What opens us more deeply to growth and faithfulness in Christ? What seems to hinder our formation as persons and communities in Christ?
I have been pondering Jesus’ way in light of these two questions lately, in preparation for our upcoming VP3 Gathering in Kelowna, October 5-7. If these questions are currently important to you, consider making your way to beautiful British Columbia. Join us and our conversation.
The element of Jesus’ slow and patient way with others has resurfaced in my mind in the past few weeks. Not by any means new thoughts, but perhaps something of my own pace, driven by my current occupations and preoccupations, has prompted a pause. Slow down.
Big picture, our cultural preoccupation with speed, efficiency, and control—“Do everything faster!”—leads me to notice Jesus’ unhurried way with others. Our constant search for shortcuts and “getting the biggest bang for our buck” does not condition Jesus as he moves through the world. This slow, patient mentoring unfolds most clearly in the way Jesus treats his disciples.
A Fellowship of Slow Learners
Over and over again, the Gospels reflect the disciples’ slow learning process. After just witnessing Jesus miraculously feed 5,000 people (Mark 6:35–44), the disciples, when faced with another crowd, incredulously ask, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” (Mark 8:4). And Jesus yet again blesses the little food they do have and amazingly stretches it into a meal for 4,000. The Gospels portray the disciples as a fellowship of slow learners. And we, 21st-century Jesus-apprentices, are invited to join this fellowship and encounter Jesus’ gracious and patient way with us.
In particular, the Gospel writers draw us into Jesus’ development of the impetuous Simon Peter. Peter knew firsthand the transformative power of Jesus’ patient mentoring in his life (Luke 5:1-11; Matthew 16:13-28; Luke 22:38-62; John 21:1-23). A much older and wiser Peter would tell a suffering church in a letter years later, “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6, italics added).
You Can’t Rush the Development of People
Jesus’ mission involved apprenticing others to share in God’s way and work in the world. And Jesus knew that one couldn’t rush the development of people. Projects can be crammed and hurried, but nurturing and challenging people to maturity cannot. It is always an invitation to “a long obedience in the same direction.”
For those of us who find ourselves persistently frustrated by the slow pace of change in our congregations and communities, or by how long it seems to take us to grow up in Christ, we would do well to prayerfully study and reflect on Jesus’ way of apprenticing his followers. Our imaginations, shaped primarily by a cultural addiction to speed, control, and technique, must be retrained by the Gospels’ images of Jesus’ patient way with others.
The Coptic Christian Adel Bestavros (d. 2005) has a short “poem” that has been lingering with me, doing its work in my heart. As you consider what invites growth and faithfulness in your life and community, perhaps Bestavros’ words would be worth meditating on alongside the Gospel scenes of Jesus’ patient way with Simon Peter:
Patience with others is Love.
Patience with self is Hope.
Patience with God is Faith.
Spirit of God, be generous to us, retraining our imaginations with Jesus’ patient way in the world…
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The Gathering: Kelowna BC
Our Formation in Christ: Catalysts and Barriers
October 5-7, 2026
Join like-minded friends as we hold space to learn, explore, and encourage one another toward a more relational way of life and ministry.
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Robert Loane serves as President of VantagePoint3 Ministries, seeking to both learn and encourage a more relational way of life and ministry. He is co-author of Deep Mentoring: Guiding Others on Their Leadership Journey (IVP, 2012) and A Mentoring Guide: Christ. Conversation. Companionship (VP3, 2019). He has been the lead writer of The Journey process and other VP3 processes for the last 20 years. At the core of his life and work, Rob loves helping people find ways to have better conversations about the things that matter most in their lives.