Taking a Rest from Ministry: Seven Issues to Address

Summer tends to be a slower time in the life of a church. Since schools are out and the weather is warm, many families take advantage of these months to travel and take vacations. With many members out of town each week, many churches find that this time of year presents a good opportunity to pause some scheduled activities that fill up the church calendar. And that means that summer represents a good time for pastors to slow down and get some rest.

There should be no doubt that pastors need rest. Full-time vocational ministry is a great privilege and is often a joy. But the nature of the work generally requires a pastor to be physically and emotionally available whenever someone in the church has a significant spiritual need. Add on to that the glorious but difficult work of preparing a sermon each week and the less glorious but inevitable administrative tasks and leadership duties that fill up our calendars, and it is easy for a pastor to get lost in the weekly tasks of ministry and thus lose his perspective and joy in his work. A bit of rest, whether in the form of a formal sabbatical, a family vacation, a personal retreat, or even a reduced number of hours in the office for a few weeks, can help a pastor return to work with fresh energy and delight.

Even so, many pastors will confess that they find it difficult to get away to rest. The daily pressure of caring for a church (II Corinthians 11:28), a passion for the congregation’s well-being, and the love and concern pastors have for the sheep under their care make it difficult to step away and focus on other things for a while. It can seem almost selfish or irresponsible to step away and take care of oneself and one’s family.

If you find it difficult to stop and rest in the midst of ministry, here are seven issues that you might need to address:

1. Misplaced Guilt

We are embodied creatures with God-given emotional and physical limits. Only God does not grow weary or need to rest (Psalm 121:4, Isaiah 40:28). There is no shame in admitting that you are a creature, with all the limits that entails. God made us to need rest so that it would be clear to us that we are dependent. We are not sufficient in ourselves, and there is no reason to feel guilty for acknowledging that truth and taking some rest.

2. Fear of Man

Many pastors struggle to rest because they are worried that their congregations will think they are lazy or weak. We want to be seen as models of hard work and self-sacrifice, and to a point, that is good. But it is foolish to allow care for how others perceive us to cause us to neglect time away from our families (who also need us) or time attending to our own souls.

3. Failure to Plan

Time away almost always requires a plan. Who will take over your responsibilities at the church? How will you pay for a family vacation? Where will you go? What will you do to make the most of the time that is allotted to you? All these things require forethought and planning.

When our family was young, and money was particularly tight, we used to put money in an envelope every month that would go towards a beach rental in the summer, one that we would never have been able to afford if we hadn’t saved for it. But those beach trips remain some of our best memories and were the locations of some of our most important conversations as a family.

4. Failure to Raise up Co-Laborers

God calls pastors to train the saints (Ephesians 4:12) for the work of ministry through the proclamation of the Word and prayer (II Timothy 4:2, Acts 6:4). But for many American churches, the pastor is ultimately responsible for nearly everything that is happening in the life of the congregation.

If you haven’t trained up other elders who can shepherd the flock alongside you (II Timothy 2:2) and equipped the members of the church to build up the congregation, then you will find it difficult to step away. But a pastor should be able to rest without the church’s life grinding to a halt.

5. An Excessive Need to Be in Control

It can be tempting to respond to the pressures and uncertainties of ministry by maintaining a tight grip on everything that happens in the life of the church. After all, you’re the expert, right? It can be tempting to think that the church is best off when you’re at the helm, and it’s easy to imagine things go off the rails without your steady hand on the tiller. If that is your attitude, you will probably find stepping away and taking a break very difficult.

6. Finding Your Identity in Work

Pastoral ministry can be very fulfilling and rewarding. If you’re reasonably good at it, people may well appreciate you and encourage you in your labors (and that’s a good thing!). But that positive feedback can be emotionally intoxicating, and it’s possible to find yourself finding your identity and sense of self-worth in your work rather than being in Christ. If that’s the case, you will find it very hard to step away from the work to rest in Him. 

7. A Failure to Trust God

Part of God’s glory is that he does not need you to accomplish his good purposes in the church you serve. He is not like the idols of the world who need their worshippers to serve them, but in fact, he is the one who provides to us all that we need (Acts 17:24-25).

The seed of the gospel springs up to bear fruit while we sowers are asleep (Mark 4:26-29). While God uses means (like pastors) to accomplish his purposes, he is not in any way dependent on us to do so. God will accomplish his sovereign and unthwartable counsel (Daniel 4:35, Psalm 33:11, Ephesians 1:11), even if you take a break from the office to rest and commune with him. 

Pastor, you serve a wonderfully powerful and loving God. He richly blesses our labors and rewards the sacrifices and service of his people (I Corinthians 3:14). But he also made us finite and limited creatures, so that it might be clear that only he is ultimately strong and mighty to save. So, pastor, why don’t you consider bringing honor to the Lord this summer by taking some time to rest?

©2024 Michael McKinley. Used with permission.