BY STU LYNCH
Busy church leaders need practices and perspectives that will help them stay healthy and fruitful for the long haul and finish well in life and ministry. My calling is helping leaders connect more deeply with God as they explore various life-giving perspectives and practices. One of the life-giving practices that many busy leaders I know struggle with is in observing a weekly Sabbath.
Here are seven things I’ve learned about practicing the Sabbath that might bless busy leaders reading this today.
1. Sabbath-keeping changed me.
Up until about five years ago, I didn't have a particular idea of what it meant to have a Sabbath day or to keep Sabbath. Over a period of time, my wife, Hilary, and I began to experiment with what that meant and have a personal practice of Sabbath keeping. For me, that's been really life changing. I find that I’m now working from a place of sustainable rest instead of continually feeling a need for more and more rest from my work!
Several people have influenced my thinking on the subject, including Pete's Scazzero, the founder of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, and Ruth Haley Barton, founder of the Transforming Center. Scazzero’s simple definition of Sabbath is a 24-hour period set aside once a week to stop, rest, delight, and contemplate.
So basically, the idea is to:
- STOP all your paid and unpaid work;
- REST your body, mind, soul, and spirit;
- DELIGHT in the many God-given gifts—the things that you find life-giving and enjoyable;
- and CONTEMPLATE and COMMUNE with God.
You might like to spend a little bit of extra time praying and reading God's word, perhaps go outside to enjoy a bit of God's beautiful creation, engage in a favorite recreational activity, or hang out with close friends and family ... Just remember to stop, rest, delight, and contemplate.
2. The basis of Sabbath-keeping centers on respecting our God-given limits.
Of course, we see from Exodus chapter 20 verses 8 to 11 where God says:
“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the lord your God…. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
You might be wondering what this old-fashioned commandment has to do with busy life in the 21st century. Sabbath keeping is really all about respecting the timeless limits God gives us for our own benefit and blessing. It’s a weekly time to lay down all our paid and unpaid work trusting that God can get along just fine without our ‘help’ for 24 hours. Ignoring this life-giving Sabbath rhythm of rest and work is just as unhealthy today as it was in biblical times!
3. Sabbath is best practiced with others.
For the Jewish people, Sabbath was always a community practice. if at all possible, practicing or observing Sabbath with others will make all the difference in the world. Hilary and I began exploring this practice together and continue to observe it together. Find one, two, or a few journey companions to explore Sabbath keeping with and graciously encourage one another to continue exploring even when you encounter various challenges. If there are young children in your household, try to discover what would make Sabbath-keeping fun and life giving to them. Persistence in Sabbath-keeping will bear abundant fruit among you and your journey companions!
4. Sabbath is not just a regular day off.
There are important differences between a Sabbath day and a day off. One is that a regular day off just means I'm not getting paid for my work, but I keep on working. I do the laundry, I do some cleaning, I catch up on yard work, and pay some bills. That's a day off, but a Sabbath is quite different. What makes it really different is how we approach it in community and also the way that we look at things that are life-giving or things that are conversely life-draining. If you’re blessed by two days off every week, you can use one for catching up on your unpaid work, and the other for a true Sabbath day of rest. If you only have one day off per week, you’ll need to be a bit creative in managing your unpaid work, but it will be well worth the effort to make sure you protect your one day off for true Sabbath rest!
5. Sabbath involves choices about what you do and don’t do.
There are many things I will do on the Sabbath. I enjoy gardening and, because I find it life-giving, I’ll do a bit of gardening on a Sabbath. But if I have a really big yard job or gardening chore, I won't do that because it slips over into being work for me. I guess my hard and fast rule is that if there's anything I have to do, I won’t do it on a Sabbath! For me particularly, email is something I just don't touch on the Sabbath. At the bottom of my emails, I even alert others of my practice: “Please note I only access email on Sunday through Thursday.” I also turn off my WhatsApp notifications because I'm on several very active groups and it gets me all wound up if I look at those. We can remember the bottom line for Jesus was that Sabbath was made for the man, not man for the Sabbath. I find that perspective really freeing!
6. Pastors face extra challenges in practicing Sabbath.
Quite frankly, for those of us who are vocational Christian ministers, Sunday isn't really a day of rest at all. So for us, it's better to practice and observe Sabbath on another day. For example, Hilary and I are currently observing our Sabbath every Saturday. We know others who begin their weekly Sabbath early Sunday afternoon after church responsibilities are finished and end early Monday afternoon. The main thing is having a regular and consistent 24-hour period that works for you.
7. Everyone needs to find a way to keep the Sabbath that works for them.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all formula here. Sabbath keeping is a principle we need to apply balancing personal and community aspects, and our practices will look different from one person to another. In essence, it's all about finding what works for you in the community and season of life you’re currently in. Find what’s life-giving to you and do more of and avoid the things you find life-draining if you possibly can! I hope these thoughts will be helpful and freeing as you consider exploring Sabbath keeping yourself! May the Lord bless you on this grace-filled journey!
Here’s a link to a 15-minute talk by Pete Scazzero called Practicing Sabbath Delight that I’ve found quite helpful. You can also listen to some of my thoughts via the link below. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this, as well. Please drop me an email at
Stu Lynch has served with A3 since 1989. He and his wife, Hilary, work in partnership with ReachGlobal (EFCA) in Birmingham, UK, where they serve locally restarting a church in a multi-faith community with many Asian people. Regionally Stu offers resources, coaching, and spiritual accompaniment to church planters with a focus of helping leaders stay healthy and fruitful for the long haul and finish well in life and ministry. Email him at
More Information
- Listen to Stu share about Sabbath keeping (audio 7 mins)
- Practicing Sabbath Delight by Pete Scazzero (video 15 mins)
- Cover photo of hammocks by Chris Thompson on Unsplash
