Discipleship Is Slow

We live in a hurry up world where we want things quickly. We have given this desire a nice label: effectiveness. In order to be effective we set goals and then design systems, tools and processes to accomplish our goals. The effectiveness of these systems, tools and processes are then measured against the goals and how quickly they are fulfilled. Unfortunately this value of effectiveness and its outworking has greatly influenced how we understand discipleship.  In his book "Subterranean, Why the Future of the Church is Rootedness", Dan White Jr. puts it this way:

Our location in a postindustrial, Western, efficiency-oriented economy has influenced our framework for ministry. We are conditioned to think in terms of verifiable, stock-market-type results, seeing churches like machines. We tweak this program and adjust that program, add some marketing, crunch the numbers, and produce results––a "if you do this, you get that" mentality.1 


When it comes to discipleship, we design programs and courses to fast track people to maturity and are then surprised at the lack of spiritual maturity and character growth in those who have completed these and even attend church regularly and are involved in Bible study groups. There are other reasons for this failure but are bent toward effectiveness is one of the main ones.

there is no fast track to spiritual transformation

Spiritual transformation is a slow process and it takes patience and faithfulness. It requires a commitment to being rooted in a community of mature believers. To disciple another is to commit relationally to that person for the long term, through thick and thin, through periods of stagnation and even regression. It is a commitment to serve, care for, minister to, to be available while God does his work in the heart of a person. When a person commits to follow Christ there will be significant change within a short time but for that change to take root and deepen requires time. Think of Moses, Joseph, David, and Paul. For all of them a significant amount of time passed before they became the great spiritual movers of their time.

In the parable of the seeds and four soils, the only seed that bore fruit was the one that sank deep roots into good soil. It was what happen underneath the soil that led to fruit and growing roots deeply takes time. There is no quick route to discipleship. Jesus spent 3 years, 24/7 with his twelve disciples and even then the process wasn't completed as demonstrated by Peter and his struggles with the inclusion of the Gentiles in the early church.

a discipline of practice leads to spiritual transformation

In God's economy patience and faithfulness over a time is what matters, not efficiency. Both for the discipler and the disciple. But it is not a matter of waiting for something to happen but a persistent commitment to a discipline of practices that over time develop habits that transform. Spiritual transformation is less a matter of acquiring knowledge and more of acquiring virtues such as patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control and gentleness (Gal. 5 22-23). These virtues are expressions of love and the core of spiritual transformation is to grow in love for God and for others. Virtues such as these are not acquired through reading about them. Rather they are acquired by practicing them.

Anyone who has raised children knows that children learn patience not by an intellectual explanation but by being made to wait for something they desire. They learn kindness by being made to treat others kindly. The more they practice these virtues the more they become part of their nature. Love is not an intellectual process but an act of the will to do what is best for others. Love grows in us as we practice doing good for others even when we don't feel like it.

spiritual discipline requires a community of mature believers

How to we discipline ourselves in this way? First we need others whom we can imitate. This is why we need to be rooted in a community of mature believers whose lives we can observe. Paul admonishes us to: "join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us" (Phil. 3:17). We then must discipline ourselves to act likewise. This requires the support, encouragement and accountability of our community, "let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together" (Heb. 10:24 - 25a), and the empowerment of the Spirit, "I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).  As we practice these virtues they in time become habits, part of our nature that we do without thinking because they have transformed our heart.

Of course for a discipline of practice that becomes a habit takes time. There is no shortcut and acquiring more and more Biblical knowledge is not a substitute. We do need Biblical knowledge to understand what it means to love, to follow Jesus, but moving knowing to doing takes practice over time. Discipleship that leads to spiritual transformation is slow. We need to put aside our bent for effectiveness and rather commit to faithfulness and patience to help each other grow in love.


1. (Subterranean, Why the Future of the Church is Rootedness, Dan White Jr., Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, Or., 2015, location 405, Kindle Book)