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<\/a><\/p>\nIf you have been looking around the blog world lately, then you\u2019ve probably noticed a lot of conversation about young adults leaving the church.<\/p>\n
Bloggers like\u00a0Rachel Held Evans<\/a> and\u00a0Christian Piatt<\/a> (and I\u2019m sure many others) have weighed in on the subject articulating well many of the reasons why young people seem to be leaving the church in droves. However, I\u2019m not sure that after all of the back and forth we ever really discovered a way forward. In other words, while we may have established the problem, it doesn\u2019t seem that we have found any concrete solutions.<\/p>\n That is probably due in large part that problems this complex and can\u2019t be easily solved with a silver bullet. However, I\u2019m not convinced that this excuses us from at least attempting to address this ecclesiastical epidemic.<\/p>\n With that in mind, I want to suggest an idea that is somewhat radical or at the very least unconventional. Nevertheless, if put into practice\u00a0I think\u00a0it could, at the very least, allow an already existing phenomena to be framed in a more productive way in the future. Likewise, I think it could offer all of us a healthy and Biblically sound way of dealing with the frustration, anger, burnout, and pain that so many of us experience as members of the church.<\/p>\n I want to suggest that we make taking a sabbatical from church an accepted, if not encouraged, part of the Christian life for lay people.<\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n I think it might be a good idea for us, from time to time or even just once in our lives, to take a break from going to church every Sunday morning.<\/p>\n This is an idea that I am just now beginning to tinker with and think through. So, this post is not a final, polished proposal, more of an idea that I\u2019ve begun working out in my head. On the most basic level my thought process is this: If pastors take, and are encouraged to take, a sabbatical from church in order to rejuvenate, avoid burnout, and bring a renewed vision and energy to their church, then why shouldn\u2019t lay people do the same? After all, as a \u201croyal priesthood of believers\u201d are we not all in ministry?<\/p>\n Countless people already go through a period of leaving and returning to the church. Yes, there may be a lot of young adults leaving the church now, but that is nothing new. For years people have left the church after high school, only to come back later when they\u2019re married and have kids.<\/p>\n Others, myself included, get burnt out and jaded with the church. But even that is part of a long tradition of people who have struggled with their faith. Like those who have come before us, we find ourselves at a place in life where we\u2019re no longer convinced that we believe the same things we used to believe. In response, we decide that the place that fostered those beliefs isn\u2019t a place we want to be a part of anymore because we look around and don\u2019t seem to see anyone anymore who looks or thinks anything like us.<\/p>\n So we leave.<\/p>\n And some of us never come back.<\/p>\n And why would we if the church that should be there for us in this time of greatest need, instead kicks us to the curb for our lack of faith or \u201cloyalty\u201d.<\/p>\n What if instead of simply criticizing and\u00a0condemning\u00a0this phenonmena we found a way to embrace it, reframing it in a way that could help both the individual as well as the church experience growth through this time away.<\/p>\n I know that may sound counterproductive, but stepping away and taking a break is actually a very Biblical model. One which even Jesus himself followed.<\/p>\n The idea of a sabbatical comes from the ancient practice of observing the Sabbath. In Exodus, God commanded the people of Israel to \u201cRemember the Sabbath and keep it holy.\u201d As we all remember from Sunday School, God rested on the seventh day of creation, but the reason for the people of Israel to take a Sabbath was more immediate than that.<\/p>\n For 400 years the children of Israel had been slaves in Egypt. 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year for 400 years they had been making bricks for\u00a0Pharaoh. The fifth commandment wasn\u2019t simply about remembering the seventh day of creation. It was about the creation of an alternative kingdom to the one the\u00a0Israelites\u00a0had endured in Egypt. Pharaoh had given them quotas, forcing them to make bricks everyday. God was offering them rest and a life free from quotas.<\/p>\n This holy day of rest wasn\u2019t merely a day to sit around and do nothing. It was an opportunity for the people to step back from the craziness of their daily lives, lives they lived every moment within their community of faith. This day of rest allowed them to step back from all of that, not as an end in and of itself, but in order to\u00a0rejuvenate\u00a0and spend time getting closer to God.<\/p>\n In the gospels, we see Jesus following this model. Jesus was a man in great demand, who spent almost every waking hour teaching, serving, and interacting with his community of faith. Sometimes he just needed a break. Which is why read about him going off to a quiet place to pray from time to time. He wasn\u2019t\u00a0abandoning\u00a0his community permanently. He was stepping back for a period of time in order to\u00a0rejuvenate\u00a0and spend time with his heavenly Father.<\/p>\n If Jesus took a sabbatical, so should we.<\/p>\n We do a really poor job today of taking time to rest. In the United States in particular, it\u2019s looked down upon to take too much time off. We have it ingrained into our collective concsiouness that the most virtuous person is the hardest working, the one who never takes any time off.<\/p>\n This mentality carries over into the church and becomes particularly problematic when it is wedded to what I labeled the other day as \u201cchecklist Christianity.\u201d<\/a> For so many of us in the faith, the best Christians are the ones with perfect church attendance. If you miss more than a few weeks in a row you start getting phone calls and Facebook messages. Even if you\u2019re able to avoid those things, you still have to face the\u00a0sarcastic\u00a0comments about your absence once you do finally go back to church.<\/p>\n What if we turned all of this on its head?<\/p>\n What if taking a sabbatical, or a break, from regular church attendance was a normal part of church life, much like Jesus stepping away from the crowds to pray?<\/p>\n Now, I\u2019m\u00a0not talking about arbitrary absence where we just sleep in and sit on the couch all day watching football.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0thinking about something more formal, something more formative and more productive both for the people taking the break as well as for the church.<\/p>\n Perhaps this lay sabbatical could be arranged with the pastor at their local church. Working together the lay person and their pastor could\u00a0establish\u00a0a set time to be away. Perhaps a month, maybe 6 months, maybe even a year depending on the particular person\u2019s needs and goals. During the sabbatical the person wouldn\u2019t simply do nothing. Certainly there would be time set aside to be still and rest, but in general the time spent away from church would be filled serving others in places like a soup kitchen, after school tutoring, short term missions, or some other outreach opportunity.<\/p>\n Likewise, the person would be intentional about making time for participating in alternative forms of Christian community such as a home bible study or sharing a regular meal with fellow believers. Perhaps the pastor sheparding\u00a0the lay person could even help them identity these opportunities. Then at the end of the sabbatical the lay person would in some way report back to the church all that God had taught and done through them during that time. In that way, the time spent away from the church by the individual would actually end up serving the church body by showing them new ways to be the church in the world outside the four walls of the sanctuary.<\/p>\n Certainly there would be a risk that people wouldn\u2019t come back or would just sit at home and do nothing. But first and foremost, this would be for people intentional about their faith, who\u00a0genuinely\u00a0want to grow even as they struggle. Besides, if we really do believe that this community of faith called the church is something worth being a part of, then we have to take that seriously and believe with confidence that those people would return after their sabbatical.<\/p>\n