The Marks of Spiritual Immaturity

(NLT)

1. A Desire to Learn

11 There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen.

Four Levels of learning.

a. Unconscious incompetence – We don’t know what we don’t know.

b. Conscious incompetence – We know what we don’t know.

c. Conscious competence – We know what we know.

d. Unconscious competence – We don’t know what we know.

2. A Willingness to Teach

12 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food.

Pedagogy of God: The way that we learn and the way that God teaches. (Greek: Peda = Child + gogy = teacher)

3. The Skill of Discerning Right from Wrong.

13 For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

Jan Anthelme Brillat–Savarine – “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are” (1820)

Conclusion: The Spiritually mature believers come to the throne of grace with a desire to learn. They become skilled in truth and teach others how to discern right from wrong. Let’s learn the spiritual truths around us.