SLOW DOWN!
Hey! Welcome back to he Healthy Discipleship Newsletter. Today, I just want you to slow down.
I’ve recently started rewatching ‘Suits’, a TV show that my wife and I watched years ago and really enjoyed. I’m watching it again because there’s a podcast about it, rewatching an episode a week and discussing it. I love a rewatch podcast, so I’m in.
But I’ve already noticed something about it: one episode a week feels…slow! I’m used to consuming TV a little faster than that these days and I want to press on, not slow down so the podcast can keep up. But I’ve also noticed something else: because I’m watching more slowly, I’m watching much more closely and carefully. When we slow down, we really notice things. I’m actually enjoying Suits more than when I binged it years ago…
Today’s world is fast. When asked how we are a default answer is ‘Busy’. Sometimes we wear our busyness as a badge of honour. But I’m not sure Jesus wants it that way. As a healthy disciple, you and I need to slow down. And here’s three reasons why.
1. Jesus slowed down, so we should too.
Jesus went off to solitary places to pray, sometimes for the whole night, pausing simply to slow down and be with his Father (Luke 6:12). Jesus withdrew when he received bad news, to be alone and process it slowly instead of rushing on (Matthew 14:12). Jesus put boundaries in place, leaving the crowds behind to pause from productive work and simply be with the disciples (Mark 4:36). And he told his disciples to do the same when they’d been busy period of ministry (Mark 6:31). Jesus slowed down often (Luke 5:16) and he stopped to rest when he was physically tired (John 4:6).
Jesus slowed down. Often, unapologetically and intentionally.
A disciple is someone who follows Jesus and seeks to be like him. If he demonstrates that slowing down instead of always going, going, going is vital in life, then it’s vital in your life too.
There are a thousand reasons not to slow down in our world, driven as it is by productivity, work, activity and performance. But none of those reasons matches up to this: if you want to be more like Jesus, you have to slow down once in a while.
2. When we slow down, we change.
There are reasons Jesus does this, though. He doesn’t just slow down for fun. It’s when he slows down to rest from physical weariness that he notices the woman at the well. He could have rushed on by, but instead he is able to embrace an opportunity. It’s when he slows down to seek God in prayer that the 12 disciples are clarified in his mind and he can publicly set them apart. It’s when he slows down in the Garden of Gethsemane that he is able to surrender his will (“Not my will but yours”).
Slowing down changes us. It makes us attentive (like I’m finding with Suits) and makes us reflective.
The four major themes of my book together form the DNA of healthy discipleship. Looking at slowing down through those lenses, I see that:
Slowing down expresses CONFIDENCE in Jesus, knowing we do not need to prove ourselves with effort because he has done everything we need.
Slowing down shows OBEDIENCE to Jesus, because he tells us to come to him and rest (more below!)
Slowing down requires DEPENDENCE on Jesus, because we aren’t relying on ourselves to get things done but trusting he is working even when we are not.
Slowing down opens us up to EXPERIENCES with Jesus, withdrawing with him. (It also takes a chunk of experience to slow down well, but that’s another post I’ll write soon!)
So if we want to be shaped by Jesus as fuller, healthier disciples, slowing down is a good place to start!
3. It’s a command, simple as that.
Let’s stick with the obedience part. Because this is the bottom line: we are told to slow down. Whether it’s in the fourth commandment (about taking the Sabbath seriously), or in the Psalms (“Be still and know that I am God,” Psalm 46:10) or in Jesus’ own words (“Come to me…and I will give you rest,” Matthew 11:28). God’s word commands us not to live life at a relentless pace.
And when God’s word tells us to do something, we have two choices: obey or disobey. It’s a choice.
I work from home, and sometimes our toddler wanders into my office when I’m busy. I’ve made the choice that when he does I will stop what I’m doing, turn around, pick him up spend a couple of minutes with him. I never want him to see me as ‘too busy’ for him. Yes, it interrupts my train of thought. Yes, it makes me less productive. Yes, it’s annoying sometimes. That’s why I’ve made the choice ahead of time, to do what I know I want to do instead of doing what I feel like doing.
Like most choices, we have to make a real plan if we want to follow through. So ask yourself these questions and make a plan with Jesus to slow right down:
When will you slow down this week?
What will you NOT do during that time of slowing down?
What WILL you do with that time?
Who do you need to let know so that it can actually happen?
What are you seeking God for with it? (Physical rest, spiritual breakthrough, fresh perspective?)