Left- The African Annual Fish. Right-Olm Salamander
Through the Bible: 1 Corinthians 1-4
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” 1 Cor 3:1-3
Years ago, I was leading a large group of adults through 1 Corinthians 3, where Paul laments the lack of spiritual maturity in the church. I wrote three questions on the whiteboard:
- What are the marks of spiritual maturity?
- How long does it take?
- Do you consider yourself spiritually mature?
The answers to the first question were predictable: develop the fruit of the Spirit. Grow in prayer and Bible study. Cultivate a hunger for God’s Word.
“How long does it take?” Responses came just as quickly: “It’s an ongoing process.” “We’re always arriving—never arrived.”
And almost no one would say, “Yes, I’m spiritually mature.”
None of these answers were wrong. Scripture itself describes our growth as ongoing—God perfecting the good work He began (Phil. 1:6), pressing on toward what lies ahead (Phil. 3:12–14), striving toward the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:13–14).
But sometimes we use those verses as a shield. We hesitate to lead a Bible study, disciple a younger believer, or share Christ because “I’m not mature enough,” or “I just don’t know enough.”
Maybe we’re overthinking what maturity actually means.
To shake things up, I reframed the question for that group. “Pretend we’re biologists,” I said. “How would you define when an animal is biologically mature?”
The list got very short, very fast:
- No longer depends on mother’s milk.
- Capable of reproducing.
If you take maturity out of the ideal and into the practical, the evaluation shifts:
Are you feeding yourself on the Word, or are you still dependent on someone else to break it down for you?
Are you reproducing—introducing others to Jesus and helping believers grow?
By biological standards, that’s maturity. If you’re feeding yourself and reproducing, you’re an adult. If not, you aren’t.
Maybe the conversation changes if we stop talking about spiritual maturity and start talking about spiritual adulthood.
A Tale of Two Vertebrates
When I went down the rabbit hole researching the “fastest animal to maturity,” I found the African Annual Fish. These tiny fish live their entire lives in rain puddles left behind after East Africa’s rainy season. They hatch from eggs that have waited out the dry season in the mud. Within seventeen days, they are capable of laying and fertilizing eggs of their own. Their entire window to grow, reproduce, and leave a legacy is measured in puddle-time.
They don’t have the luxury of taking their time. So they don’t.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Olm salamander, tucked safely away in the cool, undisturbed caves of Eastern Europe. These creatures can live for a century but don’t reproduce until around sixteen years of age.
It seems as though a species’ biological clock is set to correspond to how much time that species has to get the job done. The African Annual fish seems to know their rain puddle is going to dry up. So they get busy. The Olm salamander instinctively knows it’s protected. Insulated. Isolated. So it has the luxury of wiating for Mr. Right.
Plus, it’s blind, so love at first sight isn’t really a thing.
Back to the question
Now, take jump with me from biology back to discipleship: When life feels like a cave—secure, protected, insulated—we take our time.
When life feels like a puddle, we get moving.
Christians, as a species, prefer caves. We want church to feel safe, stable, climate-controlled, and removed from the messiness of the world. But Scripture describes our lives and our mission much more like puddles:
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:15–16)
“Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.” (Colossians 4:5)
“Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)
“You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14)
You don’t have forever. None of us do.
Which is why the writer of Hebrews presses the point even harder:
“Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food… But solid food is for the mature—those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:11–14)
So let me ask you the question I asked that group years ago:
Are you a spiritual adult?
And if not… what is keeping you from growing up?
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