[ On July 5-7, The Ekklesia Project will hold its annual gathering in Chicago, which will be on the theme of Slow Church.  Between now and July, we will be running a series of lguest reflections here by folks connected with the E.P. We've asked guest posters to reflect on the meaning of Slow Church from their own local contexts. More info on the E.P. gathering.  ]

Today’s reflection, the fifth in the series, is by Ted Lewis.

Read the previous post in the series by Susan Adams.

Over the past two years I’ve been part of a small men’s group in my church, and one thing has been clear to me: all of our journeys of formation are moving along very slowly.  We also talk about issues of congregational formation, and we usually see this growth as going at a snail’s pace.  In both cases, it appears that Resistance Factors outweigh Growth Factors for new formation.

Biblically speaking, I guess we are in good company.  Old Testament narratives about the Israelites highlight their chronic resistance to repentance, and Gospel narratives emphasize how the disciples just didn’t get what Jesus was saying.  “Let these words sink into your ears,” Jesus said when forecasting his betrayal and suffering (Luke 9:44).  “But (the disciples) did not understand… and were afraid to ask him.”  It’s almost as if a part of us doesn’t want to understand, because if we really did ‘get it’, we would have to change.  In a similar situation, Jesus called two disciples “slow of heart” for not comprehending the significance of a messiah who had to suffer (Luke 24).

In this biblical light, slowness is hardly a virtue to be sought.  This slow-to-learn, slow-to-turn character trait seems to match up with the fool of Proverbs who never sees the need for growth, building up default-level defenses to resist change.  How then do we move from this negative connotation of slowness in our personal and congregational formations toward a positive notion of slowness that supports a Slow Church in today’s fast-paced world?

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