Churches nowadays have become so carnal, that the people cannot even handle meat anymore, and instead need to be constantly fed with milk.
Meat of the Word
1 Corinthians 3:1-3 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Nonetheless, it is important for Christians to seek continuous spiritual growth, then they get to enjoy that ‘prime steak’ offered at church. The pastor referred to a lot of worldly Christians nowadays as babies, and if these babies are stuffed with meat, they will not survive.
Meat of the World
However, Pastor also pointed that not all meat is good; the meat to do the work of the Lord is good, but there is the meat of the world – the flesh, is considered as bad stuff in God’s eyes.
John 6:25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?
Jesus performed wonderful miracles and fed 5000 people, these people enjoyed the offering so much, but they were not there for God’s teachings, only for the free meal.
The same applies to the Church nowadays, that people are inclined to go to Church because of worldly reasons, not spiritual. We should be encouraged to go to Church, to serve God because it appeals to our Spirit, not our flesh.
For us to live a life as sanctified as possible, we need to forgo the meat of the world. The more we are attached to what the world has to offer, and what’s pleasing to our flesh; the less we are able to dedicate our time to the Lord. There has to be a line where we set our boundary, and that we do not compromise our standards and role as a child of God.
If we do not sacrifice the meat of the world that appeals to our flesh, for example, our job, dreams, relationships, etc. These things will drive us away from growing in the Lord.
We cannot swallow both the meat of the word and world at the same time, these two are completely conflicting with one another. It is a natural reality. It is better to be a half backslidden Christian than a 100% backslidden Christian at the judgment seat of Christ. Let’s encourage ourselves by taking that first leap, start feeding ourselves with solid food bit by bit, to grow more in Christ. From milk to a tender slab of meat, to a full slab or solid juicy rib.
Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
At one point, it’s not just about chewing the meat ourselves anymore. We need to be able to also pass the meat of the word to others, and preach the gospel to them.
However, Hebrews 13:9 indicated that don’t get way too carried away by the solid meat of the word, that we forget even about the most basic principles of what the bible displays.
Another very important point given was that we should be putting our spiritual growth at the people who know what is normal in that environment whom the Lord has called to become a teacher. We should entrust our soul and salvation to those people rather than the blasphemers out there.
How to Know if we are Out of Bounds in the Meat
When we try to feed the meat to people around us, they tend to think that we are weird, so then we should start to access the size of our meat, and go back to the first principles of the word of God, to cut down on the meat size and hardness. We ought to figure out how we can witness to a ‘baby’ on his level. Subjects like true love, how to be a great testimony, how to witness to people with the gospel are great topics to kick start.
Witness with both Milk and Meat
It is crucial to balance both meat and milk, for us to preach wisely to others. We need to know who are we witnessing to. We may always come across people from diverse backgrounds and cultures, skin colors, and behaviors. If we tilt extremely towards one side, then it clearly shows that we are compromising the word of God.
Remember to always Follow Up
In addition, do not underestimate the power of follow-up. Don’t let our excuses and busyness in life stop us from being accountable and credible witnesses.
John 4:31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
Delight of the Meat
For those who are held accountable, to preach, and to feed the meat to others, we may often come across as being weird or hateful in others’ eyes, and sacrifice is bound to be made. However, there is so much delight in the meat, the process of preparing it is painstaking, but the result is actually very rewarding, and worth all the pain that comes with it.