WHAT DO WE HAVE TO EAT?

   As far back as I can remember mature Christians around me have
talked about sermons as MILK or MEAT.  I don't remember ever asking
any of them what they mean by these terms, so I can say only what I
think they mean by them.  By milk I think they mean a clear , easy
account of the basic Christian faith - how Christians can be set right
with God and how they can work towards holiness.  By meat I think they
mean a rigorous examination of the subtle doctrines and mysteries of
theology.

   They seem to think that each diet has its place.  Milk is all right
for anybody, but it is especially for people whose mental grasp of
Christianity is shallow.  Meat is for people with better training and
more inquiring minds.  Milk is likely to soften disagreements between
Christians and to play down distinctions between doctrine.  Meat, on
the other hand, is apt to emphasize these differences and to trace
their implications through obscure issues.  This, I think is what
people mean by milk and meat.

                   MILK AND MEAT IN HEBREWS

   This milk and meat talk comes from the Bible.  The last four verses
of Hebrews 5 say, "We have much to say about this [the priesthood of
Christ], but it is hard to explain, because you are to slow to learn.
...You need milk, being still an infant, not acquainted with the
teaching of righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by
constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

   This sounds at first like what I described earlier.  When we look a
bit further though, we find a big difference.  Hebrews 6: 1-8 points
out that what makes milk MILK is not that it is easier to understand,
but that it must come from our Christian growth.  Certain people have
to be on it for a long time, not because they can't understand meaty
teachings, but because they haven't put the first teachings into
practice yet.  They are spiritually lazy and proud, consequently they
are in danger of falling away altogether.

   So, too, the solid food of Christian wisdom is not for the
intelligent.  Rather, its for persons who persistently deny themselves
and follow Christ's example of loving service to others.  The mature
are those "who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish
good from evil." The kind of food we need depends not on what we can
understand, but on how we live.

                 MILK AND MEAT IN 1 CORINTHIANS

   The Bible says more about milk and meat.  In 1 Corinthians 3:2-3,
Paul writes, "I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not ready
for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly.  For
since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not
worldly?"

   A meaty sermon, accordingly to the notion first outlined here,
might very likely accent differences between Christians.  According to
this notion, Christians who eat solid food are those who are zealous
for doctrinal distinctiveness and wary of cooperating with other kinds
of Christians.  According to the Bible, though, these Christians are
fooling themselves.  They aren't ready for solid food; they need milk.

   The Greek word translated as jealousy in verse three points to a
partisan zeal at the expense of the larger Christian fellowship.  This
kind of zeal is not a mark of Christian maturity, but of spiritual
childishness.  We should all try to become sensitive to doctrinal
purity and to doctrinal error, but we must work our doctrinal
sensitivity into a full-grown, healthy Christian personality.
Otherwise we will wind up fighting with each other, suspecting each
other of evil purposes, and finding it hard even to talk to one
another.

   Try to remember 1 Corinthians 3 as you work out problems in your
spiritual growth and relationships with other Christians that are
different from you.

Written by:  James l. Vanderlaan