The 360-Degree Sabbatical

On August 1, 2011 I began a sabbatical from my duties at New Hope Central Oahu. I want to make clear that I am not taking a break due to any disagreements with any philosophy, direction, or leadership of the church; any relationships within the church; or any sin in my life.   Over the past few weeks I have been receiving impressions from the Lord to take a break so that I can do some reflection.  What I am doing is strictly a step of obedience to the Lord.  During this time I will be doing five things, what I call the 360-Degree Sabbatical.

LOOKING BACKWARDS – I will be gaining perspective.  Dr. J. Robert Clinton says leaders who finish well take inventory of their lives in periodic intervals to gain perspective – they look at how the Lord has worked in the past.  Dr. Clinton says only one out of three leaders finish well and I believe one reason two out of three don’t is because of the lack of perspective.  The last time I did an intense perspective analysis was back in the summer of 2008.  I’m doing it again during my sabbatical by working on a personal development portfolio.  I will be looking back at the positive and negative experiences of my life, some of them only remembered recently, and examine what the Lord was doing during those times and connect the dots.  God uses past experiences as shaping activities to develop character and leadership.  I need a fresh perspective on my life.

LOOKING UPWARDS – I will be seeking new understandings of the Lord.  God is such a gracious God in that He doesn’t reveal His full self all at once but allows His children to learn about Him little by little.  My heart’s desire is to learn new things about God that I never knew before.  This is similar to what happened to Job – at the end of his ordeal, Job gained a fresh understanding of God’s sovereignty.

LOOKING INWARDS – I will be re-examining some of my core values.  Core values are the innate reasons we do what we do.  I need to see where I got my values and determine if any of them needs correction or adjustment.  There are two lists I will be looking at: Personal Values and Ministry Values.

LOOKING DOWNWARDS – I will seek the Lord to see if there is any sin in my life particularly anything that I have been holding on too tightly.  This will be a time of humility and confession.  Charles Swindoll once had a conversation with Corrie Ten Boom who said, “I’ve learned that we must hold everything loosely, because when I grip it tightly, it hurts when the Father pries my fingers loose and takes it from me!”

LOOKING FORWARD – Only after I have dealt with the above four areas will I strongly pursue this last area.  I have some inkling of what the Lord may be doing but I don’t want to get so caught up in looking forward that I ignore the other four areas.

I recently returned from Los Angeles where I took a class for personal growth at Fuller Theological Seminary.  One of the things I learned is the necessity to be present with the Lord “in the now.”  This is something I already do but I don’t do it deeply enough.  My slant is so geared towards the future that I sometimes miss what the Lord is doing in the here and now, even in the small things.  This sabbatical will help me learn how to tune into the Lord in the present.

I believe that leaders need to take regular sabbaticals in order to prevent unhealthy disagreements within church, to keep relationships strong and healthy, and to avoid sin in one’s life.  When leaders do this they will be able to persevere in the long haul.

I don’t know how long this sabbatical will last but just as the Lord impressed upon me to take a sabbatical I believe He will impress upon me when to finish it.

Questions to think about:
If you are in ministry, when was the last time you took a sabbatical?
When was the last time you did an analysis of your life to gain perspective?
Are you so forward-looking that you sometimes fail to recognize the Lord “in the now”?

© Gary Lau 2011
All rights reserved.  This article may not be distributed, forwarded or duplicated without prior permission from the author.


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One response to “The 360-Degree Sabbatical”

  1. Andrew Choy Avatar
    Andrew Choy

    Thanks for sharing. I came across your site via Robert Clinton’s website. I am preparing for a long-overdue sabbatical early 2014. Your sharing came in handy. Blessings!

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