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We survived! Christmas? A distant memory. Easter? In the rearview mirror. Time to raise our fists in the air, run up and down the sanctuary aisles, and do our best Sylvester Stallone. For many of us, the proximity of Easter to Christmas this year has made October to April just one big blur. But it’s done. It’s over. With a couple months until summer projects and youth camps, it’s time for a well-deserved victory lap.
Maybe you serve in a church where your tireless six months doesn’t receive the proper recognition, so let me say: “Good job.”
Maybe you serve in a church where your tireless six months doesn’t receive the proper recognition, so let me say: “Good job.” You have served the Kingdom well. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul reminds us that when we are “steadfast, immovable, and always excelling” in the performance of our craft, our “labor in the Lord is not in vain” (v.58). Not only that, it is Christ who grants us that victory (v.57); it is He who celebrates with us. So, take a moment to stop, regroup, reflect, and rejoice in all that you have accomplished. You deserve it.
Slow down & reconnect
Personally, there is always a strange lull that comes over me during this time between ministry seasons. After charging through at 110% for months on end, it can feel strange to stop and breathe. I don’t think taking a breather is natural for a tech person: we feel there’s always something more we can do, even when there’s not. But maybe finding busy work is not what God wants from us during this time. What if we thought of these couple months as our “Sabbath season”? Maybe God truly wants us to stop in order to regroup, reflect, and rejoice in all that He is. After months of pouring Jesus into others, we need some Jesus for ourselves.
But maybe finding busy work is not what God wants from us during this time. What if we thought of these couple months as our “Sabbath season”?
For me this means reconnecting. Reconnecting with Christ, and reconnecting with others. This becomes a time to rebuild relationships that may have been set aside. It’s seeing friends and loved ones face-to-face instead of seeing only the backs of their heads. It means making coffeehouse appointments and hitting buckets of balls at the driving range. It’s stepping away from the tech booth and remembering that God doesn’t only work inside the sanctuary, but through us living our lives with and among one another.
Paul confirms this need in Philemon 1:6 noting: “I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ’s sake.” For “fellowship” Paul uses the word koinonia, which is the idea of friendship and care for those close to you. Paul is suggesting here that by joining in koinonia we put the “head-knowledge” the we’ve stored up to its proper use: the fellowship with one another for our good and for “Christ’s sake.” Therefore, let us use this Sabbath season victory lap as a way to practically demonstrate how Christ has worked in us. Not by being busy serving him, but by taking time to regroup and rejoice in this world he created for us and the people he placed in our lives.
