• Inability to articulate their faith: (Heb. 5:11-12) Not only are they slow to hear and learn anything new, they also are unable to share what they have come to know about Christ. Like jabbering toddlers, spiritual babies keep returning to the spiritual ABC’s and show no interest in going on to deeper things.
• Worldly behavior: (1 Cor. 3:3) Baby Christians are hard to tell from non Christians because they often retain vestiges of carnality from their former lives. Paul encouraged Christians to put off the old man and its ways, and put on the new man. This means a transition from the ways unsaved people live to the ways of living that reveal our new natures in Christ. (Eph. 4:22)
• Inability to self feed: (2 Tim. 2:15) Even a baby drinking from a bottle can eventually hold his bottle with his own hands. In the same way, a baby Christian should be able to pick up their own Bible and read it devotionally for themselves. The spiritual baby who needs to be spoon fed continuously is heading towards arrested spiritual development. No Christian can get by on one 30 minute sermon per week as the sum total of spiritual feeding. That would be the same thing as eating only one meal per week. Eventually you would starve to death.
• Inability to discern between good and bad: (Heb 5:13-14) “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.” Spiritual babies gravitate towards rule books and lists that spell out what is right and wrong so that they can mindlessly go along with the dictates of manipulative teachers who call for conformity to outward rituals rather than the inner life of relationship with God. This is what Jesus condemned in the behavior of the Pharisees who placed burdens on the people that no one could possibly bear. Spiritual babies like to make a good impression on others by outward conformity to rules and regulations regardless of what may be going on in the heart.
3. How do Spiritual Babies Grow?
Having warned against the dangers of failure to grow up and make progress in the Christian life, the writer of Hebrews shows the process of moving forward towards maturity. He wrote, “Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case – things that accompany salvation. God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” (Hebrews 6:9-12)
When we talk about spiritual growth we must make it clear that growth is not just an option for a Christian; growing up is the very definition of a Christian! A Christian grows to be like Christ. This is a transformation much like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. The process of this changing is described in 2 Cor. 3:18, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” The principle here is that we become more like whatever we focus on. The individual who immerses himself in cars will become a car fanatic. When others think of that person, what will naturally come to mind is that person beside or inside of a car. If music becomes the main passion of life, then everyone will be reminded of this person in the context of music or with a musical instrument. The verse just mentioned reveals that focusing on Christ himself will have a changing effect on whoever is able to see Christ clearly. We are transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to the next. It is a daily changing so that we become more like Christ (having his mind within us), and people are more able to see Jesus living within us with the passing of time.
Looking back at Heb. 6:10-12 we also morph into the image of Christ if we do what the text advises us to do as growing Christians:
• Show your love of God by helping His people (vs. 10) The most amazing thing happens to those who quit focusing on themselves and begin focusing on ministry to others in the body of Christ. They not only show God how much they love Him, they also start enjoying themselves in their interactions with other Christians. Ministry is an acquired taste, and the sooner you develop a taste for it, the better … for everybody. It is common for new Christians to be rather self focused about most things spiritual. After all, they have much growing to do, and they need to pay attention to what ever helps them make spiritual progress. But as Christians grow towards maturity, they are able to develop more outward focus, and to be as concerned about the spiritual growth of others as they are about their own spiritual growth. It is odd but true that the more we focus on the spiritual development of others (by helping them out with the process) the more we find ourselves growing as well.
• Give diligence to the very end (vs. 11) Recently, I was asked in a survey, “What qualities make a good leader?” My first answer was “staying power” and the second is a twin to it, “tenacity”. One of them keeps you in the arena and the other gets you up if you get knocked down. If a toddler were to give up the first time they fell down learning to walk, they would never end up walking at all. But too many Christians give up at the first failure. No wonder they remain wimpy spiritual babies. A part of the process in spiritual development is to learn how to keep on keepin’ on.
• Don’t be lazy (vs. 12) I know we all have lazy days from time to time, but some have made laziness into an art form or a quest. Sometimes, I get the impression that Homer Simpson has become the embodiment of our nation’s latest super hero. We seem to almost be proud of our indolence. I would advise the wisdom of picking people of integrity and passion for their work to become our role models. In the same survey I took recently I was asked to name 4 role models. Men I admire and want to be like. Mine were:
o John Maxwell of Injoy Ministry. I have read his books and listened to his tapes on leadership through the years.
o Art Morris, a former missionary to India who, during his 45 years in South India baptized over 150,000 people into Christ. Even though he had a speech impediment he didn’t let that stop him from his work.
o Abraham Lincoln, who stuck to his resolve in spite of terrible pressures and criticism and brought us through a terrible divisive war between the north and south.
o James Dobson of Focus on the Family, who has shown integrity as a Christian leader for many decades. I’ve read most of his books.
One thing these man had in common is that there wasn’t a lazy man in the bunch! They are the kind of man Hebrews has in mind when it says to…
• Imitate people of great faith and patience, in the next verses Abraham is given as an example of faith. It is because of that exemplary faith God promised him, “I will bless you and give you many descendants” (Heb. 6:14) And who are these descendants? We are! Everyone who lives a life of faith is one of the promised descendants of Abraham (remember the song, Father Abraham had many sons …) Abraham is an example of those who are faithful to the end. Throughout his life he grew in faith and he finished well. We can do the same.
Conclusion:
These passages about moving on from milk to meat are important for us as growing Christians. When it comes to growing up, it’s morphing time! Hebrews 6 ends with wonderful assurance for anyone willing to grow closer to Christ. Vs. 18-19 tell us to “Take hold of the hope offered to us and be greatly encouraged. For we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
Therefore, I say “stop drinking milk from a bottle” Get out your steak knife and get ready for some spiritual sirloin! Let’s grow up together and sink our teeth into the deeper things of God’s wisdom.
