Have you ever heard the frustration of believers who truly want to live for God and grow in their relationship with Him as they say, “It’s like I take one step forward and two steps back”?  They would describe their walk like a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs.  While we all can experience peaks and valleys in our walk with God, for some this seems to consistently be their experience.  These are the believers I would call “spiritual adolescents.”

Spiritual infants and children can experience this as well but they don’t have the strong desire spiritual adolescents have to grow and become who God wants them to be.

Spiritual Adolescents Described:

Romans 7 seems to especially fit the adolescence growth level.

I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing.  . . .  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” (Rom. 7:18-19, 22-23)

1)  Adolescents consistently struggle between what they know they should be doing and what they actually do.  They struggle because they want to be mature yet so often fail.

2)  Adolescents consequently struggle with how they feel about themselves as Christians.  They get to feeling defeated, like they will never get there.

Ministering to Spiritual Adolescents:

• They need lots of encouragement and affirmation for the passion they have to grow and for the steps they do take.  You don’t want them to give up and regress back into spiritual childhood where it was easier because they didn’t care as much.

• They need you to be patient with them.  Spiritual growth is a process.  For some the adolescent struggle seems harder or longer, but if they persevere, eventually they will come through on the other side.  If they feel as though you have given up on them, they will be more likely to give up as well.

• They need to sense there is hope for them. Point them to Jesus as the only source of victory (Rom. 7:24-25).  Keep reminding them that the Christian life cannot be lived in their own strength.

• They need a model.  You need to let them see that no one has arrived yet it is important to press on (Phil. 3:10-14) because it is so worth it.

For more help on ministering to spiritual adolescents, as well as those in the other spiritual growth levels, check out The Teacher’s Role in Discipling Students Toward Spiritual Growth resources.

Up until his death, my dad consistently introduced me to others as his “baby.”  Why?  I was the youngest of seven children.  No matter how old I was, even as an adult in her 30′s and 40′s, he still viewed me as such.  If he was still alive today, I am confident I would continue to hold that position to him.

All of us who have put our trust in Jesus Christ are children of God (Jn. 1:12-13).  Consequently, all through the New Testament God refers to us as His children.  Positionally we will always be God’s children but practically we must grow up to be productive adults and parents.

In this post we will be looking at spiritual children as a growth level, not from a relational position.

Spiritual Children Described:

1 Corinthians 14:20 provides insight into spiritual children.

Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.

Put another way, we could say, be innocent in regard to evil but wise and discerning in your thinking.  Jesus used a different analogy but the message is the same.  He told his disciples, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Matt. 10:16).

The Corinthians needed to stop thinking like children because the thought processes of children don’t always lead to wise decisions.

1)  Children tend to think about themselves.  They are driven by self-centeredness.  The context of 1 Corinthians 14:20 shows Paul dealing with the self-serving use of certain spiritual gifts.

2)  Children tend to be limited by concrete thinking.  They do not always make the connections between choices and consequences.  Paul wanted them to stop and think about the negative results of their actions.

Ministering to Spiritual Children:

• They need help making connections.  Start with what they know and build on that.  Read through the Gospels and you will find Jesus constantly referring to what was familiar to teach the more abstract spiritual truths.

• They need to experience the consequences of their choices.  We cannot, and should not, always intervene to “fix” the consequences of their actions.  Think about God’s discipline.  He forgives us but He does not usually remove the consequences our sin has set in motion.  He does, however, sometimes soften the blow because of His grace but His objective is to make us holy not comfortable.  He desires that we learn from our actions and become better in the future (Heb. 12:5-11).  If we get involved in people’s lives with a “fix-it” mentality, we simply enable them to stay where they are.  “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.” (Eph. 4:15)

Helping spiritual children make connections and experience the consequences of their choices, does not always have to be learned in the harsh reality of life.  Illustrations, object lessons, case studies, role playing, and other simulated situations can be used by preachers, teachers, and counselors.

Learn more about these and other methods in the Sharpening Your Bible Teaching Methods Resource.

