Rethink Mission: Inspiring gospel-centered missional churches

By Orion Berridge

A month ago I read an article on DesiringGod.org called “What does it mean practically to keep the Sabbath holy?” I would suggest reading it. In the article John Piper explains what that possibly looks like for different types of people and what it has looked like for his family over the years. Reading this article I began to examine practically what this looks like for me.

As a young Christian I felt like all days were holy and should be lived for God’s glory in our worship of him.  Hebrews chapter 3-4 explains that “Today” is the day to rest from our works just as God did from his works at creation, and enter that rest which is owned by God. The way in which I have done that is by daily Sabbath. You may know it as quiet time. And as I learned from a great book Practice of the Presence, by Brother Lawrence to somehow carry that rest throughout the day just as Moses’ face continued to show God’s glory after he left God’s presence. To some degree this is at the core of missional living, in that we are submitting our lives, our days, to God’s mission on earth.

I was recently given the “opportunity” to reassess these values. My family had a chance to use a friend’s lake house, which was a two hour drive south of Kansas City, for a week. As we began to drive, the first half hour was filled with constant phone calls, email and text notifications but soon those sounds stopped, and it was clear we had left the service area. I wasn’t worried because that’s normal as you drive through central Missouri. I knew that as we got closer to Bolivar we would pick up a signal and I could check my email and set my fantasy football roster. No problem.  It was true that as we approached the lake my phone found service again but not for long. About three miles from our destination my phone lost its last bar for good.

We got to the house and my first order of business after we unloaded all the gear was to get the TV running. Don’t judge me! I had to check the weather for the kids, IT WAS FOR THE KIDS! I had to check the weather so we could see if we could swim. After trying everything in the world we realized that the TV was old and they didn’t have a digital converter. So we had no TV. I thought to myself, “no problem or at least it’s no problem until Saturday when the Missouri Tigers play or Sunday when the Chiefs play. At least I can listen on the radio”. I checked the radio, but the radio was barely picking up a station. So no phone, emails, texts, twitter, facebook, voicemail, TV, news or scores. I’m completely unplugged.

The next morning my wife, Amy, and I began to talk about the idea of a Sabbath rest, more specifically a certain day of the week to rest. We talked about how that really works when you are serving on Sundays. If you’re a church planter you may be setting up equipment / classrooms, teaching, tearing down and loading out to a trailer. How can you do all that, rest for a few hours in the afternoon and consider that a Sabbath?

During the discussion I was painfully aware of my discomfort with being “unplugged” from the matrix. My wife encouraged me that I do a good job of taking time daily to marinate in prayer, scripture and study. But she also challenged me to find longer periods each week to disconnect and recharge the batteries. I thought about mounting a defense but the discomfort I was feeling weighed too heavily on me to pretend that I did that well. I have all the excuses in the world like a new church plant work load, off-hours pastoral care and meetings, meetings, meetings. I mean, I’m so important – what would happen without me?

“I’m so important – what would happen without me?”

Our family trip made me realize some realities. One of them is although I’m a big proponent of a regular quiet time, I think I may be falling short of really entering that rest from my works.  The discomfort I was feeling only served to reveal my desperate need to lay down who I am and abide in him more. For me that is going to take more than 30 minutes every day. It’s going to take me stopping, disconnecting and getting off the mission I am on and connecting to God’s true Missio Dei, and that’s wrapped up in my restful surrender to His glory.

Although I struggled that week with not knowing the weather, news or current events, I spent some much needed time with family and friends. And I breathed in deeply God’s glory as an amazing creator and savior. The busier I get as a church planter the more I see Sabbath as a joyful necessity rather than a law and I am still trying to understand practically what Sabbath looks like for me.

What does it look like for you?
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Orion is a former charismaniac youth pastor turned church planter, and missional strategist. He lives in Kansas City with His wife Amy, daughter Riley and son Luke. You can follow him on Twitter here.