Brooke Greenberg

Brooke Greenberg was born at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore on January 8, 1993. She was delivered by Caesarean section a month early due to “intermittent growth.” In most respects, she appeared to be a normal infant at birth. However, as time passed, Brooke did not develop normally. By the age of 8, she was still the size of a six-month old infant. Brooke never did grow physically and died on October 24, 2013 at 20 years of age, but at a developmental age of between 9 months and 1 year. The sad story of Brooke Greenberg is thankfully very rare. Her condition, now known as “neotenic complex syndrome,” has only been diagnosed in a handful of cases worldwide. 

There is no technical name for a similar spiritual condition in Christians. It is, unhappily, somewhat more common for Christians to fail to develop as they should. “Spiritual failure to thrive” can have many causes, but the bottom line is that Christians, like infants, should grow. They should become spiritual adults – capable of taking on the responsibilities and challenges of the spiritual life. Spiritual growth is normal. Spiritual failure to thrive…is not. As a church, we have a responsibility to assist believers in the process of spiritual growth.