An Overlooked Aspect of Effective Leadership in Ministry
Retreating to Rest
When thinking about what it takes to be effective in doing ministry, many people tend to think that they need to be doing the most at all times or their ministry is not as effective as it could be. Whether that be the idea of making themselves completely available at the cost of spending time with their family or working so many hours and doing so many projects that it strains them physically and mentally, we have the tendency to think that is what life in ministry should be like. One aspect that we tend to forget about when leading in ministry is the idea of retreating to rest. Retreating can literally be going away to a place or it could mean just staying at home and recuperating as long as it is to rest from the work that has been done. While ministry is definitely a hard field, we were not designed to be going all the time at full speed. We were designed to work hard, but also rest well, and even though my time in ministry is shorter than some of my other colleagues, I’ve learned very quickly that in order to lead others and yourself well, you need to retreat to rest.
From a Biblical Standpoint
Retreating is a practice that is found all throughout the Bible. In fact, God himself, after he was finished working and creating everything in Days 1–6, he rested on the 7th day. This idea of resting is not manmade philosophy, but it is actually a blueprint from God on how we need to live our lives: work hard and create, then rest. Jesus, who is the person that we as Christians are trying to emulate and pursue after, retreated as well. In Mark 16, we see Jesus retreating with his disciples to rest on a boat after coming across so many people that they couldn’t even eat. In Matthew 14, we see Jesus retreating up to a mountain to pray after he dismissed the crowd that had gathered to hear him preach. Throughout the scriptures we see a constant representation of retreating to rest after doing some type of work and as believers this is the guide to how we should do ministry.
From a Practical Standpoint
So what does retreating look like? As I mentioned before, it could be literally going away to another place or staying at home to recuperate. It could be with family or it could be without family. Jesus sometimes retreated with his disciples, but at other times he flew solo. I think the important part to keep in mind is that you are retreating to rest from the work that you’ve been doing. If that means you go away by yourself to a cabin in the woods, then by all means buy some firewood, go out into nature and just enjoy the solitude. If it means staying at home and playing with your 3 year old child, then do that. Every individual is different in how they can recuperate, but every leader in ministry must retreat. If Jesus needed to do it in his ministry, how much more should we be retreating?
From a Philosophical Standpoint
From a philosophical standpoint, it is just impossible for humans to be constantly going at 100 percent at all times. We may be able to go at it for a little bit, but it is not sustainable, and definitely not sustainable over long periods of time. Eventually it will begin affecting not only you, but the other people around you that are in your circle of influence. Slowly over time, you begin to notice that you’ve almost isolated yourself from your community of friends, you haven’t spent nearly as much time as you need to with your family, and the people that were once closest to you seem like just an average acquaintance. Learning to retreat to rest can help prevent yourself from putting yourself on an island and will help make you more efficient as a leader in your ministry. Being well-rested will lead to allowing you to lead others with excellence and in a way that honors God and reflects Jesus.
