Got Milk? Got Meat?

Click Here to Listen To or Read the Daily One Year Bible Lessons

A Call to Spiritual Growth

11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. 12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

I am one of those people that if I haven't had some kind of meat for dinner, I don't feel like I have really eaten. Sure I love milk with chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter sandwiches, but it doesn't fill me up. 

The author of Hebrews uses the metaphors of "milk" and "meat" to assess the spiritual condition of the church.  First he says, "I would like to say more about this (he is explaining how Jesus is like a high priest), but you are spiritually dull and don't seem to listen." Then, he assesses their spiritual maturity by an interesting test. Though they have been believers for a long time, they still aren't teaching others, which seems to be his measure of the maturity of the early churches. 

They have been so busy consuming that haven't been able to or trained to feed others. The Great Commission is based on the principle of disciples who make disciples. When someone is called to be a Christ follower it is never for their benefit alone. We are saved to serve and share the Good News with others. We were never to keep our faith to ourselves. But instead of being able to teach the younger believers, they actually needed to be instructed in the basics of the faith all over again. 

It would be like teaching a junior higher the "time tables" again, when they should be moving toward basic algebra. But these believers are immature, and they have not been fed by a solid teaching of God's Word. The don't know the basics like: "How we are saved by grace through faith", "The difference between the law and gospels", "The Trinity One God, Three Persons", "Jesus truly God and truly man", and "The difference between the Spirit of the Law and the Letter of the law", to name a few.  

Most importantly their lack of a knowledge of scripture is reflected by the fact they don't know the right thing to do. Their behavior is not aligned with the clear teaching of scripture, as summarized by the Ten Commandments. 

A great measure of the maturity of any church is how many people are teaching other younger and less mature believers. I don't think this is only leading a small group, though that is really important. It is actually teaching the basics of faith, and teaching people how to read and interpret the bible. 

Many times churches only rely on the pastors to be teachers, or think that if one doesn't have a seminary degree they can't teach. Though seminary is great and certainly equipped me to teach and preach, you don't have to be seminary trained to lead a bible study. 

Where are you at in your spiritual maturity? Are you feeding yourself with meat, or are others having to feed you milk like a baby? As a pastor, I wish more people would grow to spiritual maturity so they could teach others. But it also starts with me equipping others to do so and not wanting the congregation to rely on me alone, which is prideful.