Something had been bothering me for a while, but
exactly what was unclear until it leaped out at me in my studies the other day.
Read this familiar passage, Hebrews 5:11 through
6:2:
About this we have much to say,
and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 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.
Therefore let us leave the
elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a
foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of
instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the
dead, and eternal judgment (Heb. 5:11–6:2).
Does anything about this
passage bother you? Read 6:1–2 again. Now?
What’s been eating at me for some time and I did not see it is that we
have a large segment of Christians who are highly advanced in nothing but the
fundamentals, and their leaders have never moved them on. Through an abundance
of study and reading theology books, podcasts, conferences, etc., we have
created an illusion of maturity without the substance of it. Let me explain.
We are all familiar with the
author of Hebrews chiding his audience for their spiritual immaturity—their
reliance on “milk” and their inability to digest “meat.” I remember from very
early in my theological journey, as a young Reformed reader, devouring R.C.
Sproul’s books. One small pamphlet he wrote addressed this issue, and I
remembered something special from it. I still have it. In that little pamphlet,
I found the line that had stuck out to me so many years ago: “There is
a vast difference, however, between a childlike faith and a childish faith,
though the two are often confused.”1
The rest of the booklet is
taken up largely with analyzing reasons why people do not study theology more,
and giving reasons why they should. This is good, for true beginners, but it
needs to go much further. For good reason, Sproul himself recently got
righteously angered with a conference audience for not even absorbing the basic
ideas he’s been teaching for decades now. His frustration showed as he bellowed, “What’s wrong with you people?! I’m
serious! This is what’s wrong with the Christian church today.”
I can feel his pain. Christians
too often don’t even read up on the foundational elements. But worse, those
that do often stay there reading books on the same foundational topics
for the rest of their lives. Full-orbed worldview application seems too
radical, too controversial, too much of a sacrifice, sometimes too antisocial.
The real conviction for us today, therefore, lies in exactly what
this passage in Hebrews considers to be “milk.” Read it. It is virtually
everything we today consider to be the meat of theology: the doctrine of
Christ, the doctrine of repentance, the doctrine of faith alone, the doctrine
of baptism, the doctrine of laying-on-of-hands, the doctrine of resurrection,
and the doctrine of final judgment. Kindergarten, all.
These are the doctrines the author
says are mere fundamentals and from which we need to “leave” and “go on to
maturity.” In other words, we don’t really need another book on Christology, or
hell, or “the gospel.” We need Christians to move on from these
foundations.
What is maturity?
An important question to ask, then, at this point, is, “What exactly is
this “maturity” to which we are supposed to move on?” If most of the things we
normally think of as “theology” are actually just the fundamental milk of it,
what then is the meat?
It is instructive to see that
the book of Hebrews itself makes “maturity” (also translated “perfection”) a
theme. The word used in 6:1 appears in other forms throughout the book as an
attribute of what our High Priest, Christ, has already achieved for us, and for
which the Aaronic priesthood and “the law” could not (2:10; 5:9; 7:11, 19;
7:28; 9:9, 11; 10:1; 10:14). It is also an attribute in which believers are
said to share (11:40; 12:23). In other words, the perfection Christ has
achieved is the type of maturity into which we should grow also. This is His
work for us and in us. Fittingly, the word used in 6:1 is in the passive
voice. It should literally read, “let us be moved on. . . .”
A brief study of this concept in
Paul’s epistles reveals the same idea: growth unto maturity. What it reveals
about that maturity/perfection is helpful for us:
And he gave the apostles, the
prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for
the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain
to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature
[“perfect”—same word] manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves
and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in
deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body,
joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each
part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in
love (Eph. 4:11–16).
A mature Christian, by this standard, will be one with full and sound
doctrine, for sure. But there is more to it. Let’s read a bit more before we
say what.
The word also appears in
Colossians: “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together
in perfect harmony” (Col. 3:14). What is the
rule of perfection here? It is love. Same as in Ephesians 4 above. But how is this love expressed? Both passages (read the
whole of Col. 3:1–4:6) make it
clear that it is expressed through the work of ministry, self-control,
self-improvement, conformity to God’s law, good works, good
relationships within family, business, with employees, and a good witness to
unbelievers. Indeed, a close reading of Colossians 3 will reveal that Paul is merely
applying several of the Ten Commandments to all of life.
With all of this in mind,
return to the book of Hebrews. You can actually see the exact same application
being made, only it is spread out over the long, detailed argumentation that
takes place in the book.
The author broaches it almost
immediately already in chapter 6: “Though we speak in this way,
yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to
salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that
you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do” (Heb. 6:9–10). The standard is works of love
and service. He immediately digresses into more detailed comparisons of Old and
New Testaments. He first digressed into the maturity discussion in 5:11, when
he left off about Melchizedek. He picks up on Melchizedek again in 7:1, and
discusses the priesthood until the end of the chapter. He summarizes himself up
to that point in 8:1–2, then speaks about the New Covenant. In 9–10, he
discusses the “shadows” of the Old Covenant more, including the sacrifices and
priesthood. In 10:14, he arrives at the point again: “For by
a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being
sanctified.”
This leads to a discussion of
“how we should then live”—in the light of Jesus’ perfection for us and of us.
It says this, in part:
Let us hold fast the confession
of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us
consider how to stir up one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:23–24).
Again, “good works.” Then
follows the famous chapter 11: a long list of good works and exploits
accomplished “by faith.” This includes everything from subduing kingdoms to
suffering the worst of persecutions.
We could say more about
chapters 12 and 13 as well, but the point is clear: moving on
to perfection/maturity means moving on from the learning of basic, foundational
Christian doctrines to application by faith of those doctrines in every
area of life.
Conclusion
While I don’t think intellectual assent to these ideas will involve much
controversy at all, I believe a truly honest assessment of ourselves in light
of them will be much more difficult. The vast majority of even serious
Christians today are considered serious because they read lots of books and go
to conferences. But the vast majority of Christian books and conferences I see
are far closer to the topics of milk than meat. And yet, we feel as if the milk
books we read are in reality meat.
Worse yet, the vast majority of Christian ministries out there keep their
followers unweaned with an endless supply of materials on the basic gospel
level, or even apologetics that deal mainly with foundational truths. I see
endless debates over milk, and Christians addicted to the nipple. When presented
with meat, they don’t even think it’s Christian. They don’t know what to do
with it. They scoff and turn up their nose. As a result, followers can spend
years or even decades stuck I the infancy described in Hebrews 6 while thinking they are being highly
trained.
What is sorely needed is for Christians to move on from their studies of
tulips and empty tombs, systematics and solas, and begin to consider how they
can apply biblical truth to all of life—that is, consider how we can
provoke one another to love and good works. The end of the Christian
faith is a maturity defined by good works and service. It’s great that others
have labored to build good foundations; but we are called to build upon those
and go further. Let’s embrace a view of ministry that advances Christian
worldview in every area of life.
