Slow Church
Slow & Steady. When I was a child, “slowness” was my middle name. I was slow to roll over, slow to walk, and slow moving from one place to the next. I just didn’t feel a need to rush through life. I knew where I was going and that I would get there in my own good time. It was such a part of my personality, that my mother put a turtle patch on my school bag…and I was proud of it (I guess I’m a little slow with humor too).
My first job at 16 years old was at a fast food restaurant. I know right? My mother thought the same thing!
Honestly, most of my life I have never been concerned with speed. It doesn’t bother me that other people talk faster, walk faster, think faster, move up the ladder faster…I’m very comfortable with the way God made me. I’m content to move through life a little slower than others.
Until I planted a new church.
People seem to be so concerned with speed. How fast are you growing? How fast are you reaching new people? How fast are you discipling and baptizing and enlarging your territory? It’s not the expectations that are exhausting as much as the speed.
Some things in life just take time. TIME. A baby will be born in nine months. Eight months is too early; too fast. A cake will bake in 40 minutes. 25 minutes and it will still be mush. Vegetables planted in the spring cannot be harvested until the fall. I didn’t make the rules. God did. It’s the way life works. Some things, some very good things, take time.
In May, I sensed God calling us to double the size of our faith community in one year. It would mean reaching 100 new people in order to do this. It would mean moving fast. It has been a whirlwind and we are moving fast, but I’m not sure fast has been better. I feel like I am missing out on all that God is doing in people’s lives. We are moving too fast to see His handiwork and transformation. We are moving too fast to even determine if we are reaching people or not. And I’m beginning to think that fast is good, but slow is better.
So this November, I am taking time to slow down, reflect, evaluate, and refocus. I know where we are going and I know we will get there in our own good time.
May you take time this November to slow down, reflect, and refocus. Do you know where you are going? Are you confident God will get you there in His own good time? May you find peace in knowing slow and steady really does win the race.
