The Sunday School class looked inquisitively at the table at the front of the room, even more so when I began to set up a hot plate.  No one expressed surprise when a bottle of milk and a glass appeared, but there were some chuckles when I brought out a stick of pepperoni and dropped it into the glass.  I then opened the class with prayer, set the hot plate on low, and read from the book of Hebrews:

           Then, to the dismay of the class, I opened the milk bottle and poured a little into a pan that was on the hot plate.  “Looks like a good breakfast, doesn’t it?” I smirked.

           I proceeded to discuss how milk was food for the less mature, and that those who needed it shouldn’t remain dependent on it all their lives, but should eventually grow to the point where solid food was necessary for the normal diet of a growing person.  I spent a little time discussing some characteristics of someone who was in need of milk and not yet ready for meat.  Then I produced a bottle of steak sauce and poured a little bit of it into the milk in the pan and commented, “This ought to make our steak taste better, huh?”

           After this I talked for a few moments about the qualities of those who were ready for the strong meat of the Word.  I dug a little deeper into the ideas presented in the Hebrews passage as well as other passages such as I John 2:12-14 and discussed some of the insights there concerning maturity.  I then noticed that a few people near the front were beginning to smell my concoction, so I wrapped things up by inviting one of the elders to come to the front and tell me what he thought about my cooking skills.  Being a good sport, he gazed into the pan and said, “Looks like a mess.”  So I closed the lesson by saying that no matter how much someone may try to make it look, taste, and smell like meat, milk is still milk.  Don’t be fooled; know what you’re being served.

           I have never seen a group of ushers move as quickly as the ones from this church did when the time came to help me clean up the table—and, of course, to insure that no mishap occurred on the carpet.

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           A complaint often heard when someone leaves his or her regular church and decides to search for another one to call home usually goes something like, “I’m just not being fed there.”  Pastors and ministers may get quite offended at such statements, and rightly so if the exiting member is seeking something emotionally moving or that caters to a particular niche.  But this complaint can be a legitimate one, especially if the teaching or preaching betrays a set of pet doctrines being pushed, a lack of sufficient study in preparation, or a faulty estimation of the listeners’ needs.  It can be especially frustrating to someone who has been a Christian for a long period of time and feels that he’s heard it all before, or that perhaps he’s being “talked down” to.  In short, there is usually a sense of “I’m looking for meat, but all I’m hearing here is milk.”  Certainly a teacher of a large group needs to be sensitive to the fact that there are people of many different learning levels represented.  But most often the miscalculation is made when something is presented at the level of the lowest common denominator, and the more mature Christian is expected to feed on a more advanced level on his or her own time.

           In order to prepare a teaching that is motivating, Biblically sound, spiritually challenging, and far from boring (not as tall an order as it may appear), it is imperative that the preparer spend sufficient time intelligently searching the Scriptures, quality time in prayer seeking the mind of God on the matter, and find ways to present the many facets of a topic to a potentially varied audience.  Even if everyone present does not get a grasp on all of it, at least they all can get something especially tailored to their own needs.  When a person who is more cerebrally motivated hears a fact that also conveys a spiritual challenge, he or she can usually be balanced by the one who seeks merely to be inspired, but in the process picks up on something that causes more thought.

Rare

           Teachers who don’t spend a lot of time “cooking up” a Bible study often fall back onto the idea of rattling off a list of things they found in the news or heard from other sources; a practice which really only amounts to an attempt to demonstrate that they emulate the “children of Issachar” as mentioned in First Chronicles 12:32.  Listeners will be regaled with a most fascinating smorgasbord of observations, speculations, facts and pseudo-facts which are then carefully compared in great detail to apocalyptic and prophetic passages, Hebrew laws and traditions, or historical sidebars.  And it’s all the better when they can cite credible sources.

           It is never a bad thing to exhort Christians to be ready for the return of Jesus; He Himself said that we must occupy till He comes.  But when the major point of a teacher’s message consists of little more than an attempt to make your jaw drop with hard-to-find news items delivered in a can-you-top-this tone of voice, we must wonder how much preparation time was spent in the Scriptures rather than the tabloids.  I’m not saying that these are the wrong things to include in a teaching when they are appropriate, but let’s face it—we may be enjoying a very nice dairy dessert, but do not confuse it with meat.

