The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
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The Healthy Church Staff Podcast
Pastors, You NEED a Sabbath: Why Rest is a Ministry Essential!
Pastors often struggle to prioritize their own Sabbath, even while preaching about its importance. This episode dives into the necessity of rest for church leaders, the psychological barriers that prevent them from taking time off, and practical tips for reclaiming their Sabbath.
• Discussing the neglect of personal Sabbath despite preaching its significance
• Fear of letting congregations down preventing pastors from resting
• The damaging mindset that equates work with worth and identity
• The relentless cycle of unending tasks leading to burnout
• Practical solutions to reclaiming Sabbath rest
• Importance of scheduling a day for rest and guarding it fiercely
• Encouragement to unplug and engage in life-giving activities
• Trusting God’s control as a vital component of practicing Sabbath
• Reiterating the church’s need for rested and healthy leaders
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When's the last time you actually rested? And I don't mean like scrolling on your phone between services, I mean pastors, your staff man. We preach about Sabbath all the time, but do we actually practice it? Or have we maybe kind of convinced ourselves that rest is good for most people, good for everybody, but not necessarily good for us, or at least we don't ever figure out how we can practice it. We're going to talk about that today here on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. Thanks for joining me. My name is Todd Rhodes, I am your host and today we're talking about Sabbath. How are you doing with your Sabbath?
Speaker 1:Like I said in our intro, a lot of times we talk about it. We talk about how skipping Sabbath isn't just unhealthy. Sometimes, if we get a little self-righteous a little bit, we even say it's unbiblical. And I promise taking a day off for you wouldn't destroy your church. In fact it might just save your church and save your ministry. So we're going to talk about that a little bit more today. The reality is it's much easier to preach about than it is to do. Okay, because in reality ministry doesn't stop. Ministry is a 24-7 job. Your phone rings all hours of the day and night and people's needs don't take a rest or a break, and if we're honest as church staff people, most of our schedules don't either. So along the way, many of us kind of brought this idea that rest is at least maybe not for everybody else, but for us that rest might be more of a luxury than it is a command. We're maybe kind of a little bit above the law, but if we're really real about it, I mean seriously, if God took a day off after creation, what makes us think that we can do better? And Jesus, I mean, even in the middle of life-giving miracles and changing people's lives, as he did in his ministry here on earth, what did he do? I mean, he rested. He withdrew to rest, not because he was lazy I don't think Jesus was lazy, matter of fact, I'm pretty sure he wasn't but he was trying, I think, to model something really crucial for us.
Speaker 1:So why do pastors, why do church staff people struggle so much with sabbatical rest and by sabbatical I just mean short-term like Sabbath, taking a Sabbath every week, right, why do we struggle with that so much? Well, I think one problem probably is just I think this is the biggest problem it's the fear of letting people down. I mean, here's how it goes in your head If I take a day off, things are probably going to fall apart and spoiler alert, no, they won't. Might seem like it sometimes, but things will not fall apart and you know what. If they do, maybe that leads you to maybe a little bit different problem or something else you need to tackle, like maybe a little bit of delegation. You don't need to be doing everything if things fall apart, if you can't even take away one day. So that's one fear.
Speaker 1:Another thing I think that we really just have instilled kind of in our psyche is that work equals worth, and that's a trap. I mean, if we start defining our value by how much we do rather than by who we are in Christ, that's that can be a dangerous place to be. And then another thing I think that keeps us from taking a Sabbath I know it does me a lot of times is just this never-ending to-do list. I mean it is never done. I always in my work at Chemistry Staffing, I love to build things, I love to develop things and I do that, you know, all the time with what we're doing with candidates and churches, and I'm always in this stage right where I feel like if I just get this done, I can take a little bit of time, I'll have a little bit of breathing room. But you know what? It never happens because I make more work. That's the kind of worker I am. I make more work for myself. I'll get that done, but then I'll see an improvement somewhere else and I'll tackle a whole new project before I even finish the last one. And it's just this never-ending to-do list and it's like well, it's my Sabbath day, but I really got to get this done. No, no, I don't, I really don't.
