Faith on the Fast Track

We live in an age that expects results now. Missions has not escaped this pressure. Stories circulate of hundreds of churches planted in months, movements multiplying faster than anyone can count. And along with those stories comes an implied promise. If you use these methods, it can happen where you are too.

But what happens when those results don’t come?

The Pressure to Produce

Two decades ago, when my wife and I moved overseas, we immersed ourselves in language learning, culture, and Scripture teaching. We expected like our leaders that within a few years, thousands would come to Christ and hundreds of churches would start. When that didn’t happen, we wondered if we were doing something wrong.

Some leaders claimed there’s “no hard ground,” implying that slow growth was a sign of failure. The message was clear: If the harvest is small, the problem is you.

History Repeats Itself

This is not a new temptation. In the 1800s, “revivalists” promised that, with the right techniques, revival could be scheduled. What was once seen as an extraordinary act of God became an event that could be engineered. Those who resisted the hype stuck with Scripture’s ordinary means prayer, preaching, worship, fellowship and trusted God for the growth (1 Corinthians 3:7).

The Danger of Unfounded Promises

Modern movement strategies often begin with incredible “success stories” followed by the claim: It can happen in your community! But Scripture doesn’t promise rapid growth. As Isaac Watts cautioned, extraordinary outpourings of God’s Spirit are rare, sovereign works not results we can guarantee.

The early church grew steadily around 40% per decade yet that’s slower than some places today where believers are still told they’re “too slow.” This breeds unnecessary discouragement, even in regions where God is clearly at work.

Faithfulness Over Speed

God’s kingdom often advances through decades of patient labor. Iran’s present-day growth, for example, rests on 200 years of groundwork by believers who saw little fruit at the time. Our call is not to match someone else’s timeline but to be faithful with the gospel where we are (2 Timothy 2:2).

The enemy is not slow response it’s unfaithfulness. Our mission is clear:

• Devote ourselves to Christ for our own transformation (1 Timothy 4:16)

• Proclaim His Word faithfully

• Pray persistently

• Build healthy local churches

Trusting God with the Growth

We should long for revival, pray for it, and rejoice when it comes. But we should not measure obedience by speed. In God’s economy, planting and watering are ours; the growth is His to give (1 Corinthians 3:6–7).

So let’s resist the microwave mindset. Let’s choose faithfulness over flash, endurance over easy wins. The gates of hell will not prevail not because we’ve found the perfect method, but because Christ is building His church.

“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

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