Anyone else find it interesting the way the human mind will narrow its focus and see things that existed all along, but until it was on your radar, you were unaware? Take an automobile for instance, there have probably been hundreds of white Ford Explorers in my town, but until I owned one, they went unnoticed. Lately, there have been specific words or phrases that seem to “appear” frequently whether reading, listening to a church message, or replaying a podcast. One of those phrases is the title to this post, Think Crockpot, Not Microwave, and I first used this descriptive analogy in a presentation about nutrition and making healthy lifestyle choices to our adult students. Most of us desire a quick fix to poor eating habits or seek to swiftly remedy years of a sedentary life; however, that’s just not the way life works.

Now, consider this concept associated with one of the themes of this blog which is creating relational equity. Admittedly, there may be a few people who enter our lives where the relationship moves from the first to the fifth floor rapidly as if pushing the penthouse button in the elevator eliminating unnecessary stops; however, most relationships take consistent investments over extended periods of time to flourish. John Ortberg shares in his message entitled Love is Envy Free that “you can’t love people in a hurry. Hurry is the great enemy of love.” And isn’t love the foundation for creating relational equity in our lives? If we are Christ followers, one of his greatest commandments is simply to love, which means being others-centered, resembling a delightful meal simmering in a slow cooker rather than a rushed rubbery dinner nuked in a microwave.

If one of our goals is to flourish in life both personally and professionally, we are going to need to consider the reality that creating relational equity will require an investment of ourselves over an extended period of time. Refusing to be hurried and rushed, relationships develop when we slow down, stop looking at our phones and watches, and make eye contact with those in our presence, listening with our eyes, and noticing the slumped shoulders of a friend who is troubled or a contagious smile that indicates a celebratory moment.

Continuing this valuable message that love is kind and patient, Ortberg portrays the model mentor who he describes as relaxed and never in a hurry. What a contrast to our modern world which pushes us to embrace busyness (as shared in a previous post about the importance of rest)! Ortberg’s humorous narrative of a relaxed Jesus reminds me of a similar picture in Cal Samra’s description of a smiling Jesus in The Physically Fit Messiah. Both depictions offer us a leader, a model mentor, who valued slow over hurried, intentional over random, and people over tasks. If we attempt to model our lives after our Savior, don’t you think he’d choose a Crockpot over a microwave?

As someone whose personality is task oriented, I was deeply convicted with Ortberg’s challenge to practice slowing in order to grow my patience for the purpose of love. My students tease me about the pace of my walk, and it is a challenge for me to “slow down and cultivate my capacity for patience.” But it will be nearly impossible to develop relational equity with others if I don’t model Jesus who was the great “noticer.” He was relaxed. “Relaxed people look, hurried people overlook.”

Whose name comes to the forefront of your mind when asked to picture someone who is relaxed, never in a hurry? Who do you know that is great at investing quality time in others, choosing to slowly create relational equity over the hurriedness of completing a task? In our “speed-dating, self-checkout, overnight-shipping, instant messaging” world that Ortberg illustrates, how do we cultivate the practices that lead to growing the fruits of the spirit? Who demonstrates this concept well in your life? Please engage in this conversation by sharing in the comments below.