In the book Compassion, Henri Nouwen and his co-authors make an interesting observation about our society’s impatience. The authors allege that we live in a world structured around impatience; entire economies are built on that principle; the one-hour time slot has become a tyrant. Although I think that technology is the dominant image of this in our days, Nouwen and his colleagues – writing 25 years ago – saw travel as embodying this impatience:
The transportation business is, in fact, a commercialized impatience. Impatient people might be difficult at times, but too much patience would mean the bankruptcy of many companies. (Compassion, p. 90)
Nouwen and his co-authors aren’t only implicating our culture and economy for feeding the idol of impatience. They are warning the church about the threat that impatience poses to discipleship.
Surely there are valuable aspects of the many industries that play to our impatience. Travel is one; but the list of services that are both convenient and train us to be less patient is long – fast food, mobile phones, TiVo, and the internet (yes, I know you’re reading a blog).
Despite all the conveniences surrounding us, the impatience we are trained in is only seldom a Christian virtue. More often than not, and especially in our relationships with others, impatience plays herald to underlying individualism, self-centeredness, and pride. So what of the impatience that makes its way into church life?
? Do we say more about ourselves than our pastors when we criticize a long sermon or service?
? Are strategic planning sessions really just an excuse to take control and “make progress” so that we can feel the thrill of productivity?
? Are we stifling the discipleship of those we lead by not living in ways that could be characterized as patient?
The New Testament uses “patience” in at least two ways: (1) to describe endurance through suffering until the day of redemption; and (2) to depict how we relate to one another, especially how leaders relate to those they serve. In our world of convenience and multi-tasking, in our culture of impatience, are we trading in discipleship for effectiveness? Are we leading others to do the same?
