The Need for Rest

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

A couple times a year our pastors fill out a spiritual life-assessment. It’s part of our pastoral care process, and helps us top and consider our own spiritual health as we care for the spiritual health of others. We ask questions like: what does your time with the God consist of? What temptations or discouragements are you battling? How is your family unity? And the final question on the form: Should you have more or less rest in your life?

We’ve been using this same self-assessment for over a decade, and I can’t remember a single time someone answered “less.” in fact, as we review the assessment together, the question usually elicits a chuckle (if not an outright laugh). We all know we need more rest. But ministry just doesn’t seem to afford that kind of luxury.

The busy life of ministry

Modern pastors tend to wear busyness like a badge of honor. If we’re honest, we’ll admit thinking things like: “Rest is a luxury the Kingdom can’t afford,” “Rest is for those doing less important work,” and “Rest is for the lazy or the weak.” Of course, we’d never say these kinds of things out loud. Yet, somehow they seem to summarize the way we function.

The demands of pastoral ministry are non-stop. There is always more to do; there is always more to study. There are always more people in need. And because of the constant demands rest doesn’t feel like an unnecessary luxury, it can feel like betrayal of our calling. Proverbs 24 may come to mind as we remember that:

A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:33-34)

Does’t wisdom dictate that even “a little sleep” and ‘a little…rest” are symptoms of unfaithfulness? Aren’t we called to “work heartily unto the Lord…knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)?

If these principles of diligence are true for all work and every vocation, how much more for those of us God has called into vocational ministry? Faithfulness means completely exhausting ourselves for the sake of Christ. Faithfulness means immediately responding to every text and visiting every person in need. And faithfulness means always being available, always being on call, and never really taking a day off. Right!?

“Churchaholism“

I’m afraid this kind of thinking is fueling waves of pastoral resignations and reassignments. Because the epidemic of pastoral burnout isn’t just the result of some unidentifiable mental health crisis — it’s directly related to the way we function and our vocational aversion to rest.

Yes, COVID took its toll. Yes, political polarization makes ministry exponentially more difficult. And yes, people’s problems seem to be getting more complex not less. But none of these factors is wreaking near the havoc on the pastoral ranks as our seeming inability to truly, regularly, and refreshingly rest.

What’s more, I’m convinced this ministry-trumps-everything mentality, even when well intentioned, is not only sabotaging our longevity in ministry, it’s also leading our churches astray. This kind of “churchaholism” isn’t just hurting us, it’s declaring to all those around us that it’s good to work outside our God-ordained limits. It’s setting an example that far too many of our workaholic congregants are more than happy to follow.

The good gift of rest

But, just as God created work and imbued every different vocation with dignity, God also created rest. In fact, he didn’t just create rest, God created us for rest. we were created to work. And we were created to rest. We were created to labor. And we were created to have times (regular, weekly times) when we ease from labor. We read about this in the very beginning of Genesis:

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Genesis 2:2-3)

God rested. He rested as the capstone of his work of creation. He rested to set us an example as those created in his image. God rested because we, as those who were created in His likeness, were created to rest. Since God rested on the final day of creation (after completing His work), rest was the theme of Adam and Eve’s first day on earth. Adam and Eve did’t work and then rest (as if rest were some sort of reward), they rested and then (having enjoyed simply being with God) they went to work.

When we, as pastors, fail to rest, we don’t only fuel our own burnout and set unsustainable examples for our people, we also rob God of glory. We can become so consumed with bringing God glory in our work (the preparing of sermons, the counseling of people, casting vision) we can completely neglect the ways God is glorified in our rest.

Rest as worship

Ultimately, rest is a powerful form of worship. It’s a Wayne reflect God and honor Him as our Sovereign. It is a way of declaring to god, to ourselves, and to those around us that the world doesn’t depend on us. We declare that we are creatures and not the creator, that we are limited, and that the outcome of our efforts is up to Him far more than it is up to us. When we rest we remind everyone around us (and our own hearts):

Unless the Lord builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives to his beloved sleep.(Psalm 127:1-2)

So what about you? Do you need more rest in your life?

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