I’m really excited to test out a blogging idea I’ve had for a while with none other than the magic man himself, Zak White.
Zak and I will both be blogging about the sabbath today, and then posting a video tomorrow of the two of us discussing how we sabbath. Part one of the discussion is posted on his blog (go check it out, I’ll still be here when you’re done), and part two is posted below. Our video conversation will be posted on both blogs tomorrow. Got it? Good. Now, on to the discussion.
When it come to the sabbath…
I think the American church encourages sin.
Most pastors I know, including myself, have the luxury of being able to take either Monday or Friday off since Sunday is a working day for us. For me, Sunday really is a working day, as I’m usually putting in at least 7 hours between services and additional work during the afternoon.
However, virtually everyone in our congregation has to work on both Friday and Monday, leaving them with only Saturday and Sunday to attempt to sabbath. Now, we’re expecting them to pack up the whole family, make the trip to church, probably serve in some capacity, and then get everyone packed back up to head home and prepare meals and finish homework for the rest of the night. But they still have Saturday, right?
Well, it seems that Saturdays can find congregants at men’s meetings, women’s lunches, car wash fundraisers, rehearsals, cookouts, conferences, etc. And that’s just from the church! This doesn’t count the games and practices and picnics from just plain ol’ life. If we’re trying to help our people love, serve and obey God, doesn’t that take in to account their weekend schedule and ability to sabbath?
I don’t know if it’s possible to take 24 uninterrupted hours and devote it to God and family in today’s society, but I believe the church should be using it’s considerable influence to push congregants TOWARDS resting, refreshing, pausing, reconnecting, not helping them fill up their time with more and more church activities, not matter how legitimate and spiritually refreshing they’re intended to be.
While I’m not a big fan of being counter-cultural (that’s another blog for another time), I’m a huge fan of being Christ-cultural. When it comes to the sabbath, I believe pushing an agenda of less is an opportunity for the church to be both counter-cultural and Christ-cultural.
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
When you sit down to make your calendars, schedule your events, and plan your conferences do you take into account this biblical command? Is it on your strategic radar at all?
Tomorrow Zak and I will post a video of us chatting and discussing how we individually sabbath. I can’t wait to hear how you try (or FAIL!) to observe this foundational challenge from God.
#1 by Brian Ayers on November 13, 2008 - 9:43 am
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You make a good point in this post. This is definitely something we should be considering!
#2 by Gretchen Fagan on November 13, 2008 - 10:11 am
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Good post Clayton! Colin and I have discussed this allot asking ourselves if we really take a true Sabbath or end up busying ourselves with a “to do” list.
I actually remember years ago a church leader questioning my “idea” of a Sabbath. I said I believed it to be a day of true rest (thus not doing another task, etc.) and was actually told that I was wrong and needed to not put such strict boundaries around it. So I am thankful you are bringing this topic up.
We live it a world that is non-stop doing that I think allot of us treat the Sabbath as an inconvenience to getting more things done (without realizing it). Working a 5 day work week I realize how much more difficult it is to adhere to this command, I tend to fill my weekends with tasks. From my own experience having worked in vocational ministry, it is easy to forget what the 8-5/M-F work life is like (including family responsibilities and all the things you mentioned) and then schedule things that fill up “Joe the church member’s” calendar keeping him and others from getting quality time to rest, etc. So thank you for seeing from the “other perspective”, you have obviously experienced that yourself and good to know you bring that to the table.
Gretchen Fagan´s last blog post..Dear Maryland Farms Starbucks,
#3 by Jen on November 13, 2008 - 10:34 am
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What I do is take my Sabbath in two parts, Saturday morning, and Sunday afternoon and evening. I’m generally pretty protective of this time, especially on Sunday. It’s been working pretty well for me, but then I have the luxury of making my own schedule without having to consider a spouse or kids.
Also, I make sure I am really resting during this time, taking more time to connect with God, relaxing with a good book, kicking back and watching a movie or something. I try not to let that time become my catch up on housework or other things I haven’t done during the week time. That’s not to say I won’t throw in a load of laundry on Sunday night if I realize I have no clean work clothes for the upcoming week, but as a general rule I try to avoid it.
