Introduction
The given analysis will mainly focus on Bill Fleming’s presentation video and the Scripture to identify, describe, and assess key elements of various phases of spiritual growth.
Discussion
The key point is that a Christian undergoes different stages of spiritual growth throughout his or her life. The author notes that the main strength of faith-centered spiritual growth is that it can act as a core foundation for both physical and psychological domains of one’s existence (Fleming, 2017). However, the weakness is the fact that many Christians fail to follow Jesus’s teachings and become stuck in the integrative faith stage living with contradictions.
The core assumption made is that age correlates with stages of faith, which might not always be true since some people mature more quickly than others. Childish faith is focused on parents’ approval, whereas concrete faith is about complete acceptance of the rules (Fleming, 2017). The relational faith is crowd-centered, and the ideological faith is tied to a worldview, but the integrative faith is incomplete (Fleming, 2017). The final stage is a universalized faith, where the embodiment of the image of Christ takes place. Leaders need to focus on the core drivers of each stage to ensure growth. The Bible states: “You need milk, not solid food!” (Holy Bible, New International Version, 1973/2011, Hebrews 5:13). In general, stages of spiritual growth require Christ, but His wisdom needs to be delivered in correspondence with the phases.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important to note that spiritual growth is an intricate and complex process, but faith remains at the center of all the critical stages.
References
Fleming, B. (2017). Six stages of faith [Video]. YouTube. Web.
Holy Bible, New International Version. (2011). New International Version (NIV). Web (Original work published 1973).