We had a lovely Father’s Day yesterday, including with visits with two sons and two grandchildren. June gave me a fabulous book: Really Important Stuff My Dog Has Taught Me by Cynthia L. Copeland. This one caught my eye:

The picture and explanation reminded me of a conversation I had with a good friend, a missionary with another organization, who was asking prayer for stamina for themselves and a set of new missionaries as they went through 5+ intense days of orientation via Zoom.

Always willing to help (and stick my nose into other people’s business!), I suggested that maybe they were cramming the days too full. My friend wrote back with a list of the stuff they had to cover and how important it all was.

In the language of this blog, I responded that I agreed with the dog. It doesn’t matter how important everything is, if it’s delivered in a way that people feel like they are “drinking water from a fire hydrant,” the net takeaway will be zero.

If we want to be effective, do less.

I’ve sat through those meetings (and conducted a few myself!), meetings with hour after hour of briefing after briefing. I’ve preached 30-minute sermons that had 45 – 60 minutes of content. I told my friend that I could “cover” all the salient points of Calculus I in 5 days, but that doesn’t mean that any of the participants would learn any of it.

By contrast, Jesus largely moved and taught at a leisurely pace. He told stories. He had margin in his life to interact with the people he met “as he passed by” (see John 9 and Luke 19.1 – 10, for example). Real teaching takes patience and time.

May God give us the grace to be “more productive by doing a little less.”

This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength… (Isaiah 30.15, NIV)

[Jesus said,] “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11.28 – 30, MSG)