Life Stages

With a proper understanding of life stages, we who teach, preach, parent, counsel or just befriend can communicate more effectively the truth of the Word of God. If we understand life stages, then we do not delude ourselves into thinking that just because we said something profound it was understood. There are some things too deep for less mature people to understand. We know the futility of attempting to explain the concept of the Trinity to a five-year-old. Yet in many other ways we attempt to teach something just as complex to immature people. Both Hebrews 4 and 1 Cor. 3 show that all teachers need to be aware of the developmental life stages of the learners. If we are not aware, we can actually communicate the wrong thing.

Development from less to more mature stages throughout life always carries with it some struggles and pain. Children learn to walk, but they fall down many times, injuring at least their pride and sometimes their bodies. But they continue to learn to walk until they can do so without falling. So it is with all development. The discomfort of current ways of dealing with life spurs us on to seek more adequate ways to handle it. The search causes pain because it means letting go of less mature ways of dealing with ideas, events and people and the development of new ways we cannot fully know until after we have completed our development in that area.

The Domains of Life Stages

From conception until death, all people go through normal human life stages. These stages have six major domains: the physical (the most easily observed and measured, which can be used as an example of how growth and development occur in the other five domains); cognitive (or mental); social; affective (or emotional, psychological); moral; and spiritual (or faith). Some potential for development occurs in each period of life within each of the six domains.

In some domains, there is an expansion of what is already there. For example, once children learn how to multiply, they can multiply not just 2 × 2 but large, more complex numbers. For true growth to occur, however, there must be a change in how persons structure their reality. There must be a shift in their perception. This shift is called a change in development or a change in construction of responses to their experiences with their environment. Children learn arithmetic early in their life. But it is probably impossible to teach people to think algebraically until they have developed new mental constructs for handling abstract ideas. So it is in all of the domains of life and throughout all of human life: there are times of expanding what is already developed and there are times to fashion new ways of dealing with the world. Expansion of existing ways of thinking allows for more detailed handling of our environment and our responses to it. Construction of new modes of development allows for new ways of dealing with our environment. Just as arithmetic allows for a certain amount of handling of our experience with numbers, so mathematics allows for a new way of handling mathematical experiences that arithmetic itself could never provide.

The Main Features of Life Stages

Life stages in all these domains are predictable, descriptive and in some sense prescriptive. They are predictable because each stage of life has a relatively universal timetable that most normal people follow. For example, children do not walk by themselves until they can crawl, and even then they begin to walk by holding on to things. The age they begin to walk by themselves varies from child to child and from culture to culture. But all normal children learn to walk by first holding on to things, and they do so according to their own timetable. All the many other life stages are patterned in similar ways to walking. Earlier, less mature stages are necessary for, though not the only cause of, development into later and more mature stages.

These life stages are descriptive because scientific observations have been and continue to be made of people at all ages of their lives. Characteristics common to each stage have been assembled into descriptions of behaviors and thinking that are common to each life stage. These descriptions are generalizations that apply to all human beings across cultures. To be sure, there are some cultural variations, but the basic characteristics are similar across cultures.

Finally, these life stages are prescriptive in that all people must go through each of these stages in order to become more mature. We could say that the rolling-over, sitting-up and walking stages of human physical development are necessary for the ability to run. Likewise, all the less mature stages are prescriptive for later, more mature stages. Because the stages are predictable and descriptive, they are also prescriptive. People must go through these and no other stages. Of course, one must always, in the realm of behavioral science, be open to new descriptions of stages and the discovery of stages heretofore unmeasured. But, once these stages have been observed, they in turn become prescriptive. There are many who argue that description and predictability do not equate with prescription. Yet it is difficult to think of predictable stages that are necessary for growth without their becoming prescriptive.

Textbooks that deal with human development give specifics of all six of the domains and all of the life stages. Three developmental domains, however, are of high concern for Christians, namely cognitive, moral and spiritual. These three areas are the ones that human beings use to understand and apply Scripture. They are the primary ones that define our relationships with our own selves, our fellow human beings and our God. Since the last of these is treated elsewhere (see Faith Development), here we will focus on the first two.

Cognitive Life Stages

The cognitive domain deals with the mental processing of our experiences and thoughts. The pioneer of cognitive development is Swiss researcher Jean Piaget. Piaget identified four stages of mental or cognitive development.

Stage one is called the Sensory-Motor stage. This begins at birth and goes through the second year of life. At first infants have only reflexive actions without intentionality. From these primitive reflexes they develop into intentional actions but ones that usually involve much mental reflection. Much of this stage’s actions are solving problems: learning and interacting with their environment through the use of the five senses, and motor or muscular activities. Language begins here, but much of it is copying the words of those who teach them to speak.

Stage two is called Preoperational and usually begins sometime during the second year and continues till about the seventh year of life. Thinking at this stage is concerned with what is perceived through their senses. Children’s thought is usually limited to their own circumscribed world. Though their thinking is limited in this way, children often ask questions about things that they cannot perceive, such as “What does God look like?”

