We all know that our culture’s emphasis on convenience has deeply affected our faith, both that of students and campus missionary staff alike. We know this, yet we don’t always recognize how it has affected us. While convenience makes life easier, it can also undermine key aspects of discipleship, which require intentionality, perseverance, and sacrifice.
Lately, I’ve been working on this in my own life, assessing how convenience has affected my walk with Christ. Here are six ways I’ve found convenience affects our faith and seven ways we can combat it.
Convenience Leads to Shallow Commitment
The convenience mindset can lead one to a shallow commitment to spiritual disciplines. We prioritize quick and easy over slow and deep. Instead of devoting time to prayer, Bible study, and reflection, we look for shortcuts. Oftentimes these shortcuts show up in the form of devotionals over deep Bible studies. While devotionals are helpful, they often replace personal engagement with Scripture. Another shortcut revolves around quick prayers instead of prolonged communion. Instead of lingering in God’s presence, we have settled for rushed, surface-level prayers. Too often I see students and campus ministry staff skipping necessary spiritual disciplines. If it’s not convenient, we often neglect it.
Convenience Leads to Consumerism
The convenience mindset has moved our faith from the realm of costly discipleship to consumer Christianity. Modern Christianity can feel like a product rather than a surrendered life. Many approach their walk with Christ with a “what’s in it for me?” mindset rather than a call to self-denial and service. If the church service is too far away, we skip it. If sermons challenge us too much, we seek easier messages. If serving is inconvenient, we stay on the sidelines.
Convenience Leads to Weak Community
The convenience mindset plants us with shallow roots in weak community that has little accountability. Technology allows us to stay connected without real presence, but biblical community requires time, effort, and vulnerability. Online church, while useful, has made it easier to disengage from in-person fellowship. We avoid difficult relationships or accountability because they require patience and effort. And instead of deep friendships, we settle for social media interactions.
Convenience Leads to Ungodly Resistance
The convenience mindset has instilled in us an ungodly resistance to trials and hardships. Convenience teaches us to avoid discomfort, but spiritual growth often, and I would honestly say usually, comes through struggles. We expect instant solutions to spiritual battles instead of persevering in faith. Instead of enduring suffering with trust in God, we often seek a painless way out.
Convenience Leads to Compromised Evangelism
The convenience mindset can also lead to compromised evangelism and missions. Sharing the gospel is often uncomfortable and inconvenient, yet it’s central to our calling. We hesitate to have gospel conversations because they take time and may feel awkward. Missions and outreach require sacrifice, but we prefer comfort. And many times, we’d rather donate than personally invest in disciple-making.
Convenience Leads to Self-Reliance
Finally, if we are not careful, the idol of convenience can reduce our dependence on God. When everything is easily accessible, we forget our need for God. We trust in technology, money, and comfort more than in prayer and faith. Instead of fasting and seeking God’s will, we rely on our own plans and resources. We get frustrated when God doesn’t answer quickly because we expect instant results.
Fighting Convenience
How do we fight this convenience mindset? Here are seven antidotes to this prevalent idol.
- Choose depth over ease.
- Prioritize time with God, even when it’s inconvenient.
- Follow Jesus wherever He leads, even when it’s uncomfortable.
- Commit to real community in person, not just online (and regularly call your students to do the same).
- Boldly and patiently endure trials with faith and trust God in difficulties instead of seeking escape.
- Share the gospel boldly, pushing past discomfort to reach others.
- Depend fully on God, seeking Him in prayer, fasting, and daily surrender.
Convenience isn’t always bad, but when it replaces commitment, sacrifice, and faith, it weakens our walk with Christ. Jesus didn’t call us to an easy life, but to a life of devotion, perseverance, and trust in Him. True, deep discipleship is costly. Let us be a people who can truly say from our hearts, “Not my will, but yours Father.”
Featured Photo by Samuel Foster on Unsplash
