Monday Mythbuster #7

Happy Monday, friends! Let’s continue in our Ministry Mythbusters spring blog series.

Myth #7: More church activity is better, even if we don’t take a weekly day off.

You’ll notice that many of these myths focus on the lack of rest, scheduling conflicts, balance for the family calendar, and so on. That’s because, when we connect with our ministry wife community, whether online or through our various in-person outlets like Let’s Connect and Let’s Retreat, this hurdle is typically at the top of the list of concerns.

Some might assume that scheduling grows more complicated, the larger your church grows. And in some ways, that’s true. But for the small church pastor, scheduling can be brutal as pastor and family are often expected to make room for the ideas of their congregants, schedule them, plan them, attend them, and see them to completion. More needs present more requirements. And more events often rob us of a life rhythm that pleases the Lord.

Is it possible that God-focused, church-centric events can displease the Lord? In short, yes. Much of the western mindset of “more is better” has influenced how followers of Christ live life, do ministry, and create their family calendars.

If you spend much time around fellow pastors, you'll discover a shared frustration with what defines "faithfulness" to the House of God in the 21st century. Statistically, the average parishioner would consider 1-3 monthly visits to a church event or worship service to be faithful attendance and qualify them as an active member of their local Body of believers. The knee-jerk reaction would be to create more opportunities for adherents to attend, or allow frustration to grow over the myriad of activities beyond the church doors that today's young family deems more valuable. "They can get their kids to five weekly sports practices and a weekend tournament two to three times a month, but can't get themselves to church!" Frustrating, isn't it?

And yet, wearing your own family, volunteers, and church staff out to provide more outlets for families who find it challenging to attend the few each month doesn't make any sense either. Focusing in on the few additional events each month, beyond your weekly worship experiences, will most likely ensure that what you're providing is fruitful, done with excellence, and adequate to whet the appetite of the unfaithful-faithful who call your church "home".

When it comes to obeying Scripture, less is more. And Sabbath rest is a part of God’s Top Ten requirements. Whatever stands in the way of your family finding routine rest and intentional time together must be prayerfully reconsidered. So, take a few moments today to stop and ask the Holy Spirit to convict you about items in your daily, weekly, monthly, and annual calendar that need to be revisited. Then, ask Him to give you the courage and strategy to make the tweaks necessary. Pleasing God must always trump pleasing people.

Let’s renew our commitment to pleasing God, even in our ministry and church scheduling.

Bonus Resources:

Blog: Searching for Sabbath

Podcast: Bye Bye Burnout