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“If You Wanna Go Far...”
Categories: Christian character, church, Church relationships, discipleship, Sunday Family Report articles
Recently, the world was given a great spiritual insight from a surprising source: Disney’s Mufasa. Here’s the truth that one of the songs laid out: “If you wanna go fast, go alone. But if you wanna go far, we go together!” Now, that is some surprisingly Biblical wisdom!
Throughout the Torah, God was trying to teach his people to care for the poor, the orphan, the widow, and the immigrant among them. But again and again, those people were neglected by the well-to-do among Israel. Why? Because, in one preacher’s words, “Kindness is inefficient.” It slows us down in life if we care for those who are needy, elderly, impaired, or weak. And yet, God didn’t guide his people to grow fast in the land they were going to possess; he guided them to “live long in the land” (Dt. 5:33, etc.). If he had wanted them to go fast on the road of life, they would have to ignore many fellow travelers. But he wanted them them to go far, so he taught them to go together.
Throughout the New Testament, the same is true: God wanted the Christians to go far in life; to become a kingdom that would never be shaken (cf. Hb. 12:28). And so, rather than filling his letters full to bursting with strategies for fast growth, hostile takeovers, and cultural transformations from the top-down… he talked to them about how crucial it was that they remain united. Their togetherness is one of the key topics in Romans, 1st Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st Thessalonians, Philemon, Hebrews, James, and 1st John.
And of course, Jesus himself is the perfect example of this. How much more could he have gotten done in his lifetime if he just 'didn’t have time for' the disciples and their foolishness? What if he had left them and gone to seek out better followers who would learn quicker, be more spiritually-minded, and have more influence? Wouldn't that seem like the more efficient use of his time? Actually, yes. But kindness is inherently inefficient, and Jesus' patience with the disciples is an important part of how he turned twelve ordinary men into the authoritative mouthpieces of his new, heavenly kingdom.
“If you wanna go fast, go alone. But if you wanna go far, we go together!” That sometimes tests our patience. It often requires us to forgive. It occasionally seems like wasted effort. But it’s one of the keys to being God’s people and ‘living long in the kingdom he has given us to possess.’
- Dan Lankford, minister
