Having served in vocational ministry now for over a decade, I have regularly been asked the question, “when do you sabbath?” From talking to other friends in ministry I realize that they have been asked similar questions.

While in seminary, I remember a professor advising that when applying and interviewing for a church, you should ask the elders when ministry sabbath is. If they imply that Sunday is your sabbath, he warned, you should run. Taking this advice to heart, I became very protective of setting aside a 24-hour period each week that I could call my ‘Sabbath.’ I would even feel shame about not having “sabbath’ed.” I was taught that Sabbath meant ‘unplugging,’ ‘doing something life-giving,’ and ‘getting away’ from ministry demands. But over time, I began to question: Is that truly what the Bible means by Sabbath? Or have we confused it with self-care?

A Brief Caveat

Before I offend all of my brothers and sisters in vocational ministry: I believe rest and self-care are incredibly important. The statistics on vocational ministers burning out is alarming. Whether you actively serve in your church as a volunteer or as paid-staff, rhythms of rest are essential to your longevity. I have seen former classmates with incredible passion and skill burn-out of ministry faster than a roman candle because they had not established healthy rhythms of rest and self-care early on in their ministry. For that reason, I am incredibly grateful for professors who emphasized the value of a 24-hour break, and for a counselor who years ago challenged me to take time to find more activities that brought me refreshment. Rhythms of rest and self-care are good, but I hesitate to call them sabbath.

The Words We Use Matter

The sabbath was first observed in Genesis 2:2-3 by God who “rested”¹ and then instituted as a sacred day via the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:8-11. The Sabbath is described as a perpetual sign between God and Israel, reinforcing their special relationship.^{2 3} Breaking it was a serious offense, punishable by death according to the covenant law of ancient Israel. On the sabbath you were not supposed to plow or harvest a field, go fishing, build a house, tread a winepress, cook, travel, or light a fire; basically anything that would be seen as work or labor.

And yet, Jesus recognized that the law made provision for the priests and levites to carry out their duties on the sabbath, which included fueling fires to produce sacrifices.⁴ As they would offer sacrifices and were required to take out the one week old bread from inside the Holy Place and replace them with fresh loaves every sabbath day.⁵ The priests and levites “worked” on the sabbath, and it was still sabbath. Interestingly, there is absolutely no mention of a “priest’s sabbath” as separate from the sabbath of the general population anywhere in the Bible. To be clear, the Torah detailed what we might today call ‘sabbaticals’ for priests, as they served in rotations and would be able to return to their homes in levitical cities when not on duty,⁶ but no ‘special Thursday sabbath’ is described.

Resting In, Rather Than Away From

The Bible’s lack of a ‘ministry sabbath’ is incredibly important because I fear that in our attempt to elevate the need for rest and ward off burnout we’ve diminished the beauty of what a biblical sabbath is. From the time of sabbath’s inception in Genesis 2, when God rested from his work, it was never meant to be about ‘resting away from‘ but rather ‘resting in’. God’s rest in Genesis 2 did not remove him from his creation, as the ancient jewish teaching in the Talmud says “The Holy One, Blessed be He, did not cease from His work on the seventh day. Rather, He ceased from creating new things, but He continued to sustain the world and its processes.”⁷

For us in the Christian faith, we recognize alongside Paul in the Colossian Christ Hymn that “by him all things hold together,”⁸ if God removed himself from his work the world would fall apart. Instead, what we find in Genesis 2 is that God rests in his work, walking among his creation in Eden, and delighting in it.

Prior to the fall, sabbath (God resting in His creation) was meant to be the eternal state of humanity, which is why we long for the day of eternal sabbath⁹ , recognizing that the sabbath of Adam and Eve included their task to ‘cultivate and keep’ and that there continues to be cultivation and responsibility in the new creation. ¹⁰ All of this means that Sabbath cannot simply mean ceasing to do things and ‘getting away.’

Sabbath is meant for us to rest in God’s provision and what God has done. This is likewise seen in God’s provision of manna to the Israelites as they travel through the wilderness, he daily sends them bread with the warning that it will rot if stored for more than 24-hours, and yet on Friday he tells them to gather 48-hours worth with the promise that the bread will not rot.¹¹ As someone born into a practicing Jewish home, my mother observed the sabbath when I was a young child. She did not cook on Saturday, but we ate! She prepared beforehand and on the sabbath we rested in the work she had done. Again, sabbath is not primarily about resting away from, it is about resting in.

How Should Ministers and Lay People Observe It

My fear for those who claim to ‘sabbath’ on days other than Sunday, is that they are unintentionally turning the gathering of God’s people into a job or a task rather than a gift. The Sabbath was a gift to humanity meant to picture heaven. The reason a penalty was instituted in Ancient Israel for breaking it was because the nation was supposed to serve as a sign to all other nations of what the new creation would look like. This is why Jesus can say, “the sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Therefore, being that sabbath is meant to point toward an eternal destination, “sabbath’ing” on another day of the week in isolation from the family of God in Christ Jesus, may in fact be pointing to an eternal destination other than heaven.

