{"id":5886,"date":"2018-08-27T04:00:24","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T04:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artiosmagazine.org\/?p=5886"},"modified":"2023-08-29T11:22:38","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T17:22:38","slug":"christ-centered-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baonline.cog7engage.net\/christ-centered-rest\/","title":{"rendered":"Christ-Centered Rest on Sabbath is for Pastors, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

Exhausted from a long, demanding day, Joseph feels his body begin to release stress and his mind struggle to let go of its seemingly endless list of responsibilities.\u00a0It\u2019s almost Sunday<\/em>, he tells himself.\u00a0Maybe I\u2019ll finally get a chance to rest.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sad irony is that this is a relatable situation for many pastors, ministry leaders, and members of congregations who meet on Saturday with good intentions of celebrating Sabbath<\/a>. Unfortunately, the day on which a congregation worships is often the most physically and emotionally taxing day of the week for many pastors and church leaders. It can become a day so devoted to church that even our guests go home exhausted.<\/p>\n

Thousands of tiny details go into \u201cdoing church\u201d each week in the way that our culture has come to expect. The pastor becomes a manager of these details, ministering and attending to needs often unseen and unsung.<\/p>\n

Yet for Sabbath-embracing congregations, this testimony invites an important query: Do our Sabbaths necessitate that their chief celebrants push their rest to another day of the week? If so,\u00a0are we truly celebrating a Christian Sabbath?<\/em><\/p>\n

Church Leadership<\/h3>\n

The Christian Sabbath has its roots in the Jewish Sabbath and in the Edenic Sabbath before that. From the beginning, Sabbath has been structured so that\u00a0everyone<\/em>\u00a0within God\u2019s covenant community could receive the gift of rest. The Jews, however, did have one notable exception. Priests continued to perform their work on the Sabbath with God\u2019s blessing.[ref]Matthew 12:5[\/ref]<\/p>\n

The Christian tendency is to equate the priesthood with the pastorate, thus exempting pastors from the blessings of Sabbath. This, however, directly contradicts the reality that in Christ, we all constitute a \u201croyal priesthood.\u201d[ref]1 Peter 2:5,\u00a09[\/ref]<\/p>\n

It also fails to note that the New Testament model of church leadership was not one of pastoral hierarchy but of\u00a0team<\/em> leadership. The pastor is one among many who equip the church for works of service. And neither the equipping nor the works of service primarily take place on Sabbath.[ref]Ephesians 4:11,\u00a012[\/ref] Paul always ministered as part of a team and appointed teams of leaders in each of the churches they planted.[ref]Acts 14:23[\/ref]<\/p>\n

Sabbath is a blessing for Christians to enjoy. Therefore, it stands to reason that our churches should be administered<\/a> in such a way that: 1) spreads out the responsibilities of church leadership and 2) allows church leaders to lead their congregation in a\u00a0simple<\/em>\u00a0celebration of the rest we have in Christ.<\/p>\n

Communal Sabbath<\/h3>\n

The church is called to embody in community what it looks like to live under the rule of King Jesus<\/a>. The mystery of Sabbath is that communal rest reveals truths about God and His relationship with humanity that can best be experienced and understood at a physical level through the very inaction of rest.<\/p>\n

Sabbath is a gift Christ offers as a tangible reality that we don\u2019t have to \u2014 and\u00a0can\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 earn God\u2019s favor.[ref]Hebrews 4[\/ref] It is not about actions\u00a0we<\/em>\u00a0take but about letting\u00a0God<\/em>\u00a0act on\u00a0us<\/em>. To celebrate Sabbath as Christ intended is to receive this sacrament, this grace, of the present\u00a0and future rest we have in Christ.<\/p>\n

Failing to recognize the eternal significance of Sabbath, the strongest sect of Pharisees took an extreme view of Sabbath. They wielded it as a tool against those who most needed a tangible expression of God\u2019s care. All too often, however, we take Christ\u2019s correction to the Jews that \u201cIt is lawful to do good on the Sabbath\u201d and contort it to mean \u201cDo as much good as possible on the Sabbath.\u201d Thus, we can transform Sabbath into an exhausting day driven by intentionally cramming in as many good works as possible. In the process, we crowd out needs that Sabbath was designed to meet. We also downplay how we are to live out the gospel the other six days of the week.<\/p>\n

In contrast, Sabbath as interpreted through the lens of the gospel will be a day devoted to physically experiencing Christ\u2019s restorative presence, allowing us space to administer God\u2019s mercy to needs that arise in the natural course of the day.<\/p>\n

Christ-centered Rest<\/h3>\n

[bctt tweet=”Sabbath is a natural time to gather as a community to worship. – Amber Riggs”]<\/p>\n

Sabbath is a natural time to gather as a community to worship. Jesus Himself taught in synagogues on the seventh day. However, recognize the temptation to equate Sabbath exclusively with corporate worship services and ministry activities, to believe that the very act of \u201cgoing to church\u201d means that we\u2019ve participated in this sacrament\u00a0of Sabbath rest. We should thoughtfully examine this tendency and make space for additional forms of rest. For example, how might Sabbath change if your congregation met at the start of Sabbath (Friday evening), instead of on Saturday morning?<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Our Sabbath gatherings do not have to carry the weight we have given them. – Amber Riggs”]<\/p>\n

Our Sabbath gatherings do not have to carry the weight we have given them. We should be unburdened knowing that the patterns of modern evangelical church gatherings are rooted more in nineteenth century American Revivalism than in worship gatherings of the New Testament. A greater emphasis on reflecting God\u2019s image in the context of our daily lives will also take pressure off of leveraging Sabbath for ministry.<\/p>\n

[bctt tweet=”Remember that leadership teams should lighten, not increase, the load. – Amber Riggs”]<\/p>\n

After embracing a more simplified and intentional Sabbath, we should reduce pastoral responsibilities by studying and implementing what the Bible teaches about leadership teams. When more people are involved, the natural inclination will be to try to\u00a0accomplish<\/em>\u00a0more<\/em>\u00a0on Sabbath. Remember that leadership teams should instead lighten the load.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s commit to embracing Sabbath as a day when our entire church community can say, \u201cIt\u2019s Sabbath. Finally \u2014 a chance to rest.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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This article was originally published here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Do you desire your local congregation to embrace this vision for their future? To become better equipped for bringing this vision into reality, here are some excellent Artios resources for you:<\/em><\/p>\n