We have all experienced situations where we could sense the momentum of the moment was shifting dramatically.

The excitement swelling up in a crowd at a concert when the first chords of the band’s hit song are struck. The rush taking over in a crowded gym as one team enters the zone where they can do nothing wrong and the other can seem to do nothing to stop them. The shift moving through a tense meeting when one idea rises to the top and soon carries the conversation.

In such moments of excitement and power, we often feel both a sense that we cannot let the opportunity pass and also a feeling that we are caught up in something far bigger than ourselves.

I believe wanting to act on momentum while still appreciating the real danger of being overwhelmed by activity was an issue in the early church.

These believers were truly on the cutting edge of a movement that in the span of one lifetime “turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6), and yet most were common, everyday people without formal training in either theology or ministry (Acts 4:13).

It would have been easy to get caught up in the momentum that accompanied the miracles and mission work and to lose their grounding as servants of Jesus.

In our own time, we do not have to look hard to see men and women committed to God’s work who have become battered by stress, overwhelmed by burnout, and collapsed under moral or relational failure.

How did Jesus respond during His earthly ministry when His disciples brought news of the skyrocketing momentum and constant activity in their ministries?

In Mark 6, Jesus commissions His apostles to go out in pairs to teach, heal, and share the good news in the power of the Spirit. Almost immediately, these efforts yield huge results as the sick, possessed, and hurting are brought to them and restored- opening the door to their preaching and teaching.

The crowds are flocking to receive blessing and hear the truth. When they report back to Jesus later in the same chapter (Mk 6:30), they relate to Jesus all that is happening through their teaching and miracle-working.

In the midst of a thronging crowd so dense they did not even have time to break to eat, Jesus says, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile.” (Mk 6:31)

In a moment of great momentum and excitement, Jesus calls for them to pull back and to rest and refocus.

This strategy is certainly opposite of what we would expect of a charismatic leader or any public figure today.

Rather than pushing them to bigger numbers and pressing into deeper and deeper activity, Jesus discerns that their incredible report calls for intentional rest.

The crowds can, and in fact do, keep coming, but Jesus acknowledges that there is a danger in becoming overextended- even in the best of all possible causes.

Connection with Jesus Himself, rather than the signs, the wonders, and even the doctrine, proved to be the essential element needed to maintain and grow health and holiness among the first disciples.

I would suggest that the same is true for us as followers of Christ today.

Momentum is a blessing, but it can never be allowed to become the primary factor in building and sustaining a ministry or a movement.

Spiritual maturity and deep relationships will always sustain us longer than passing momentum and exciting circumstances.

Momentum yields powerful fruits and blesses us in certain seasons, but our long-term connections with Christ, Scripture, and fellow believers provide the roots that continually equip us with the subtle strength we will need for a lifetime of faith.