Breaking the Growth Barrier
Mike Yaconnelli offers these challenging words about a prominent barrier to spiritual growth:
“What keeps many of us from growing is not sin but speed…Spiritual growth is not running faster, as in more meetings, more Bible studies, and more praying meetings. Spiritual growth happens when we slow our activity down. If we want to meet Jesus, we can’t do it on the run. If we want to stay on the road of faith, we have to hit the brakes, pull over to a rest area, and stop. Christianity is not about inviting Jesus to speed through life with us; it’s about noticing Jesus at the rest stop.”[i]
To remain on the road of faith, we have to hit the brakes. Deceleration is especially necessary for healthy relationships. For many of us, it was our failure to brake which ultimately created brokenness in a relationship. When we survey the moments in which we’ve most harmed others or most neglected others, many of them correlate with times of hurry. The greater the hurry the greater the harm. What keeps many of us from growing, especially in our capacity for love, is not merely the selfishness of our hearts but the speed of our lives. If we want to break our greatest growth barrier, we’re going to have to break the speed barrier.
We cannot be who Jesus envisioned us to be in relationship to other people when rushing characterizes our lives. Relationships take time. Compassion takes time. Kindness takes time. The more we bring hurry in our encounters with others the less we bring help. The greater our busyness around others the fewer blessings we bring to others.
The cure? Slow down. Joseph Bailey suggests that love has a certain speed. Love travels at a certain rate. What is that speed? Bailey argues that love usually travels much slower than we do. If we wish to practice more love we have to reduce our RPM’s so that we are traveling at the speed of love.[ii] This allows us to be fully present in any given moment—present to those around and to their needs.
What’s your current speed? How does this differ from the speed of love?
Steps to Slowing
Slowing is a discipline designed to eradicate frenzy from our lives. The practice of slowing involves intentionally placing yourself in circumstances which create time for noticing and attending to others. Slowing means placing yourself in a situation where you are forced to wait.
Here are some small ways to start practicing slowing: [iii]
- Drive in the slow lane.
- Eat your food slowly.
- Get in the longest line at the grocery store.
- Go the entire day without looking at a clock.
- Make shorter appointments.
- Don’t schedule back-to-back appointments with no break in-between.
- Take a deep breath before answering the phone.
These practices only prompt growth if we are intentional within them. We are not just creating time to kill. We are creating time to contribute. As we slow we strive to become attentive to our surroundings and to the Spirit. We seek to remember that God is present in this moment and that he may wish to use us to bless someone nearby.
Take Ten
Take ten minutes today and force yourself into a situation where you have to wait. While your engine idles, look around. Who do you see? What are their needs? In what ways might God work through you to bless them? Take a moment and silently pray for God to use this “idle” time to bless someone.
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[i] Mike Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality (Zondervan, 2007).
[ii] Joseph Bailey, Slowing Down to the Speed of Love (McGraw – Hill, 2004 ).
[iii] John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Zondervan, 1997), 89; Adele Calhoun, SpiritualDisciplines Handbook (IVP, 2005), 81.
