There is a difference between being rushed and being urgent. but we sometimes think they are the same thing.
The word, “rush” comes from a Old French word ruser
meaning “to dodge”. When we are in a rush we bounce all over the place. We move from
breakfast to class to home in order to grab that thing you left behind to work to meetings to volunteering to practice to dropping off the kids to the gas station to make that phone call to picking up the kids to medical exams to back to dinner to bed to sleep. And in all our bouncing we are dodging all the places where Christ calls us to be.
The thing about the act of dodging is that to dodge means you are reacting. Like in the game dodgeball. You do not dodge until someone has thrown the ball. Dodgeball is a game of dodging and reacting.
How many of us live our lives dodging and reacting?
The word urgency comes from Latin and it means to press or push forward. Notice that to press forward means you are not jumping all over the place. To move forward means you are moving in a specific direction with the intent to press on in that direction. To move forward means that you can handle things that come up but they do not deter you from your mission. When Jesus stopped to heal the bleeding woman (Mark 5), the little girl died, but Jesus continued to press forward and healed the little girl.
You can tell when you read the gospel Jesus is moving with urgency. Jesus is clear that he is going to Jerusalem. Jesus is clear that he will be killed, which is why he is able to predict his death three different times. Jesus knows the direction he is moving and he moves with a sense of urgency.
Jesus does not dodge a question. He does not dodge authorities. He does not dodge an opportunity to help those in need. He does not dodge Pilate. He does not dodge the mob sent to get him. He does not dodge his betrayer. He does not dodge the cross. He does not dodge death. No!
This is a very large reason I am a follower of Jesus Christ. Christ brings clear direction in a world that is bouncing all around. Jesus teaches a way of life that is filled with purpose. Christ allows us to say no to certain things without guilt because together we are moving in a specific direction. Jesus empowers us to no longer dodge the difficulties of life but to confront them. Being a follower of Christ is to live so urgently that there is no time to rush.