Medium

           Another interesting way to prepare a Bible study without having to actually open a Bible is to delve into apologetics and philosophical debate.  It is relatively easy these days to find a plethora of books and articles that catalog the many historical, scientific, and logic-based defenses of the details of Scripture.  It is also easy to bolster up any group of believers’ confidence in their ability to present and defend their faith before the skeptical by providing ample armaments and arguments.  It is even easy to come up with new, innovative, and graphic ways to illustrate these facts so that they are made simple enough to pass along to others.

           Again, let me strongly state that these are not bad things to know and teach.  It is of great importance to quell fears and answer questions, especially among those who might be relatively new to the faith.  It is always good if we can prevent someone from an unnecessary battle with doubt, and we should do so whenever possible so that no one becomes overwhelmed.  There will always be mental conflicts within ourselves about what we believe, but some of those are more easily set aside when the assurance of the existence of a feasible answer is there.  Even so, we can not let ourselves mistake this nutritious side-dish for the main course.

Well done

           If you are looking to give something to students of the Bible that more nearly approaches a state known as “burnt,” consider presenting an abundant portion of theological minutiae.  It can be great fun to parse verbs, dissect prefixes and suffixes, define the idiosyncrasies of Greek grammar, and quibble over fine shades of meaning which were obvious and well-stated in the plain translation in the first place.  It can bring you much joy to flex your intellectual muscles in the demonstration of your cerebral prowess.  But by the time you convince them, it is most likely that your students will be the ones who feel burnt.

           An important point needs to be made here: there is a way to distinguish the difference between educating and indoctrinating.  Education provides facts and shows how to work with them, while indoctrination presents opinions and shows how to defend them.  Educated people contribute genuine ideas, while indoctrinated people simply perpetuate the notions and views of others.  Educators produce thinkers, while indoctrinators produce parrots.

           Endless attention to picayune detail may fill time and prove minor points; but rather than fill hungry hearts, it most often does little more than swell heads or push forward bad attitudes and strife.  Although there are occasional doctrinal disputes that require this amount of persistence in their resolution, many of the mental calisthenics described above provide merely a sidetrack on the path to the authentic goal of Biblical teaching, which the Bible speaks of as the building up of the body of Christ.  Be sure and floss your teeth afterward.

Exercise for the jaw

           Meat, to put it bluntly, is something that has to be chewed first before it can be digested; even ground meats still require at least some application of the teeth to be properly absorbed by the digestive system, otherwise, we get a belly-ache.  Spiritually, meat is something that promotes meditating and soul searching (not belly-aching), and may take some time before it becomes fully assimilated.  In Scripture, an applicable term from the Greek in the New Testament is meletao (Strong’s Greek #3191), which is translated meditate in First Timothy 4:15.  One of the root ideas implied in the etymology of that word is “to revolve in the mind,” which adequately illustrates the process.

           A well-presented Biblical truth always betrays the fact that you have done this same type of self-application and introspection when you prepared it.  Then can you teach with authority and depth, as Jesus did in the Sermon on the Mount (see Matthew 7:28 and 29).  The scribes and Pharisees taught theory shrouded in detail, but Jesus’ teaching was borne of His experience with the Father.  A wise teacher can suggest specific applications for changing the hearers’ lives and can show in humility and lifestyle how these truths are worked out.  And a wise hearer will have something to take home and work through in prayer, thought, meditation, and follow-up Bible study.

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           So the next time someone tries to present milk that is being masqueraded as some type of meat, apply the obvious tests and check to see what is really there.  Meaty teaching may at first seem a bit theologically disagreeable, but after some time it may emerge as merely a variant perspective or a difference too minor to even point out.  Hopefully, those really ready for meat are beyond the impulse to give knee-jerk reactions to any unfamiliar ideas, but can capably and maturely handle anything that might be false while at the same time absorb what is true, even though it may be outside their own experience at the time.