Three years ago I found myself complaining and griping about a pastor friend I have. I wasn’t complaining out loud, but man was I was having a pity party in my mind.

He was telling me about how hard things were for him in his season of ministry and how he was looking forward to his upcoming month-long sabbatical.

I listened to him pour out his heart, but honestly I don’t remember much after he said “month-long sabbatical.” After we hung up I thought, “Boy, that must be nice! What does he have to complain about? I’ll never get a sabbatical!”

The belly aching and whining continued as I wallowed in my envy. I was a victim and it was completely impossible for things to change. My “poor me” mindset listed all of the reasons why I could never have a sabbatical.

(Probably just like you did when you read the title of this post.)

Some my excuses were:
-I have too much to do.
-I’m already so far behind.
-The board would never go for it.
-People will think I’m lazy.
-We don’t have enough communicators for me to miss that many Sundays.

As I mulled over all of my excuses I became painfully aware that all of my excuses were evidences of my poor leadership. I was guilty on all charges.

Each excuse revealed poor delegation, a lack of leadership development, and insecurity. It was a painful awakening. I couldn’t blame anyone but myself.

Whose fault was it we didn’t have enough communicators?
Whose fault was it that I had too much to do and couldn’t or wouldn’t delegate?
Why was I seeking the approval of people and assuming they would think poorly of me?

The diagnosis wasn’t pretty, but I was committed to growing as a leader. It took a year to get ready for my first sabbatical by raising up new communicators and delegating responsibilities. Since then my life and our church has never been the same. We are both better for it.

If you are a leader, what would it take for you to make that happen?

Here’s why I take a mini-sabbatical and why you should too:

1. Balcony Time.

It’s hard to work on your organization (or your life) when you are working in it. You need some time to reflect. You need time to get above it all and think strategically. Life requires you to stop and make sure you are still headed in the right direction. It’s hard to do that while you are trying to make your life work. Are you still headed in the right direction? How do you know? This balcony time will give you clarity on what you need to prune to bring your life back in alignment with your God-given purpose. Years headed in the wrong direction are a lot harder to make up than a couple weeks of work.

2. Quiet Time.

Your work will never be finished, especially if it is worthwhile work. You need time to listen to God’s voice. The times I’ve heard God speak the loudest and the clearest have been on my sabbaticals. Every year I’ve wrestled through a major issue and I was thankful I had the time to listen and pray. God has lots to say to you if you’ll take the time to listen.

3. Development Time.

You will chop down more trees if you pause and take time to sharpen your axe (Ecc. 10:10). Constant chopping without sharpening will lead to diminishing returns. You need to see, hear, and learn new things. We can get stuck in “our” way of doing things. Being exposed to new ways makes us better leaders. I usually end my break with a notebook full of ideas that I spend the next year implementing.

4. Family Time.

Postponing family time is one of the worst mistakes you can make. Maybe you think you’ll do this when your kids get older or when you get older… but what if you aren’t around then? What if you don’t have the health then? Most people wait until they retire to start living, but one thing I’ve seen as a pastor is you don’t know what life brings from year to year. My only regret is not taking a sabbatical sooner. We have made some amazing memories during this time. We have a tendency to say “later” about the wrong things. Family time is never something to postpone. Pastors know that if their family falls apart they don’t have a ministry. If you say you can’t afford to take the time off consider this: What would be the cost of losing your family? It’s impossible to put a price on it. We always intend to spend time with our family, but somehow those intentions never make it on our calendar. You have less family time than you think.

5. Delegation Time.

When you take a sabbatical it forces your organization to run without you. In my case, it reminds me and the church that it isn’t about me. We don’t gather to hear me, we gather to worship Jesus. Being out of the mix develops other leaders as they exercise more of their authority and grow in confidence about making directional decisions. Our leaders begin looking at things with a different perspective that isn’t filtered by my personality as the founder. The staff always have insightful ideas about what to change when I get back from break. We are all better from the different perspective.

6. Inspiration Time.

Inspiration is harder to come by when you’re stuck in your routine. What are you doing to get inspired? Where are you going? When will you go and do it?…on your sabbatical!

You know you should already be doing these 6 things, but you just don’t have the time. I bet each year you have a growing feeling of guilt as you trade the important for the urgent. A sabbatical gives you a bucket to push everything into that you know you should do or want to do but you just don’t have enough time with the weekly grind. Now you have a plan (and a time) to get to it instead of it just being wishful thinking.

For my pastor friends who teach every weekend with few breaks I believe your messages will improve because you took time to fill your heart and soul back up. Athletes require recovery time. Even factories require down time and you’re not a factory. As far finding other communicators, are you saying “no” for someone you haven’t asked?

After going hard all school year, teachers and professors take a 2 month sabbatical every summer to rest, recharge, and work on improving the curriculum for the next year. For them, that crucial time is built into their schedules.

Pastors are also creating and teaching a wide variety of topics all while leading the “university.” Many never take a sabbatical to the detriment of their soul and church.

If that’s you, don’t play the part of the martyr, you are dying for the wrong things. No one will make you a saint for killing your family and your soul from burnout.

Life comes down to choices and trade offs. If you are happy with your balcony time, quiet time, development time, family time, and your inspiration time, then chances are you are making the right choices. If you feel like you are a slave to the urgent and drowning in guilt you need a study break.

What if it was possible for you to have one?
What would it take for it to be possible?

Maybe you can’t start with a month break, but what if you stacked your vacation time and took 2 or 3 weeks off straight? Try it!

You will need some time to get ready for it so start now!

FAQs

What’s the difference between a Study Break and a Sabbatical?

I’ve gone back and forth between calling the time a “Study Break” and a “Sabbatical.” I feel like one sounds like it is all work and the other sounds like all rest when in reality it is a mixture of both. I guess you could even call it “Summer Break” like schools and universities do.

How often do you take a Sabbatical?

Some people take a longer (3 month) sabbatical every several years, while others, like teachers, take 2 months off every year. Personally, I like the shorter sabbatical more frequently.

Stefan Sagmeister takes an entire year off every 7 years. I love how he talks about breaking up your retirement throughout your life while you still have time and health to enjoy it.

What should I do on my break?

This is probably the most important question and one worthy of its own post. The key thing is to have a plan. If you don’t have a plan you’ll waste a valuable gift. I break my time up in 3 areas: family time, professional development, and personal renewal. I have something planned for each area. I print off a month calendar and pencil everything in. Make sure you are intentional about each day.

I’m worried what people will think about me taking this time off?

(This one is for my pastor friends.)

I’m guessing you worry about this in other areas too. I’ll give you one guess how I know. If this is holding you back you should explore with a counselor your insecurities and your approval addiction. At the end of the day are you more worried about what “they” think of you or what your family thinks of you? My prayer is for those who know me best to love and respect me the most. I’m betting some of those “theys” won’t be in your life in a few months any way especially if “they” are that sensitive. You will inevitably do something “they” won’t like and they’ll leave anyway. Stop trying to make someone happy who just wants to try and control you. You won’t give an account to them when you die. You’ll give an account to God for how you lead what He entrusted to you. If you are the person God has appointed to lead, He has some stuff to say to you. Saying you were too busy to listen will sound like a lame excuse.

Your friends will always believe the best about you, but your enemies never will.

I wonder if fewer pastors would quit the ministry or have moral meltdowns if they had a little more space for spiritual and relational renewal.

What would it take for you to try it next summer? If you wait until things start falling apart to try you’ll have missed the point. Your break keeps you from breaking.