Anne Witton on mission

In today’s culture, we so often want quick fixes and instant results. We’re told that attention spans are getting shorter and shorter. The window of opportunity for catching someone’s attention in a YouTube clip is 5 seconds. We buy on credit because we don’t want to save up. We get impatient if we have to wait more than 5 mins for a bus. So often we want something instantly without having to wait at all.

In contrast, maturity is something that develops over time and with perseverance. Just think of the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5). Fruit doesn’t grow in an instant. In the same way that a deep marriage relationship is not secured without devotion, and investment of time and energy, so a deep relationship with God is not developed without the same. There aren’t any short-cuts, and if we’re looking for some, then maybe we’ve misunderstood what it means to be a Christian and have a relationship with God.

There are a number of Christian resources around which tell us how we can get the most from God in the shortest time possible. There are devotionals which are intended to be done in about 10 minutes. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with grabbing 10 mins with God over a coffee or on the bus, as long as that’s not the only contact we have. It’s worrying if we're being encouraged to think that we can do our ‘religious bit’ in 10 minutes of a morning, leaving us at liberty to enjoy a God-free day.

There is a real danger that we become lazy. There are so many books, blogs, magazines, websites, videos and so on to help us in our Christian walk, that we can end up having no personal relationship with God, do no independent thinking and make no effort to grapple with the Bible for ourselves. Obviously, there are lots of great Christian tools out there but there really is no substitute for spending quality time alone with God, reading and meditating on his word, sharing our hearts with him and listening for the still small voice of calm. Let’s be careful not to turn Christianity into a programme for us to manage rather than a loving relationship to be lived.