Back in the 1970s, a Japanese theologian named Kosuke Koyama wrote a book called Three Mile an Hour God. In it, he draws out the idea that maybe the speed at which God moves is the speed at which he designed us to move. You see, a human being walks at three miles an hour. That is our average pace. Now, some of you with longer femurs than mine will walk a bit faster, others a bit slower.
Understanding ‘God Speed’
Koyama points out that Jesus’ entire ministry was conducted at three miles an hour. He walked everywhere. His disciples walked with him everywhere. Nowhere does the Bible say that Jesus and his disciples had a pack of stallions they rode at a gallop around the Holy Land. (Is a group of horses called a pack? Why does this feel wrong?)
They didn’t have fancy two-story chariots that they rode around in. No. They walked. Everywhere. Probably around three miles per hour.
And since Jesus is God, then you can easily say that three miles an hour is God speed. Koyama goes on to write that love has a speed. And that speed is slow. And that speed is gentle.
Walking at the Pace of Jesus
This goes counter to how so many God followers live and even “do ministry.” It flies in the face of God followers who think God is only interested in us being more efficient, faster, more productive. It makes you think that maybe this God we are all trying to figure out—this God who makes the earth spin and float, this God who threw the stars into the skies and breathed air into our lungs—did everything he did slowly and with intention.
This countercultural way of looking at God will actually mess you up in a big way. I mean, as I look at my own life, I think of the speed at which I produce content. I think of the speed at which I make videos that help people. I think of the speed at which I walk, drive, fly. Now, what I’m about to say isn’t based on some theological concept, so don’t try and exegete this because it’s simply a thought that I’m starting to find helpful. If I say that I’m a follower of Jesus . . .
and I’m moving at one hundred miles per hour,
and Jesus is moving at three miles per hour, then who is following who?
We often say that life is speeding us by. I’d beg to differ and suggest that maybe it’s we who are speeding life by.
Living Life at God Speed
So what do we do? How do we slow down and start moving at God speed? Is the answer to buy a horse and buggy? Is the answer to stop flying? Is the answer to travel only as far as our legs will take us? Of course not. But we should think about the things that speed up our lives as we reassess our speed against God speed.
Practical Ways to Walk with God
Here are a few things I realized in just the first few days of living and walking with the monks:
1. Walk. More. Why do we need to walk? Well, to be reminded that this is actually how we were created to move. Beyond the obvious and documented health benefits of walking, some of us just need to be reminded that slow is good. That slow can be better than fast.
2. Walk. Together. More. One of the reasons I love being on vacation in New York City with my family is that we have to walk everywhere together. And if you are walking in the city, you know what you can’t be doing? Staring at your phone. It’s dangerous to walk while looking at your phone. So that’s why we have always loved going to New York City as a family. It’s like an automatic screen-free day. It slows us down even in the midst of such speed.
3. Walk. Without. Tech. Sometimes it’s okay to go on a walk without a fitness goal in mind. Without a place to get to. Without a podcast to listen to. Without a playlist to motivate you. Just walk because that’s what you were designed to do.
Just walk with you and you alone. The crazy thing is that it’s actually really hard to do. You don’t realize how alone you will feel until you ditch the tech on your walks. But when you do take that first tech-free walk, I promise you’ll realize something else – the sound of your own breathing. The sound of your feet hitting the pavement. The sound of everything around you that you didn’t know was there because of those things that normally stick out of your ears.
So yeah, it might be different at first, but it is so healthy to walk without listening to or watching something on a device. I’m not saying that we’ve got to always walk without tech. I’m just saying that I think it’s important to also incorporate walks that look more like walks used to look. Back before we could multitask.
Just. Walk.
Adapted from Reconnected by Carlos Whittaker. Copyright © 2024 by Carlos Whittaker. Used by permission
of Thomas Nelson. Available wherever books are sold. HarperCollinsChristian.com
