The Problem with Living Too Fast
John Mark Comer once found himself in the back of a car late on a Sunday night, paralyzed by a bone-deep exhaustion. As a pastor of a rapidly growing church, he was teaching six times a day, working endless hours, and measuring his worth by the size of his audience and the length of his to-do list. On the surface, he was the definition of success, but internally, he felt numb, anxious, and spiritually hollow. He realized that in the rush to become a successful leader, he was becoming a person he did not actually like because he was always in a hurry and too busy to notice the life happening right in front of him.
This realization led to a radical turning point where John Mark looked at the trajectory of his life and saw a future of worldly success but internal failure. He decided to walk away from the prestige of a megachurch to lead a much smaller community in the city. This deliberate demotion aimed at simplifying his life allowed him to trade the high-speed pursuit of growth for a slower pace. He could finally walk to work, spend time with his family, and prioritize his emotional health.
The transition was not an overnight transformation, as moving away from a life of constant speed felt like a detox from a powerful drug. He began to see that the modern obsession with constant growth often leaves people too exhausted to truly live. By slowing down, he started to feel his own soul again and rediscovered a sense of joy that had been buried under years of hurry. This journey serves as an invitation to anyone feeling weary to find a happy, meaningful existence through an unhurried way of living.
When John Mark sat down for lunch with his mentor, John Ortberg, he was looking for a way to escape the overwhelming pressure of his career. He asked a simple but profound question: "What do I need to do to become the person I want to be?" The blunt answer he received was that he had to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from his life. In a world that prizes speed and productivity, this advice highlighted that hurry is the primary enemy of a healthy spiritual and emotional life.
Modern life is often defined by a constant state of busyness that people wear like a badge of honor. While being active is not inherently bad, the problem arises when the pace of life becomes a chronic rush that prevents deep connections with others. The most significant casualty of a hurried life is the ability to love, because love requires patience, presence, and a slow pace. When people are rushing to meet an unrealistic schedule, they often become irritable and anxious, which are the exact opposites of love.
Ultimately, the frantic pace of the modern world acts as a barrier to spiritual depth and personal well-being. It is not necessarily that people are choosing to be bad, but rather that they are simply too busy to be good. This pathological busyness marginalizes the things that matter most, leading to a mediocre version of life where the soul is neglected. By recognizing that hurry is a destructive force, individuals can begin the difficult work of slowing down and protecting their emotional health.
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