Doing ministry can be very exhilarating. What a privilege it is to advance God’s Kingdom in ways that will usher people into heaven, get people closer to Jesus, and glorify God. It’s a wonderful feeling at the end of the day to know you made a difference in someone’s life. And it’s sometimes exciting to think you get to do it again the next day.
I remember the fun I had doing youth ministry in my 20’s. In the Fall, there would be a large big event called the Burger Bash to invite new students to our youth meetings. So much to do: filling out forms at McKinley High School, coordinating volunteers, printing flyers and tickets, visiting the school to promote the event, the event itself, and then splitting up the contact cards late into the evening. Then throughout the week I would be thinking about our Monday night meetings…the games we would play, the commercials we would do to announce events, and creative ways to communicate the message. Sometime during the week I would be planning for a Wednesday night discipleship small group. Then the weekend was filled with volleyball, movies, and church. All to advance His Kingdom.
After eight years of youth ministry my wife and I transitioned to being a part of a church plant team. Many of the first volunteers came out of the youth ministry so we had a lot of ministry experience under our belts. And we had a lot of energy. No longer were we reaching teenagers, we were now reaching families: moms and dads, sons and daughters, grandmas and grandpas, aunties and uncles, and all the cousins…related and unrelated. Early Sunday morning I would arrive at the nearby school cafeteria to fold up all the tables and push them to the side. Another person would drive up with all the chairs, tables, and audio/visual equipment. After the church was set up, I would rush home to take a shower, pick up my wife and head to church. The services began to grow. One service grew into two. Then a Saturday evening service was added. Throughout the week there would be small group meetings and weekend activities. The original van could no longer hold the equipment so the church bought a used moving truck. Eventually I was hired by the church, first for part-time work, then eventually full-time.
The church outgrew the cafeteria and moved to a different one. The moving van was now too small so a shipping container was brought in and placed on the school property. Throughout the years more staff were added: various people for children, youth, worship, and small groups. An office had to be built with six offices, a conference room, and a large room for midweek services.
By this point I had done eight years of youth ministry and eight years of church ministry. And in the year 2000 I burned out. On my 34th birthday, I resigned from the church and turned in my office keys. I walked away from the office saying to myself, “I will never go back to doing full-time ministry.” It was too hard. The physical, emotional, mental, and psychological energy it takes to be in ministry had taken its toll. The energy it took to move the church forward had become mired in politics and relational divides. I wanted nothing to do with ministry. I found a job in downtown Honolulu, working Monday through Friday from 8am-4:30pm, and I had my nights and weekends free. No ministry commitments, no events, no small groups, no early morning set-up…and it felt like heaven.
As I look back at that time I find it ironic that doing ministry for the Lord became a time of stress, tension, anxiety, and fatigue. Should this be the norm? How did this happen? Now that I’m thirteen years removed from that time I can attribute my burnout to something very simple: the lack of taking a weekly sabbath.
When I was in my 20’s I had a lot of energy and there were so many people who needed Jesus. Therefore I felt that resting was a waste of time. I figured “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13), therefore I kept going. What that built was an invincibility mentality. I thought that since I was doing the Lord’s work, He would infuse me with extra strength. I carried that same mentality into the church plant. All that did was set me up for a huge crash.
The Lord created a Sabbath so that situations like the one I described wouldn’t happen. He wants us to last for the long haul but it won’t happen if we don’t rest – physically, emotionally, mentally, psychologically. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man” (Mk. 2:27) which originates from Ex. 23:12, “Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor in order that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves.” Taking a Sabbath isn’t a waste of time; taking a sabbath extends your time.
So what does a Sabbath look like? It looks like rest. It means taking intentional time to go deeper with the Father. It means allowing your body time to catch its breath. It means slowing down. It means expressing creativity. It means enjoying the presence of the Lord. It means rest from ministry. It means saying no to other things so you can sabbath. It means not committing myself to other events or activities. For me, having a Sabbath means staying home. Here are a few things I enjoy on my Sabbaths: reading anything by Charles Swindoll, going through my photographs and making a montage, and taking naps (sometimes two). If I can’t have a Sabbath, then my schedule is too busy and I need to cut something out. That’s how important a Sabbath is.
Today, I still do a lot of ministry. My first ministry is to my family (I’ll write about this in a few weeks). My work at the college involves a lot of interaction with people and decision-making for the health and future of the school. It may not be the same type of ministry I did in my 20’s, and I don’t have the same amount of energy, but what I do affects hundreds of lives. Therefore for the sake of my private, personal, and public longevity, I sabbath.
Sometimes we don’t have good leaders who last because they don’t sabbath.
Questions to Think About:
Do you have a weekly Sabbath? If not, what can you say no to in order to say yes to a Sabbath?
What will happen in the long haul if you don’t have a regular Sabbath?
© Gary Lau 2013
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