Bible teacher training resources looking at all the spiritual growth levels:  Discipling Your Students Toward Spiritual Growth

We Start as Spiritual Infants But Should Mature to the Next Level:

When we think of spiritual infants, we tend to think of new Christians.  That, however, is not always the case.  The writer of Hebrews addressed people who were believers for a sufficient length of time to have matured more than they did.  He said, “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers (spiritual parents), you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” (Heb. 5:12)

Also, be aware that spiritual growth does not necessarily correlate with physical growth.  Adults by physical age can be spiritual infants.  I’ve seen children by physical age who appeared to be more spiritually grown up than some adults I know.  The physical age level development of those we serve must be taken into consideration when serving but guard against treating them solely in accordance with their physiological stage.

Spiritual Infants Described:

1)  Spiritual infants are not very good at discerning right from wrong.  They have a shallow understanding of truth.

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Heb. 5:13-14)

2)  Spiritual infants are not very steady when it come to standing in the face of adversity.  They have a hard time standing firm.

. . . infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.  (Eph. 4:14)

Ministering to Spiritual Infants:

• They need basic content — pure spiritual milk, not solid food (Heb. 5:13-14; 1 Pet. 2:2). Start with what they can understand and build on that.  If you get too far ahead of them, they will not make progress.

• They must want to be fed spiritually, to “crave” it so they can grow (1 Pet. 2:2).  Work at building a passion for truth within them.  Help them see how essential God’s Word is to their lives so they want to be fed.

• They must learn to feed themselves (Heb. 5:13-14).  Accept that you might initially have to spoon-feed them but work toward weaning them.  They will never grow up if they remain dependent on others.

• They must learn to walk in the Spirit so they don’t give in to the flesh (Gal. 5:16-26).  Help them take small baby steps until they become more steady.

Bible teachers, you can take a strategic role in discipling spiritual infants toward spiritual growth.  The Discipling Students Toward Spiritual Growth PowerPoint and worksheets will provide a greater understanding of spiritual infants in different areas of their walk with God along with instruction about the other levels of spiritual growth.

No matter how you serve, however, it is important that you understand where the people are spiritually if you want to best meet their needs.  Bible teachers aren’t the only ones with opportunity for discipling people toward spiritual growth.  We all have a part.

Growth is God’s Intent:

Certain spiritual gifts have been given to the Body with the key purpose being “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up” to “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13). “Then we will no longer be infants” (Eph. 4:14).

Question: How intentional are you in lining up with God’s growth objective?

God Has an Ultimate Growth Objective:

Ephesians 4:15 –

“in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.”

“in all things grow up” -

We grow in grace, knowledge, faith, love, etc. (2 Pet. 3:18; 2 Thess. 1:3; Col. 1:10) which will touch all areas of our lives wherever we are in whatever we do … our feelings, thoughts, words, attitudes, actions.

“grow up into Him … “

Growth has an objective, that of becoming Christ-like so that the fullness of Christ fills all in all of our lives so we are “conformed to the likeness of Christ” (Rom. 8:29) that “in everything he might have the supremacy” (Col. 1:18).

If you want a picture of what a mature believer should be like, look at Jesus.

Questions: How Christ-like are you personally?  How Christ-like is your church?

Growth isn’t automatic but tends to happen developmentally:

1.  We are commanded to grow (2 Pet. 3:18) and to make every effort to increase in faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. (2 Pet. 1:5-7)

2.  God’s Word identifies people at varying stages in their spiritual growth: infants (Eph. 4:14; Heb. 5:13; 1 Pet. 2:2), children, young men/adults, and parents/fathers  (1 Jn. 2:13-14)

In the next five posts we are going to look at different levels of spiritual growth.  Subscribe to receive e-mail notice of upcoming posts.

A teacher training resource published by Ministry Tools Resource Center with PowerPoint slides and worksheets,  The Teacher’s Role in Discipling Students Toward Spiritual Growth, uses these same levels we will be looking at to help Bible teachers think through where students are in their walk with God in order to help them get to the next level.

Questions: At what level of spiritual growth are you?  Are you growing, plateauing, regressing?

Growth must be facilitated:

We each have a part in one another’s growth.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  (Eph. 4:16)

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up . . . warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.  (1 Thess. 5:11-14)

We merely facilitate growth. God actually brings the growth.

… the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow. (Col. 2:19)

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.  (1 Cor. 3:6-7)

If we remember God’s strategic role in the process, we will be less likely to get proud or self-righteous when growth comes.  We will be more prone to be like the Apostle Paul who said, “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.”  Glory goes to God.

Questions: What is your part in helping others grow?  Are you faithfully doing your part?  Are you open to learning from others?  Are you giving God the credit when growth occurs?