Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

Spiritual maturity is not about appearance. There are people who “look the part.” This is sometimes called “passing the eye test.” In basketball, for example, that means being exceptionally tall with big hands. But many who pass the eye test aren’t good basketball players. Some who are shorter are exceptional at the game.

In the same way, when it comes to Christian maturity, there are many Christians who “pass the eye test”—they look the part, but that’s all. Last time we mentioned age, or even the appearance of age. But looks aren’t a very good indication of spiritual maturity.

When I was growing up, I was physically mature earlier than my peers. I had a full, thick beard at the ripe age of 14. In high school I began to be frequently mistaken for a faculty member by freshmen and new faculty. This led to some episodes where I confess, I went along with their misconceptions—not a very mature thing for me to do. I “passed the eye test” but didn’t live up to the personal maturity aspect.

So, Christian maturity isn’t defined by age or appearance. What is it then?

There are possibly dozens of indicators in a person’s life that they are spiritually mature. These indicators may not be consistently displayed; they may even be faked. So, understand no one can make a checklist or provide an exhaustive list of what Christian maturity is.

And I think that is what the student I mentioned yesterday meant when she told me that Christian maturity is a myth. We can only talk about a framework for spiritual maturity.

Additionally, no one ever fully matures spiritually in this life, but we’re still on a road that leads to more and more maturity and whether we mark time or travel down the road is up to us.

So in the next few weeks we’re going to look at some mileposts on that road toward Christian maturity. These are simply marks that help us determine where we are.