Sabbati-blog Day 67: Coming off the Bench

It’s hard to believe my sabbatical is almost over.  I had every intention of writing regularly on this blog to keep all of you up to date with my thoughts and progress.  However, progress on my project required a lot more of my attention, so I dedicated it there instead of here.  Suffice it to say this has been a life-changing experience.  I have had the chance to spend some serious time in God’s word and in prayer.  I have visited many different churches and met some amazing people.  I was blessed to attend the National Prayer Breakfast and met more amazing people!  I even had the chance to write a large amount of the curriculum for the Harvest Incubator for Mission and create many Agape Sticks videos.

Around the 6th week of my sabbatical I felt like I was missing something.  I really began to long for my family.  Not my family at home – I had lots of quality time with them!  I missed my church.  I missed my brothers and my sisters.  I missed the camaraderie.  I missed the ups and downs of living in community with people.  As much as I enjoyed the time away to focus and grow, I ended up feeling alone.  Before I left, I worked hard so that the congregation wouldn’t need me during my time away.  What I didn’t realize was how much I needed them.  Now I do.  

We need each other.  I have found that from the beginning of creation, God intended us to be interdependent, where everyone plays their part and together can do more than anyone can do alone.  It’s not just that I miss playing my part, I miss being in the game where we all play our parts together.  It’s like I’ve been sitting on the bench and the team played on without me.  Now, I’m ready to get back in the game.  But the time away has made me rethink my role on the team.  People talk about pastors like they are the coach of the team or the star player.  Not so.  Jesus owns the team, Jesus leads the team, and Jesus is the star player.  I am just a role player.  All of us are.  And you know what, as a pastor, it’s awesome to be able to sit on the bench for a while, get a breather, and still have the team play well without me.  Some would say they’ve been playing even better!  But my bench warming days are soon over.  It will be great to get some playing time again!

I love this team!