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2 Renewal Practices for Pastors
I want to hone in on two renewal practices and encourage you to present these to your congregations and leaders, especially if you are in an environment where this is seldom discussed or intentionally practiced.
I am always struck by the different kinds of environments pastors find themselves in. I’m in a context where things like rest and renewal are talked about often. Many of the churches in the network I serve have either taken sabbaticals or are currently writing them into their policies. Weekly sabbath practices and spiritual disciplines are encouraged and discussed on a regular basis at events, in group chats, and on a one-on-one basis. Now, I realize that not everybody exists in a context where rest and renewal practices are discussed regularly, and because of this, pastors can feel like these are taboo topics to bring up to elders, congregations, or leadership teams. Why is that? One reason is that we live in a productivity-based society, so engaging in things that don’t show “tangible” outcomes can feel lazy, ineffective, and like bad time management. This can create a fear in many pastors who assume that people who don’t understand the vocation of a pastor will unfairly judge them when they don’t see the “results” that propel and substantiate their own jobs and careers.
This was exaggerated during the pandemic when pastors around the country had to shut down Sunday morning gatherings. It seemed like pastors everywhere were scrambling to find inventive ways to offer their “services” to their congregations. Of course, there was nothing wrong with pastors figuring out ways to engage with their people, but I think one of the underlying reasons that motivated all the scramble was the fear that people were thinking, “I knew it! My pastor does nothing all day?!” Let me offer a word of encouragement to all who struggle with this notion—your job is not to satisfy your congregation’s definition of productivity. Your call, rather, is to lead them to the love, light, and living water of Jesus, which is why you need to cultivate a heart that can faithfully fulfill that call.
In my previous article, I tried to make a compelling case about why pastors needed to practice a lifestyle of renewal. This time around, I want to hone in on just two of those practices and encourage you to present these to your congregations and leaders, especially if you are in an environment where this is seldom discussed or intentionally practiced. None of this will be new, nor should it be, but I want to phrase these practices in such a way that will hopefully create a new spark in you.
1) Revisit Prayer
See prayer as a life-giving conversation rather than a life-taking drudgery.
We certainly don’t have time to unpack all the reasons why pastors don’t pray as they should, but we can probably all agree that none of us prays “enough,” and that many of us walk around with a low-level guilt about it. When Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you,” he is not implying that we should never have a conversation with another living soul! He’s saying that we should have a posture of continual expression to God that covers every aspect of our lives.
My wife, Melissa, and I have an active text thread going at all times. No matter where we are or what is going on, we are constantly checking in, asking how the other is doing, providing each other with ongoing information, and syncing up on all kinds of fun, funny, mundane, and vastly ordinary things. In case this is hitting you weirdly, let me say that we are not “checking up” on or “smothering” the other person. We are genuinely interested in the other person and want to stay connected during the day, even if we aren’t physically together.
Ceaseless prayer is like this in some ways. It is an ongoing conversation with the Creator of the universe. It’s where we tell Him where we are, how our day is going, and what we need help with while offering Him praise and thanksgiving for who He is and how He continues to love and care for us. If we adopt this perspective, prayer becomes a life-giving conversation rather than a life-taking drudgery. Instead of mumbling rote words into what feels like an echo-filled void, we are engaging with a person who is more interested in our lives than anybody else in the world. As hard as it is to believe, He delights in hearing your hopes, fears, anger, complaints, confessions, and dreams.
2) Revisit Sabbath Rest
See sabbath as an opportunity to experience increased joy through intentional trust.
People practice sabbath in different ways, but to use the broadest definition possible, it simply means taking a rest from our labor. Depending on your personality, taking an intentional sabbath day of rest can immediately feel like the occupation of a lazy person, or a “wasting” a day because it prevents you from doing anything enjoyable or worthwhile. Like most things that we assign unhelpful definitions to, we need to remember that sabbath rest is meant to increase our joy through intentional trust in Jesus, not become a weekly drudgery that feels more burdensome than a day of hard labor.
When we think back to the Israelites living under Egyptian oppression, we are told that the Lord heard their groaning and promised to bring them out from under the burdens of the Egyptians (Exodus 6). To be clear, God wasn’t delivering His people from ever having to work again; He was delivering them from the burden this kind of work was inflicting upon them due to their status as slaves. Of course, I’m not trying to draw a one-to-one comparison between our workweek and Egyptian oppression! But God’s desire to provide rest for His people is not simply a metaphor for future glory, but a present reality that we should partake of now. Remember, when the Israelites were finally delivered from the burdens of Egypt, God reinstituted the sabbath as a day of rest, and it wasn’t a suggestion. Remember, rest started before Genesis 3. God modeled something for us (rest) that He didn’t need to do (Gen. 2:2) but desired us to do for our joy.
And not just joy.
Every time we take a sabbath day of rest, we are taking an intentional step of trust in the Lord. We are saying, “The Lord doesn’t need me to produce anything, and He’s going to produce fruit in me as the result.” Taking a sabbath day is not only God’s way of increasing your joy but also increasing your faith in Him to care for you whether you are working or resting.
Let me finish with this: we don’t want to turn the sabbath into a holiday for Pharisees. A day off doesn’t mean doing nothing, although it can be exactly that. We all have different things that are restful for us. For some, it’s running errands, doing home projects, washing the car, fiddling in the garage, etc. For others, it’s about taking a walk, eating some good food, watching the game, playing with the kids, etc.
Whatever it is for you, discover it, practice it, and begin to see it as some of the most productive work that you can possibly do.
