photo : Jon Tyson , Unsplash even angry . But remember , Jesus got flack for this . And what did he say to them ?
“ The Sabbath was made for man , not man for the Sabbath .” ( Mark 2:27 )
SO ... HOW ? Now the big question is HOW ? How do I take more time off ? Before I tell , let me deal with some common objections I hear .
I push the worship leaders I coach to take at least six Sundays off the platform a year , even more – preferably once a month . And we talk about how those Sundays need to be a mixture of the three different kinds of time off .
But one of the common objections I get from them is this : It ’ s more work to take time off than it is just to stay here and lead !
I get it . I know several leaders who only take vacations from Sunday afternoon to Saturday , so they can be there on Sunday to lead . I ’ m tempted to ask these leaders , “ Have you ever heard the term codependency ?”
But , again , I get it . The benefit from the time off rarely offsets the amount of work required to take a Sunday off . That ’ s why I encourage worship leaders to take at least two Sundays off in a row when going on vacation . The amount of work it takes to prepare two Sundays won ’ t feel that much more than one Sunday . But you ’ ll have a longer time to rest and recuperate .
Eventually , as you build the right systems and a team of leaders , taking off a Sunday is far less hassle . And hint , you ’ ll even get to a place where it becomes relatively easy .
The other big objection to taking more ( or any ) Sundays off is this : “ No one can lead besides me !”
I get this objection , too . I ’ ve been on staff in smaller churches . Usually , it ’ s not that no one can lead . It ’ s that the someone who can lead isn ’ t as good or well-received .
If that ’ s your church , tell them to get over themselves . OK , so maybe don ’ t use those exact words . But impress on your church leadership how important it is for you AND the church that you get a break from the platform . Heck , share this chapter with them .
The bottom line is this : Your emotional and
spiritual health is worth a few Sundays of diminished quality .
Now , if there truly is no one at your church who can lead other than you , ask your church to bring in a guest worship leader a few times a year . The cost will depend on your church ’ s standards . A guest worship leader could range from as little as $ 100 and up to $ 1000 or more .
If you ’ re in a small church , you should be able to find someone adequate to lead at the far lower end of that scale . But please , pay this person ! The worker deserves their wages . ( 1 Timothy 5:18 ) However much your church pays , it ’ s worth the investment to help you stay healthy .
Now , long-term , the solution isn ’ t guest worship leaders . Instead , it ’ s building your own team of leaders – which we ’ ll get to in later chapters . ( That is , if you read the book … hint !)
EASING IN MORE TIME OFF When you start moving towards more time off – preferably monthly – you won ’ t just have to deal with one ‘ who ’ – as in , who ’ s leading for me . But there are other ‘ who ’ s ’ affected by this . You ’ ll need to ask , How will my …
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