Paul issues a nuanced command in 1 Corinthians 14:20: 'Brothers and sisters, stop being infants (νηπιάζετε) in your thinking. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.' The verb derives from νήπιος ('infant' or 'child') and denotes childlike behavior. Paul's rhetoric is paradoxical: childishness in thought is a vice (lack of understanding, susceptibility to error), but childlikeness in relation to evil is a virtue (innocence, lack of malice). The Corinthians' obsession with showy spiritual gifts reveals intellectual and spiritual immaturity. Paul calls them to grow up—to pursue love and edification rather than self-display.