This is something I got convicted about a few months back. I work a normal 40 hour a week job, but on top of that I do 20+ hours a week of church or other ministry related volunteer work. It’s a lot, but I’m finding that when I honor the Sabbath, I am able to handle everything pretty well for the most part. When I don’t honor the Sabbath, well, things don’t go so smoothly for me or the people I interact with.
I am a firm believer in taking a Sabbath because it works. Kind of like walking in purity or being ethical at work – it might require a tough call or two in the short run, but in the long run life just goes a lot more smoothly when you live the way God wants you to live.
#4 by nic on November 13, 2008 - 12:42 pm
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Clayton,
I’m diggin’ the blog crossover concept that you and Zak have going here. And I think you picked a great topic too. Here’s my two cents, for what that’s worth.
Maybe we (leaders in the church in America) aren’t doing a very good job teaching and providing a Sabbath for our people because we don’t do a very good job modeling the Sabbath ourselves. Maybe we don’t see it as a relevant need for our people because we are not taking God’s instructions about the Sabbath seriously for our own lives.
I’ve been in ministry for 12 years now and I’ve always had a day off – like you mentioned in your post. But I’m sure you know from experience that most of us as pastors and leaders in the church aren’t very good at “turning off” and really taking a Sabbath. I mean, how many times do we just take the work, phone calls, emails, meetings, etc home or to a coffee shop and call it a day off because we’re not “in the office.” Or how many times do we have so many ministry or church-related events scheduled on our Sabbath that it is sometimes a month or more between an actual time of rest and renewal.
I think you and Zak are dead on in these posts. I can only speak from my own experience here when I say that I think that I need to model this better in my own life as I try to figure out how to best push congregants toward having a scheduled time of rest and renewal. Just my thoughts on the subject…
nic´s last blog post..Wow Wednesday…
#5 by Zak White on November 13, 2008 - 5:18 pm
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Nic,
I’ve said it to you before, but you also need to figure it out better in your own life BEFORE THAT KIDDO gets here. DON’T WAIT! Set some boundaries NOW!
Love you bro.
Zak White´s last blog post..That Little Extra
#6 by Jen Bouch on November 13, 2008 - 5:46 pm
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It’s better for folks to be at church-related activities than to feed on useless media, which is what many people do if they have any down time. Maybe I’m just cynical, but I imagine that if the church had fewer activities, the congregants’ extra time would just be spent watching TV… or commenting on blogs. : )
#7 by Clayton Bell on November 13, 2008 - 7:38 pm
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@jenbouch- you make a great point. My question, which is what this whole thing is about, asking questions, should the church circus their efforts on teaching people to do this on their own or do it for them?
#8 by Dave Hess on November 14, 2008 - 9:35 am
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I don’t think it is “sin” for a 21st century christian to not take a “sabbath”. I think that the New Testament makes it clear that this is not something that new Christians are obligated to follow.
Colossians 2:16-17 says “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”
However, I think we can take away a great principle from the Old Testament Sabbath – simply that God wants us to be able to have time to unplug, rest, worship and reflect on our lives.
Whether that takes the form of multiple evenings a week, an afternoon, or a full 24 hour day, each week’s rest/reflection time will probably vary depending on their other responsibilities.
Beyond that, what exactly is included as “restful” varies greatly among people depending on their personality, means of their full time employment and other factors.
Dave Hess´s last blog post..J.I. Packer on the Priority of Knowing God
#9 by Clayton Bell on November 14, 2008 - 10:00 am
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@Davehess- I agree that restful varies greatly. That’s actually what we’re discussing in our video post today.
I would be less inclined to agree that it’s “clear” something NT Christians are not obligated to follow based on that passage. My understanding of that passage is that it speaks to how we observe, not our overall observance, because as I state in the video the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath. Perhaps you might want to pop over to Zak’s blogs and look at the comments over there, as they’re getting a little more into these points.
If nothing else, we wanted to talk about because it’s, well, NOT talked about! It’s one of the ten commandments, and I believe a lack of rest and refreshing in Christ leads to our inability to observe all of the other commandments in Christ.
#10 by Brad Ruggles on November 14, 2008 - 10:06 am
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Great discussion.
When I was in full-time ministry is was really tough to prioritize my days off and not cheat my family.
If you want to read a great book on this topic check out “Choosing To Cheat” by Andy Stanley. Really changed the way I thought about my work/family life time.
Brad Ruggles´s last blog post..Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man