Stage three is called Concrete Operations. Children often enter this stage around age seven or eight, sometimes a year or so younger. True intellectual activities occur here. But at this stage logic is limited to concrete problems. Abstract reasoning, theological ideas and philosophical thinking are not part of this stage’s repertoire of reasoning. At least 50 percent of the adult population of the United States are reported to have halted at this stage of development. This means that unless they undergo some significant experiential change, a large percentage of those in churches as well as in the marketplace cannot understand abstract ideas about God, salvation and other theological concepts. The implications of this for Christian ministry, evangelism and Christian growth are substantial.

Stage four is called Formal Operations. In this stage people are able to think abstractly. Usually this stage begins, if it ever does, around age twelve. Many people are not well settled into this until the latter part of adolescence or even adulthood. A sizable portion of the adult American population never achieves this level of cognitive maturity. This stage is necessary for understanding much of Scripture, especially the Old Testament prophets, the New Testament epistles and much of Jesus’ teaching.

Moral Development

The second major domain considers the rationale for making moral judgments, that is, how we go about deciding whether something is good or bad, right or wrong, moral or immoral. Lawrence Kohlberg has been the pioneer in this area. He identified three levels of moral development with two stages in each level, giving six stages of moral development. For our purposes, we will look only at Kohlberg’s three levels, not the stages. We will also look at a fourth level that can be identified.

Level one is called the Preconventional Level. This level focuses on issues of right and wrong being dependent on the results to the person making the judgments. People at this level consider the consequences to themselves. If the consequences are good, then the judgment is that a certain action is good, moral and right. If the consequences are negative to those making the judgment, then they decide that their judgments and actions were wrong. The major focus for making these decisions is an egocentric approach to justice. Justice is what is good for the person him- or herself. What happens to others is not a major issue.

People at this level understand God’s offer of salvation as just because by simply believing and receiving Jesus a person escapes hell and gets the good life in heaven. Not a bad deal, according to level-one thinkers. Level one is the marketplace morality: “What’s in it for me?” and “If I do something for you, what will I get in return?” Issues of noble justice or self-sacrificing love do not cloud people’s thinking at this level.

Level two is called the Conventional Level. At this level people make moral judgments and moral acts based on what they think are the expectations of significant others or the law of the land. Their concern is to do what is expected of them. Peers, family, parents and other significant people play a major role in helping people do what is right. For these people, laws of right and wrong are maintained either by their significant others or by the laws of society. In either case, they have moved from being egocentric in their judgments to being concerned with an external moral perspective. This is the major level of most people. Concepts of justice as a principle to be applied in fairness to all others or selfless love are not major issues for people at this level.

Persons at level two respond to the gospel either because a significant other person has introduced Jesus to them or because they understand the biblical law of God that sin must be punished and God himself is willing to forgive those who receive his reconciling gift through Jesus Christ. It is not the consequences of sin or the anticipation of heavenly rewards that make the difference here. It is, rather, that God wants to befriend them forever.

Level three is called the Postconventional or Principled Level. At this level people are concerned that laws and conventions are just in and of themselves. Justice is measured by impartiality and fairness, not by relationships. The picture or statue of blindfolded Justice holding the balance of law in her hand is the model here. Everyone is treated equally. This is not the same measurement that a level-one person would want to exact. Rather it is that all be given a fair chance.

People at this level respond to the good news through the universal demonstration of God’s justice and forbearance. By becoming reconciled to God, they realize that they will be participants with God’s plans for the universe. They will be indwelt by the Spirit of God.

There is a level four that Kohlberg suggests but rejects as not being a true stage. I accept it and call it the Agapic Level. On this level people do not look at the consequences for themselves, nor do they consider what others think or even what the law says, nor are they concerned with equal justice for all. They make their decisions on the law of love as found especially in the life and death of Jesus and in the moral teaching of the apostles in Romans and 1 John. Agapic love asks not what is required nor what the circumstances are; it asks what the other person needs and how such love can be best expressed. This is the love that God demonstrated to us, thereby showing his justice (Romans 3:23-26; Romans 5:8). People at level four are not enamored by being privy to the mind of God but by the beauty of beholding God. Like Moses, they have seen One who is invisible (Hebrews 11:27) and are willing to live radically altered lives of selfless love for the world that God so loved.

In summary, moral development stages approach God from four different perspectives. Level-one people love God because God gives them rewards, especially eternal life. Level-two people love God because God is their friend. Level-three people love God because God has given them insight into his character and actions. Level-four people love like God loves.

Because life can be understood as progressing from less to more mature stages, we can more effectively communicate the Word of God to others as we take this into account. Understanding the basic questions that people face on their life journeys and the developmental issues that each stage sets forth, we can construct more meaningful learning experiences. Understanding life stages also can help us be empathetic toward those who are going through the difficult times of moving from less to more mature stages. Knowing that the movement is God-ordained and therefore normal results in a certain relaxation on our part. We can recognize that God is at work within ourselves and others. We are not complete but imperfect people who are developing continually into the fullness and likeness of Jesus Christ.

» See also: Adolescence

» See also: Christian Growth

» See also: Education

» See also: Faith Development

» See also: Menopause

References and Resources

D. Aleshire, Faithcare: Ministry to All God’s People Through the Ages of Life (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1990); A. Brodzinsky, Life Span Human Development (Austin, Tex.: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1979); D. Levinson et al., The Seasons of a Man’s Life (New York: Knopf, 1978); L. L. Steele, On the Way: A Practical Theology of Christian Formation (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1990).

—John M. Dettoni