Efficiency is Not the Path to Blessing

The sales pitch of much new technology boils down to increased efficiency. If we buy their sprockets, we’ll be able to do things faster, with less friction.

For some new technologies, this is a wonderful development. I try to remember to thank God every time I use our washing machine.

And yet, efficiency is only one measurement. Tech companies aim to convince us it’s the only measurement that matters, but we need to be wiser than that.

So much of a Christian’s life is not efficient, likely by God’s design. If we swallow the lie that efficiency is the goal, we’ll abandon or minimize many good and necessary parts of following Jesus.

Worship

It would be hard to describe the weekly Christian gathering as efficient. There’s time before the service—getting a bulletin, finding a seat, chatting—which isn’t explicitly worship. There are donuts and coffee afterward. An organizational design expert would gladly charge Christians a large sum to redesign our buildings and programs to increase their efficiency.

Private worship bears the same marks. Is prayer efficient? Is reading and studying the Bible an economic use of our time? Probably not. But, as Tim Challies recently pointed out, sanctification has no shortcuts.

But once again, what if the struggle is key to the purpose? What if prayer isn’t meant to be easy, and what if its difficulty accomplishes something meaningful inside of us? What if the process of correctly interpreting the Bible and faithfully applying it is a means God uses to form his people?

When God calls us to worship, he calls for our attention. He calls us to slow down and interact with him. This cannot be sped up or optimized.

Relationships

Building friendships takes time. Some interactions (like service projects and trips together) seem to speed this up, but I think that’s mostly a mirage. Close relationships and tight-knit communities develop over years, not days or weeks.

Serving others rarely happens in a snap. Listening to a friend, offering them counsel, and praying with them can’t be accomplished quickly. If we prioritize efficiency when caring for and loving others, we’ve got everything mixed up. One of the most valuable things we give when we serve others is our time, and this cannot be outsourced or played at 1.5 speed.

Character Formation

We cannot take a pill to be more joyful, and no LLM will be able to make us more gentle or kind. The fruit of the Spirit are called “fruit” at least in part because they grow—like fruit! That is to say, not quickly! Patience is one of these virtues, after all (Gal 5:22-23).

When the Bible speaks of character growth, one bit of fertilizer that is often mentioned is suffering (Rom 5:3–5). And though suffering helps to refine and change us, we’re also not told to seek it out. And, as anyone who has suffered can tell you, suffering is not accomplished quickly.

What’s the Highest Good?

I’m not against efficiency, and I’m certainly not against technology. I am concerned to see some Christians use efficiency and only efficiency as the criteria for whether to adopt a technology or to engage in a practice.

Further, our choices of technology are not neutral. As David I. Smith has written (in the context of AI document summaries), technology disciples us. We are trained and conditioned by the tools we use both to learn and to forget information and skills. Evaluating options based only on speed or output seems like jumping into an ocean of foolishness.

We serve a God who we must admit has not always been efficient. The life of Jesus itself bears this out. And, as those redeemed by God, we are called to much more than economic and productive uses of our time.

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