The importance of growing up

Mothers know that very small infants require milk not steak. However, as soon as a child is able, she will graduate him to pablum or fruit or something a bit more solid. If she does it too soon, the child cannot deal with it, but if she leaves it too long, the baby will suffer setback.

This is the language Paul uses as he writes to the immature Christians at Corinth:

“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” (1 Corinthians 3:1–3)

In this and in other contexts, milk and solid food are contrasted:

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2–3)

When a person is newly born into the family of God, the ‘milk’ of God’s Word is vital to their spiritual growth. This applies only to those who know Jesus for without a relationship with Him, there is no life and no desire for this milk.

At one point, Jesus told His disciples, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now." (John 16:12) He gave them milk (meaning the basic principles of the faith) but since they were still infants in their walk with Him, they were not ready for steak. The writer of Hebrews echoes this:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:12–14)

Those who first read this epistle had been Christians for awhile and should have been beyond the basics, but they were still acting like children. In their immaturity, they could not discern good from evil the way they should so were told they needed more of the basics until they grew up.

What is the difference between a babe and a mature Christian? Those verses in 1 Corinthians say that a babe is one who operates in the flesh and behaves like an unsaved person more of the time than he walks in the Spirit. This person lives more like he once did and is not consistent in living a Spirit-filled life. For the Christians at Corinth, this was identified in the way they fought and were jealous of one another.

There are many markers of babyhood. From my experience, I can identify some of them, such as not realizing my own immaturity. Full of milk, I’ve been content for short times without realizing that milk (knowledge) was not enough. I had to go for more solid stuff that only comes when obedience shows I’m ready for it.

Another marker is self-focus. A babe might interact with others but is mostly concerned about having his or her own needs met. I can be a baby in that way too.

A baby also wants its own way; ‘I want what I want when I want it.’ That impatience reveals the lack of an eternal perspective, a focus on this life only. Maturity is more concerned with eternal matters and becoming more like Jesus. A baby does not even think about those things, caring only for personal comfort, personal attention, and earning the smiles of those around them.

Tozer says that our Father wants me to prove in my life that all things written in His Word are true and that His words become a “new and living edition of flesh and blood” in me. This phrase is totally meaningless to a baby Christian. I have talked about being a good person while consuming milk, but the Author of life has far more to put on my plate.

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Jesus, I get it. The steak is sometimes called ‘heart’ knowledge compared to milk’s ‘head’ knowledge, but the meaning is the same. Knowing what You say is not the same as having all of it become part of the way I think, talk and live. Growing up is about feeding on You so that everything I do and say is done in total reliance upon You. Milk may produce some growth, but steak produces energy, muscle and the spiritual power of a grownup!