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Practical Godliness: Solid Food & the Christian Life


by Chris Schlect

I was recently* involved in a conversation regarding two distinguished, voluminously-published theologians. Both are divorced; their wives left them because they spent so much time reading, writing, and teaching that their families suffered from neglect. I was also disappointed to hear of a pastor who wrote a rather helpful book on child discipline, yet has a rebellious child. All three of these men know their Bibles very well, but their lives have not demonstrated practical godliness.

Practical godliness lies at the heart of the Christian life. Knowing good and evil is important, but it is not enough. Good must be practiced.

The Scriptures speak of a difference between milk and solid food. Milk is for the immature, and solid food is for the mature. We often associate milk with simple, basic truth, and solid food with lofty theological concepts. But Scripture denies any necessary correlation between godliness and vast Bible knowledge. The men mentioned above could tell us much about the Bible’s teaching on family life, but I would never recommend them as family counselors.

We read in Hebrews that solid food belongs to “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (5:14). The difference between milk and solid food is practice. Truth doesn’t impact lives when it is merely affirmed; it must be applied.

A particular verse may be milk to one person and solid food to another; the difference lies in how the verse affects lifestyle. When Paul tells the church in Corinth that he feeds them only milk because of their inability to take in solid food (1 Cor. 3:2), we should not conclude that his first letter to them is full of fluff. Quite the contrary—it carries good instruction for both the young and the mature in Christ. Through perseverance, the young will become mature.

John Calvin once wrote, “Christ is milk for babes and strong meat for men.” He was correct. Every doctrine which can be taught to theologians is taught to children. As we mature in Christ, we don’t move on to different, “deeper” topics. The maturing Christian is the one who remains in pursuit of that which he has sought from the beginning. Solid food always leads Godward. The Lord remains the same; our lives change.

 

*Written in 1991.

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