Speaker 1:So, all right, let's look at some practical application. I've got four things, four ideas anyway. Okay, so take what you can here. Maybe there's some gold here for you, maybe maybe there's not. But four ideas on how you can actually reclaim your Sabbath, even this week.
Speaker 1:First is and I mentioned this yesterday we're talking about goal setting, a totally different topic here on the podcast, but yesterday we were talking about goal setting and I made mention that if it's not on my calendar, I don't do it, I forget about it, I just don't do it. So here's what I want you to do. Idea number one pick a day and guard it fiercely and by guarding it fiercely. The first thing I need to do is I need to put this on my calendar. Matter of fact, I'm going to do that right now, because it is not on my calendar. If you think, because I'm talking about this, I had this all figured out and Todd is a great Sabbath keeper. No, I'm not. So I'm going to go in right now and I'm going to mark off a whole day and I should do a screen share so you can actually see that I'm doing this. But I'm actually putting Sabbath on the calendar. I'm picking a day and the next thing you need to do and I'm going to try my best to do this I'm going to try and take the advice that I'm giving you right now Pick a day. I put it on my calendar Now. I'm going to guard it fiercely. And here's a clue it doesn't have to be a Sunday. Matter of fact, for a lot of you that are preaching and Sunday is your work intensive day, sunday is probably not the day for you to take a Sabbath. But put it on your calendar, guard it fiercely and just make it happen.
Speaker 1:Okay, idea number two unplug and this. Honestly, this is even harder for me than put it on my calendar. It was easy to put it on my calendar and, like I said, if it's on my calendar I'm going to do it. The second one is harder for me and that's unplug. I mean for real, for real unplug. And it goes back to me about all this stuff I got to get done and I, I, I need to read my emails, I need to read my texts, but you know what those are going to be there tomorrow. And as I think about that and think about how important I think you know all of my tasks are, I think when was the last time I got an email that was really I don't want to say life-threatening, but really needed my direct and supreme attention immediately? It couldn't wait until the next day and I don't remember the last time that that happened.
Speaker 1:Okay, so idea number one pick a day, put it on your calendar, guard it fiercely. Number two unplug. As much of a fast you can do from technology would be great. And then idea number three do something life-giving. I mean I don't know what it is for you, maybe it's reading, maybe it's walking, maybe it's playing with your kids, maybe it's for me taking a nap, if I can get a nap in. That's awesome, because I never get to take naps, but do something life-giving. And then idea number four and this isn't something you do. It is something you do, but it's not something you have to physically do, it's just, it's more of my thing. You've got to trust that God's in control.
Speaker 1:Sabbath is not a sign of weakness. If it was, god wouldn't ask us to do it. It's really an act of faith. All right, so here's your bottom line for you today, as for me, to you okay, your church, if you're on staff at a church, if you're a pastor, if you're a worship guy or gal, you're a children's church your church needs a rested you, a rested, not arrested. A rested. It needs a rested you, not a burned out version of you. Okay, your church does not deserve a burned out version of you.
Speaker 1:So this week I'm going to challenge you. Okay, pick one day, protect it, no excuses. And I would love to hear how you make Sabbath work in your ministry. Shoot me an email you can do this anytime, about anything. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. I read each and every email. Each and every email is totally confidential as well, and I would love to hear from you. Podcast at chemistrystaffingcom.
Speaker 1:And hey, if your church is struggling with burnout, maybe your staff is just a mess right now, unhealthy, and you need a little bit of outside help. I'd love to help. You can visit chemistrystaffingcom to find out a little bit more, or you can just email me podcast at chemistrystaffingcom. Tell me what's going on and I'd love to hop on a quick Zoom call with you and hear what's going on and see if there's any way I can help. Okay, well, that's it for today. Thanks so much for hanging out with me today. I really appreciate it. Remember, you're not alone in this, and rest isn't a reward, it's a requirement, okay, and Sabbath, it's a command. All right, thanks so much. We'll see you again right here tomorrow on the Healthy Church Staff Podcast. You.
