Slow and Steady

Watching God at work in the local church by Matt Mitchell

One of my favorite corny jokes goes like this:

Have you heard that scientists have invented a microwave fireplace? That’s right. Families can now enjoy a relaxing evening in front of the fire in only 8 minutes. Ba-dump bump.

Quicker isn’t always better.

So it is with spiritual growth. I want transformation to be quick. But that’s not normally how God works. As a local church pastor, I’ve seen that transformation into Christlikeness often takes time and process. This despite the fact that, near conversion, many people experience some rapid and dramatic changes. But for most of us most of the time, sanctification is a long battle with many defeats and uphill victories. Author and counselor David Powlison has observed that the Lord seems content to work in people’s lives in terms of decades, and in the church at large in terms of centuries. So, we need slow and steady perseverance to get there.

Again, that’s not what I want. And I’m not alone. My mailbox is stuffed daily with glossy brochures promising almost-instant spiritual transformation for our congregation if we just adopt a slick new program.

I’m all for effective strategies, for keeping the need to change in front of people, and for praying fervently for transformation. But I don’t want my American pragmatism and expectation of quick success to cloud my perception of how God is working. The kingdom comes like yeast in the dough and like a mustard seed.

Here’s some encouragement for the long haul:

Start Now // If transformation takes a lot of time, it’s even more important to work on it right away. For our church, that means not waiting for transformation to come over us like some kind of magic trick, but to pray for, exhort, listen to, love and spur one another on right now. Today, not tomorrow (Hebrews 3:13).

Link Arms // John Piper has said that “sanctification is a community project.” I can’t do it alone. When I need encouragement in the uphill battle, I turn to my wife, my small group and my accountability partner. They aren’t afraid to tell me the bad news about myself, but they never fail to tell me the good news about Jesus, either. I need both, and I need them.

And we all need each other. It’s important for the church to stick with people who haven’t changed as quickly as we would like. As we say at our church, “The last chapter of this story isn’t written yet.” We need to hold out hope to each other and for each other.

Face Forward // At its best, spiritual victory looks like a cheetah zooming along the African plain. But often, victory appears as the turtle-like plodding of one foot in front of the other. And sometimes, victory is just resolutely facing forward even if you can’t seem to move. 1

1 I’m indebted to David Powlison for this insight.

Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate // We need to rejoice together at even the smallest victories, especially as a church. Let’s begin to throw “10-second parties” for everyone who makes strides in Christlikeness:

You forgave someone? Hooray!

You were gracious with that person who gets on your nerves? Way to go!

You sacrificed your time and money for that ministry? Three cheers!

A recent visitor to our church experienced kindness? Praise God! We’re getting somewhere!

Keep your head up // Don’t get discouraged if you and the people around you are changing slowly. That’s normal. But be encouraged that you and the people around you are changing. Jesus has promised to build His church (Matthew 16:16). No matter how long it takes, He will not fail.