Stay Low. Go Slow. Silencio.
Indian Hills Camp, Jamul, CA
In the summer of 2007, in the sticks of San Diego county, Jeff and I met at Indian Hills Camp.
Oh Indian Hills Camp. So dusty. So Wild West-y. So can’t-ever-forget-that-camp-song-y.
Let the record reflect, IHC doesn’t exist to bring young singles into dating relationships. (Although, I must say, that mountain farmyard air is quite effective at doing just that.)
It exists for the kids. And because it exists for the kids, we played lots of games: Sharks and Minnows, Capture the Flag, Rush and Run, Trivia Steal the Bacon, Transformation Rock Paper Scissors. One game that was loved by all was a night game called “Mission Impossible.”
The mission of the game - if the campers chose to accept it - was to find a ladder, hidden in an undisclosed location, and touch it without being detected. If you, as a camper, were noisy or visible, a staff member would flash his/her light on you and you’d have to go back to the sheriff’s office to get back into the game. Just for fun, someone would periodically turn on the flood lights and everyone in the zone had to make the trek to the office.
Also just for fun, the Mission Impossible theme song would play on the PA system. Do doo dooo, dun dun dun dun dun dun dun.
After explaining the game, the campers were left with three simple rules to remember. Stay low. Go slow. Silencio.
It turns out, those three rules have applications in church planting.
1. Stay low.
We need to stay humble. Who are we doing this for? If it’s for Jesus, we must remember the words of John the Baptizer, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30.
We do indeed become what we behold. And we are to behold Christ who is gentle and lowly (Matthew 11:29) and humbled Himself by forsaking heaven and dying on a cross (Philippians 2:1-11.) So yes, we need to stay low.
One of the C&MA’s core values is Holy Spirit empowerment, for without the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, we can accomplish nothing. So we ask for the Holy Spirit to move. I can’t touch hearts and minds. That’s God’s job.
Another core value of ours is prayer. Prayer is the primary work of God’s people. We believe that nothing of lasting value can be done unless it is bathed in prayer. So we humbly ask God for big things, for revival, for workers, for healings, for freedom in Christ, for lost people to come to know Him, for missionaries to be raised up. Our church’s weekly prayer meeting has been so unifying, I think for the very reason that it is humbly not glamorous. It can be a bit uneventful week after week from our perspective. Yet, we get to know one another as we petition the Lord together and confess our sins. As uneventful as it may seem, we know what’s happening in the heavenlies is not uneventful. Things are shifting.
Father, keep our attitudes in check.
2. Go slow.
We’ve heard it said,
go slow to go fast
weeds grow fast
you’re thinking about the next 20 years a lot more than the next 2
patience is a fruit of the Spirit for a reason
Alright, so piece of wisdom number one seems to be “be patient.” And yet we grow impatient. Go figure. We live in a world of instant gratification and there’s a cognitive dissonance when we have to wait for pretty much anything.
We can take heart though; we’re in a long line (pun intended) of saints who had grit, perseverance, and patience far greater than we have ever demonstrated. I love reading old Alliance periodicals.
Thank you pioneer missionaries for your example.
3. Silencio.
Jesus retreated away from the crowds during His public ministry. Silence and solitude has been a necessity for Christians long before this age of distraction and of amusing ourselves to death.[1] We can’t shortcut this one or put it in the optional column.
We want men and women who know the Lord so well that they can have His joy under all circumstances; who will not be afraid of loneliness nor privation; who ask no greater recompense than the privilege of serving and pleasing Him, and will go out not wanting sympathy, but rejoicing in the name missionary and the privilege of enduring suffering and even shame for the name of Him who died for them.
AB Simpson
The Christian Alliance & Missionary Weekly, April 1892
Silence is funny now that I think about it. Sometimes, you have to put in a lot of effort to get it (so says the mother of a two year old.) But it is also an effortless reflexive response to awe. When the sun sets and the sky is filled with color, we stare in silence. When we’re standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, we take in its beauty in silence. I pray that as I continue to see God move, my awe of Him keeps increasing, and that I catch myself reflexively responding in silence all the more.
1. Stay Low. 2. Go slow. 3. Silencio.
Mission accepted.
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[1] Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves To Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business. 1985. Penguin Group Inc. New York, NY.
