In
each case he starts with a command for the worldly Christian. But he ends with
a meaty principle for the spiritual Christian.
Milk
and Meat Ministry
Recently
a teenage girl asked me if I thought it was okay for a fourteen-year-old to
date. Assuming this wasn't a theoretical exercise (and assuming my answer would
get back to her parents), I asked her what her parents thought. Her mother had
apparently told her she couldn't date until she was sixteen. This is the perfect
illustration of milk versus meat. In a perfect world we would address teenagers
as spiritual, but this girl's mother is concerned that she is still worldly.
Milk says, "You can't date until you're sixteen." It's a concrete
rule. Perhaps it's a little legalistic but it's an attempt to curb the impending
licentiousness likely among fourteen-year-olds. The mature Christian, on the
other hand, has moved beyond the need for a legalistic rule and thinks, "Date
when the Holy Spirit indicates to you that it is right." Meat does not
force a believer to respond to a law; it prompts her beyond this, to respond
to a relationship with the Spirit.
Milk
and meat, as in any healthy diet, should be balanced. The milk-drinker honors
a set of rules. The meat-eater desires to honor God and people. A person who
takes only milk desires to push the limits. Meat-eaters desire to steer clear
of limits. Milk is law. Meat is love. Milk is the babe's desire to do what he's
told, meat the believer's passion to obey God because he is deeply in love with
Him.
The
task for the pastor is to challenge believers to step beyond a list of rules
and seek a loving relationship with God. That is the essence of a meaty sermon.
____________________
Dan
Nehrbass is Pastor of SeaRidge Community Church in Irvine, CA.