Slow Burn

Everything in society now wants to be a super speed, with no waiting or latency. It affects our own life and expectations, it affects the way we do church, it affects our understanding of God's mission.

Yet leadership is best done through relationship and shared values ... and this needs time. There is rarely a high speed download option for this kind of stuff - it is typically learnt through the ongoing university of life. Of course there are different universities to choose from - we need to repeated choose the University of Spirit-filled life, founded by God, where Jesus Christ is the Principal.

The Godly influence we have is therefore generally a slow burn process, permeating what we do, how we structure, and what we attempt. I was struck by the leadership book 'The Tortoise Usually Wins' by Harris who covers this subject more thoroughly.

Bible commentators reckon Jesus took about three years to prepare the way for Kingdom/Spirit age that he inaugurated, yet technically he could have covered the journeys/events recorded in the gospels in just a matter of weeks. In those three years he forged relationships; characters that could then carry the scripture-understanding download that he gave late on, and the Pentecost experience that would follow.

21st Century Mission needs to be open to God's high speed download for when He chooses to give it, but must also realise the appropriate place of slow burn too.