Speed kills
I remember driving on a road with quite a few dangerous bends in it. At one point I found written on white paint on the road SLOW, which was not a surprise, but a few metres on was written SLOWER – this surprised me and I almost then expected to read a few metres further on YOU’RE STILL NOT GOING SLOW ENOUGH. But they probably did not have enough paint to write all that! The people who wrote the warnings knew that we like speed too much and we have to be told more than once we are going too fast. Speed kills after all.
But over the past few months I have also learnt that speed can kill our souls also. The pandemic has forced us to slow down, even to stop, and as we have done that, in our church lives as well as our individual lives, we have realised just how fast we have been travelling and it has not been good for our souls. We need to relearn - as Eugene Peterson paraphrases Matthew 11:8 in the Message - the unforced rhythms of grace.
Impatient? Shallow? Isolated?
As the ministries and programmes of church life have been stripped away one by one just leaving us worship and prayer, we have been forced to reconsider what is truly essential. We have been forced to pause, pray, reflect, prioritise. As the roll out of vaccines gathers pace and we look back to a return to normality, what will we take from this and how will it reshape our practice into the future?
We have learnt a lot about digital church, and maybe some of us will continue our digital presence as it provides a good front door into our churches for this generation, but I am convinced that it is just a front door. We must be careful as digital church cannot replace face to face relating, discipling, serving, loving and listening. Digital church can further accelerate bad habits of being unthinking consumers who do not really engage meaningfully with church or God, who replace presence and transcendence with mere spectating and observation as all the time our attention spans decrease. According to a research study funded by Microsoft, between 2000 and 2015 the average attention span decreased from twelve seconds to eight seconds.
Jay Kim in his provocative book entitled Analog Church says “The speed of the digital age has made us impatient. The choices of the digital age has made us shallow. The individualism of the digital age has made us isolated.”
Nurturing a new rhythm
So my hope as we turn into this new year and new season is that I will nurture a new rhythm which is:
- more analogue than digital, by listening to the natural rhythms of my spirit and slowing down and processing more before moving on;
- more questioning of programmes in church, asking does this programme or ministry really help us to nurture disciples and witness for the kingdom or just tie people down in activity for activity’s sake;
- more open to the presence of God in the small details of life, rather than assuming God is just interested in the big events of the world;
- more abiding in God, so that my asking is directed by what he wants rather than what I want;
- more invested in relationships, whether that be in my extended family or in the parishioners on the margins of church life;
- more grateful for the little mercies we have so often not appreciated in the past – a handshake, a hug, a coffee with friends, sending an email or letter of encouragement;
- more aware of the truth that so often less is more.
Taking our pulse
When a heart is fluttering or beating too fast it may need to be shocked into a more regular and healthy rhythm. The pandemic has been a bit of a shock to us all but we can learn from it to move on from here and develop a more healthy lifestyle.
Can I encourage us to slow down in 2021 and seek the unforced rhythms of grace? It is unforced because we walk closer to the Spirit – “keeping in step with the Spirit” - as Paul exhorts in Galatians 5:25. I cannot determine the detail of what this will look like for you. Your circumstances and life situations are different from mine, but God’s Spirit is with you and he knows what you need best. So slow down and enter into his rhythm. Learn to keep in step with him; don’t get too far ahead and don’t get too far behind. Keep in step, stick to his pace. This will open up wonderful opportunities for growth in your relationship with your heavenly Father as you walk together in prayerful conversation.
As a loving Father he knows what the best pace is to set for you. It is bespoke. He knows when we are climbing a hill of difficulty to go slower as we labour through a trial. He knows when we are on level ground and the pace can be picked up. Keep in step with the Spirit. Listen for his promptings. Be sensitive to his nudgings. A slower rhythm facilitates this relationship of grace.
Zigging when the world is zagging
I close with these words from Jay Kim: “The Christian church has always been marked by her ability to create and invite people into transcendent spaces and experiences. The church has always been more dynamic and effective when she has stood in stark contrast to the dominant culture of the day – zigging when the world is zagging. This sort of creative resistance and prophetic posture is what we need most in the digital age. To gather when the world scatters. To slow down when the world speeds up.”
Let’s go slower in 2021. Speed kills.
Rev Norman Cameron is minister of High Kirk Presbyterian Church in Ballymena.
This blog is part of the digital programme series, Refined, to help move our denominational conversation on from what was needed to initially respond to the Coronavirus pandemic, to seeking God’s leading and guiding for this next season of church life together.
Visit the Refined hub here.