Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Faith

Milk vs. Meat

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Monday, 09 June 2008
Filed under: Faith, Holy Hip-Hop

I was IM tonight talking with my friend Antoine and a thought came to my mind as I was reading someone else's blog. The thought is this: why is there such a problem with the idea of "milk vs. meat" in the realm of Holy Hip-Hop? After thinking about it for a few minutes, I came to the conclusion that a lot of people misunderstand what "milk" is in relation to what "meat" is. I then correlated that with the fact that a lot of emcees say that they are giving milk to their listeners when they really aren't giving them anything at all.

Let me start by laying some groundwork. For starters, both milk and meat are food, spiritual food to be more precise. Let's not look past this point so quickly because this is where the misconception begins. Milk and meat are the same thing (food), but they are structured in a way that is either easier or more difficult to digest. A babe is unable to feast on meat without choking on it or its stomach having trouble digesting the complexities of the food. On the other hand, the adolescent or adult is equipped with the necessary tools to both chew and digest meat. For the believer, our food is the Word of God. Again, a key point; they are both the Word of God, milk and meat, just in different stages of complexity. What does this look like in action? As a point of example, we could say that teaching a new believer about the basics of salvation and repentance is considered milk. Notice that this is still truth of the Word of God, but it is given on a level that they can understand and isn't over their head. Then you have the meat, which is still teaching a believer on salvation and repentance, but getting into its depths with doctrines such as the atonement, substitution, hamartiology, peripatology, and so on. Teachings such as these cover the same thing as the milk, but on a more complex level that takes more chewing and digestion to fully grasp. Regardless of the depth of teaching, milk or meat, the content should be the same: the Word of God.

I think a lot of people misunderstand that concept; they think that milk and meat are two different things, opposed to the same thing at varying depths. This concept then creeps into the line of thought where artists say that they are giving their listeners milk, but there is no message at all. Going back to the paragraph above, milk should still offer the Word of God, but just on an easier to understand level, not ignoring the Word altogether. Yes, it's fine to write feel good songs and the like, but that's not milk. Christian rap & hip-hop comes in many different forms, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. There is a place for artists like Sivion and Braille or Sev Statik and RedCloud; what they offer in their music is solid Christian content, but it's not milk or meat, it's just music with solid content. That's not to say that there's no biblical content (because there is), but it's not teaching the Word.

So what is milk and what is meat (at least in my eyes)? Quite obviously cats like shai linne, Timothy Brindle, Christcentric, Cross Movement, and the like are the ones that are offering up the spiritual meat in holy hip-hop. These are the guys who are offering up that weighty spiritual truth for the listeners to chew on for days upon days; you know, those albums that keep you coming back for more and you come away with something new every time you listen to it. That would mean that guys like Urban D., the Yuinon, La Familia Muzik, Jahaziel, and others are the ones who are offering up the spiritual milk for their listeners. No, their music isn't any less edifying, but it is music that is on a level for that is easier for the spiritual babe or younger believer to grab hold of and learn from. In other words, they're making music to meet the listener where they're at so that they can grow in maturity and come to appreciate the guys who are spitting the spiritual meat.

I don't mean this to bash anyone, if I did, then I apologize. I just want us to get our terms straight when we're talking about our music and ministry. There is no distinction between the milk and the meat because they are both the Word of God; the only difference that exists between them is the depth in which you take your listener. Rapping about everyday life with a positive Christian spin is just that, but it's not milk, just like it's not meat. The guys who are intentionally putting the Word of God into their rhymes are the ones who are spitting milk or meat, and it's a blessing to have those cats who are able to give you both (I think CMR/Reach are cats that do both well). So yeah, this is just some encouragement for us all to better clarify what it is that we're doing. Again, if you don't have the milk or meat in your rhymes, but you're repping Christ, then the community has love for you too, believe that. I just want you to use caution when you say your stuff is milk for the baby believer but all you're giving them is air pudding (as my parents used to put it).

God bless and keep growing!