For too long, Christians have often looked through the lens of “sin or no sin” instead of realizing there is a passage in scripture that says: 1 Corn 13:11 talks about “reasoning as a child, thinking as a child, and when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Here are a few signs of an immature Christian:

1. Wanting to be important over being a servant to all. Power hungry, a bit over-bearing. Controlling
2. Not willing to let God out of the box, afraid to try new things as the Lord directs. “Stuck.” Fearful.
3. Not skilled in using the sword (the word of God) cutting people, making them bleed. Reckless.
4. Not understanding the discipline of God is a good thing. Mad about discipline. Pouting, acting out.
5. Not settled on the idea of surrender, and growing up IN Christ and allowing him to shape them.
6. Believing they know a lot of scripture and have arrived and are now policemen of everyone else.
7. Prideful, know-it-alls, rebellious, scared to look at themselves in the mirror, wanting what they want “right now” In the natural instead of allowing God to do the work that needs to be done, within them.

Now, that’s just a few “signs’ of an immature Christian. Is Pride, rebellion, and all of that sin? Well, yes but we are born into sin. Jesus took the punishment, redeemed us, and says we are righteous “in Him.”

Baby Christians need a lot of guidance, and maybe need to be counselled, advised, prayed for, fed milk, spoon fed some scriptures that hold them steady (and feed them) but eventually, they should learn to feed themselves, maybe even make their own mashed potatoes and gravy (from bible scriptures they feed on) and then learn how to feed others. That in itself, is a serving process that we need to learn.

You can (if you want to) call yourself a Christian and servant by slamming down a scripture in front of a person, calling it food, and walk away feeling justified if they don’t eat it, because they don’t feel the love.

Jesus took his disciples on a three-to-four-year journey, having them follow him, do things with him, and personally counselled them in each and every situation they faced. For example, when he fed the 5000, he said in Matthew 15, he did not want to send them away hungry, for they had not eaten in three days. His compassion for them was directly linked to the fact: They had followed and listened to him for three days.

Immature Christians take this story and interpret it to mean Jesus wants to do miracles for the whole world, so we better get out there and start doing miraculous feedings for 5000 people.

I challenge you to read the New Testament as if it were a story (at least once). Just walk through it and ask God to show you how Jesus responded to every situation, and why. No agenda to gain a promise you can stand on, no wanting to find out what “sin” you are in, just be an observer and study how he trained the original 12 disciples. Begin to gain “The mind of Christ” In that scenario and see what you can see (from there). Let’s not read scriptures and assume we see. Ask the Holy Spirit to HELP You see!

It’s not too late. For far too long, we have gobbled up scripture and falsely called it knowledge. We turn around and use it to bop people over the head for not being as “righteous as we are.” God doesn’t need any moral policemen to go around pointing boney fingers at their sin. They need to be reconciled to God.

A child in a policeman’s hat has no real authority! They can pretend, talk big, and maybe fool a few other kids, but in reality, they are just playing at something they have not yet “Grown into.”

And everyone can see it.

Laura Grace, Author, “Grace to Grow”