A Church Out of Breath

“Do not be hurried by the thoughts of the day, but find time to reflect and contemplate.”
Charles Dickens

“Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.”
Mark Black

“To be still and know is to hear and see and trust the still small voice that whispers above the roar of our busy lives.”
Angela A. Schwindt

“It is not how much we do, but how much love we put into what we do that counts.”
Mother Teresa

“The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.”
Vince Lombardi

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:6

Busyness is a peculiar thing. It looks productive. It gives the illusion that something meaningful is happening. Calendars full, meetings back-to-back, outreach events, sermon series, and an active social media presence. But there is a profound emptiness when the motion becomes more important than the mission. The church is often a whirl of activity—a flurry of planning, striving, and organizing. But if we are honest, does it leave us more present to God, or just more exhausted? The early church knew nothing of this frantic race. They were not frantically spinning in circles; they were not trying to fill every moment with something important. They were still. Present. Open to the Spirit’s leading. And from this posture of surrender, they witnessed something we have forgotten how to name: growth that comes from God alone. 3,000 added in a day (Acts 2:41) and not because of any striving or a particularly motivational sermon. It was not a masterclass in persuasive speech or a finely tuned evangelical outreach strategy. Peter spoke the truth under the power of the Spirit, and the Spirit moved. Nothing was orchestrated or choreographed, no manipulation of outcomes—just the raw work of God moving in human hearts. Yet, in our time, the church has become a machine, striving endlessly to produce results by its own hands.

The Seduction of Busyness
Busyness is comforting in its own way. It allows us to hide behind the motion, and to keep going so we do not have to stop and ask uncomfortable questions. Are we really effective? Is God in this, or are we just filling the hours? The early church was not consumed with busyness. They were devoted to the simple things: “the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV). There is a quiet power in their focus—no distractions, no fanfare. Their devotion was not an afterthought tacked on between activities; it was the foundation. They understood that fruitfulness begins in hidden places, in the rhythms that keep us anchored in God. We, on the other hand, tend to think the more we do, the more effective we will be. It is an unspoken mantra: activity equals growth. So, we fill our calendars, trying to manufacture results, hoping that the sheer force of our effort will yield spiritual fruit. But busyness is not the same as fruitfulness. Busyness often gets in the way of true effectiveness. Like Martha, we become “anxious and troubled about many things” while the good portion slips through our fingers (Luke 10:41-42, ESV). It is a distraction, keeping us from the one thing that matters: being present in the presence and work of God that cannot be controlled, only received.

Effectiveness: Rooted in Surrender, Not Strategy
Peter did not preach on Pentecost with a five-point plan for growth or evangelism. He was not calculating conversions or trying to optimize his delivery. He surrendered. And through his surrender, the Spirit moved. It was not Peter’s strategy that drew people in, it was the raw, convicting power of God. This is what we have forgotten. True effectiveness is not about what we do, it is about God’s presence and what we allow Him to do through us. In all our efforts to be successful, we have become enamored with results that can be measured in numbers: how many people attended, how much money was raised, how many social media hits and responses we received, or how many programs we offer. But numbers are a poor metric for spiritual growth. They tell us nothing about the heart. They cannot measure transformation or depth. The early church understood this. Their growth was not something they manufactured; it was something they received. “The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47, ESV). They were not striving to make it happen. They were not anxious about the outcome. They were abiding in Him, and He brought the increase. But we have grown impatient with abiding. We want results, and we want them now. So, we depend on our efforts, strategies, and programs, forgetting that “unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1, ESV). The work of the church is God’s work, not ours. We plant, we water, but it is God who gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6).

The Appearance of Growth Without Depth
There is a subtle danger in focusing on busyness. It gives the appearance of success, but it can leave us hollow. A church might grow in numbers, but if that growth is not rooted in the deep, transformative work of the Spirit, it is shallow. Like the seed sown on rocky ground, it springs up quickly but withers just as fast when the heat of trials comes (Matthew 13:5-6). We have become so fixated on outward success that we have sacrificed depth. We want to grow, but we do not want to take the time to cultivate roots. So, we lower the bar for discipleship, cause no offense, and make the Gospel more palatable and more accessible, but in doing so, we rob it of its power. The early church did not grow because they made the message easy. They grew because they were faithful to the truth, no matter how difficult or costly. We must ask ourselves: Are we drawing crowds, or are we making disciples? The two are not the same. And yet, in the modern church, we often conflate the two. We assume that a full church is a healthy church. But health is not measured in numbers. It is measured in faithfulness.

The False Security of Success
Much of our busyness stems from a need to prove ourselves. If the church is growing, if people are showing up, we feel validated. But success, as the world defines it, is a poor measure of effectiveness. It is easy to look busy, to draw a crowd. But it is far more difficult to cultivate deep, lasting transformation that marks true discipleship. When we chase after worldly success, we miss the point. The early church was not concerned with appearances. They were not trying to impress anyone. They were living in obedience to Christ, trusting that God would take care of the rest. They did not try to manufacture a revival; they lived in such a way that the Spirit could move freely among them. And God did.

A Call to Abide
If we want to move from busyness to effectiveness, we must return to the simplicity of the early church. We must learn to abide again. To slow down, stop striving, and rest in the knowledge that God’s work cannot be rushed. Growth comes in its own time, in its own way, not through our endless efforts but through our surrender. The church does not need more programs, more activity, more social media presence, or more motion. It requires more of God’s presence. More prayer, more stillness, more space for the Spirit to work. This is the way of effectiveness: a life lived in surrender, in abiding, in the quiet confidence that God will bring growth in His time, in His way. It is not about what we can accomplish. It is about all about God. Psalm 16:8 (ESV) says, “I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken,” because it is “in Him we live and move and have our being” Acts 17:28 (ESV).

So, let us be honest about our busyness and recognize it for what it is—a distraction from what truly matters. Dear reader, it is time to set aside our frenetic activity and return to the simplicity of a Spirit-led life. Instead of filling every moment with more programs and strategies, abide in God’s presence. Shift your focus from constant striving to heartfelt surrender. In the quiet spaces where we stop chasing results and start resting in God’s work, we will discover a depth of growth that only He can bring. Embrace this challenge: let go of the need to be perpetually busy and trust in the power of stillness. In doing so, you will find the true effectiveness that comes from God’s hand. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me” John 15:4 (ESV).

As we reflect on our pace and evaluate whether busyness has become a substitute for true purpose, we must recognize that this is only part of the story. While activity can sometimes mask a deeper issue, there is another subtle barrier to church growth that often goes unnoticed—stagnation. In the next blog, we will address these more subtle barriers, and how comfort, fear, and division can hold us back. Busyness and stagnation are two sides of the same coin—both necessary for understanding why some churches find themselves out of breath, or worse, standing still.