I recognize that for many in vocational ministry, the idea of Sabbath on Sunday may seem unrealistic. After all, pastors, worship leaders, and volunteers often describe Sunday as their busiest and most exhausting day of the week. Isn’t it unfair to expect those serving the church to experience Sabbath rest while actively leading others?

This is a valid concern. Ministry can be physically and emotionally draining, and those who serve should absolutely have rhythms of rest and renewal. However, if we define Sabbath primarily as a day of personal relaxation rather than a day of resting in God’s presence alongside his people, we may be missing its true purpose. The priests and Levites in the Old Testament worked on the Sabbath, yet they were still participating in Sabbath rest. Their work was not merely a job—it was an act of worship.

If we see Sunday as just another workday, perhaps the issue is not the day itself but how we approach it. Are we preparing our hearts to worship, or simply performing tasks? Are we seeing ourselves as employees of the church, or as worshipers leading others into the presence of God? This is not to minimize the real fatigue that comes with ministry, but to challenge us to reframe the way we view our role on the Lord’s Day.

That being said, it is important to set aside times for personal rest, just as the priests had seasons of relief from temple duties. But we should be careful not to redefine Sabbath as something separate from the communal worship and rest God has designed for his people.

As a pastor, my Sabbath is on Sunday alongside the rest of those who call our church home. We sabbath on Sunday with the community that the Lord has provided to us. We sabbath whether we lead music, click on slides, teach children, or preach a sermon. Like the Israelites who collected additional manna, and like my mother who prepared Saturday lunch on Friday, I prepare for my sermons throughout the week leading up to the sabbath so that our church family can feast on the word during our Sunday sabbath gathering. No matter what role you have within the context of the church, you need healthy rhythms of rest and care, but you do not need another sabbath. The one given to you is a gift, meant to help you rest in the family God has given you.

Ultimately, the Sabbath is not about escaping from work, people, or responsibilities—it is about pressing into the provision of God. It is a day to rest in the finished work of Christ, to find renewal in the presence of God’s people, and to be nourished by his word. For those in volunteer or vocational ministry, Sabbath does not exclude service—it sanctifies it. Like the priests of old who labored in the temple yet still observed the Sabbath, we too are called to rest in the very work God has placed before us, knowing that it is not our effort but his grace that sustains us.

So rather than seeking a separate Sabbath, let us embrace the one already given. Let us find our rest not in isolation, but in community. Not in withdrawal, but in worship. Not in ceasing from all activity, but in ceasing from self-reliance and trusting fully in the God who provides.

If you’ve viewed Sabbath primarily as an escape, how might God be calling you to experience it differently? What would it look like for you to rest in his provision, rather than away from his people? In Christ, our true Sabbath has come—let’s embrace the rest he offers, together. In Christ, our true Sabbath has come, and in him, we find our ultimate rest.

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FOOTNOTES

1. This is an important point I will build on later, but God ‘resting’ does not mean that he isolated and focused on self-care. ↩︎
2. Exodus 31:12-17 ↩︎
3. A natural question arises, why do Christians observe Sabbath on Sunday rather than Saturday? While this topic deserves its own deep dive, here’s a brief overview: A separate blog could be written on this topic, but I felt a need to address briefly that for Christians, the shift from the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) to Sunday as the day of observance developed gradually over several centuries, shaped by theological, cultural, and practical factors. The earliest Christians, while still Jewish in many respects, began gathering on Sunday to celebrate the most significant event in their faith: the resurrection of Jesus. Since Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday, the early believers viewed this day as a new beginning and a special day for worship. This practice is reflected in the New Testament, where Christians are described as meeting on the first day of the week for fellowship, teaching, and breaking bread (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2).
   Theologically, Sunday became known as the Lord’s Day and was seen as a day to honor the resurrection, symbolizing the new creation in Christ. It was not just a day of rest, but a celebration of the hope of eternal life and new beginnings through Jesus’ victory over death. This shift also helped distinguish Christianity from Judaism, as early Christians were increasingly separate from the Jewish community, especially after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. ↩︎
4. Matthew 12:5 ↩︎
5. Numbers 28:9-10; Leviticus 24:8 ↩︎
6. Numbers 35:1-8 ↩︎
7. Talmud: Tractate Berakhot 54a. ↩︎
8. Colossians 1:16-18 ↩︎
9. Hebrews 4:9-10 ↩︎
10. Isaiah 65:21-23; Matthew 25:14-30. Also note that in the pre-fallen world Adam and Eve lived in God’s rest and were given the task work the garden in Genesis 2:15. ↩︎