Slow Work in a Fast World: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture of Convenience

We live in a world that runs on convenience.

Groceries arrive at our doorstep. Movies are streamed in seconds. A question pops into our minds, and we reach for the device in our pocket to summon an answer instantly.

Faster is better.

Easier is preferable.

Slower often feels like failure.

But somewhere along the way, that cultural current seeps into the life of faith—and the results are devastating.

We begin to assume that discipleship, as with every part of our life, should be as frictionless as our shopping carts. We expect transformation to come with the click of a button or the swipe of a screen.  After all, we are being told that transformation is waiting for us at the end of the right click funnel. We lose our tolerance for the long, slow work of becoming like Jesus.

I don’t think we set out intentionally to build a culture of convenient Christianity. But it’s easy to do when everything else in life is optimized for speed and ease. Eventually, we start expecting the church to feel like a service provider and spiritual growth to feel like self-improvement. If something is too demanding, too slow, or too messy, we label it as being inefficient, and we quietly look for something easier.

And yet the God we follow doesn’t seem in a rush.

God Moves at the Speed of Seed

One of Jesus’ favorite metaphors for the kingdom of God is a seed.

Not a lightning bolt.

Not a microwave.

A seed.

A seed disappears into the dark ground.

It is buried.

It waits.

It cracks.

It sends roots before shoots.

And it takes time—days, weeks, even seasons—before anything appears above the surface.  But inside that slow process is an unstoppable, God-ordained mystery of growth.

That’s what discipleship is like.

Following Jesus was never meant to be a convenience—it was always an invitation to transformation. And transformation doesn’t happen at the speed of culture.

It happens at the speed of love.

At the speed of presence.

At the speed of patience, trust, and time.

The Myth of Instant Discipleship

We’ve done something dangerous in the modern church. We’ve confused participation with transformation.

We assume that if people are attending, they’re growing.

If they’re busy, they’re becoming.

If they’re plugged in, they’re bearing fruit.

But none of those things are true by default. Fruit doesn’t come from activity—it comes from abiding.  And abiding is slow.

Discipleship requires repetition.

Reflection.

Resistance to distraction.

It asks us to live at a pace where we can actually notice what God is doing in and around us. And that is hard to do when our spiritual life is squeezed between work emails and social media scrolls.

Convenient discipleship might fill our calendars, but it empties our souls.

Slowing Down to Catch Up with God

There’s an old phrase that says, “If you want to walk with God, you have to slow down. He’s not in a hurry.” And yet we often lead and live in ways that contradict that truth.

We chase momentum instead of maturity.

We plan programs that require more output, but not necessarily more depth.

We expect fast results in spiritual lives that were made to grow slowly and organically.

But maybe now is the time to rediscover the slow work of God.

The quiet growth that happens in honest conversation. The inner transformation that comes from regular rhythms of prayer. The spiritual muscle built through perseverance, not performance. The holy ground of becoming that happens in the unseen places of our lives.

What a Slower Discipleship Could Look Like

So what if we stopped trying to rush it?

What if we let go of the pressure to produce and started paying attention to the slow, sacred movement of the Spirit in ourselves and others?

Here’s what a slower, deeper approach to discipleship might include:

• Sabbath Rhythms – Making space for rest and restoration, reminding us that we are not machines but souls.

• Spiritual Practices – Scripture, silence, prayer, and journaling done regularly—not for performance, but for presence.

• Real Relationships – Discipleship that happens in community, with people who know your name and your story.

• Long-Term View – Shifting from short bursts of activity to sustainable, formational pathways.

• Coaching Conversations – Guiding people not toward busyness, but toward intentional steps, personal growth, and God’s calling in their lives.

The beauty of all this is that it doesn’t require a total church overhaul. It just requires a cultural reorientation.

A willingness to value depth over speed.

Health over hype.

Formation over flash.

Learning to Wait Again

I’ll be honest—this kind of discipleship feels counterintuitive. Even as a pastor, I’m tempted to chase quick wins and immediate responses. I know how easy it is to get discouraged when spiritual growth feels slow or invisible. But I’ve also seen the cost of the alternative: shallow roots, spiritual fatigue, and disciples who aren’t formed for real life with God.

What we need is not more hustle, but more hope.

The kind of hope that trusts God is at work even when we can’t see the results.

The kind of hope that knows formation is happening beneath the surface.

The kind of hope that refuses to trade long-term faithfulness for short-term results.

A Different Kind of Church

Imagine a church that resisted the pressure to be fast and efficient. Imagine a discipleship culture that valued presence over polish. Imagine a people who looked more like trees planted by streams of water than products flying off a conveyor belt.

That’s the kind of church I want to be part of. That’s the kind of community that grows disciples who last.

So maybe the question this week isn’t what’s next?

Maybe it’s what needs to slow down?

Because in a world chasing convenience, the most radical thing we can do might be to stay planted—and trust that God is doing a good work in the soil we cannot see.