Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2022

Global Leadership Summit Takeaways (Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.)

by Josh Reich

Our church is hosting the global leadership summit. This is, by far, one of my favorite events to attend every year: the learning, the relationships, and how God moves through leaders in our region.

Here are a few takeaways from the session with Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. on “The Critical Role of Empathy in Leadership”:

We have a real empathy problem in our world.
We have had a rise in apathy and a decline in empathy.
Our public trust is broken.
With isolation and sharp political divisions, we have an empathy deficit.
Lacking empathy is extremely easy today.
To show empathy, we need to engage in discussions, not debates.
Getting in the last word or winning an argument loses the relationship.
Great leaders listen extremely well.
Showing empathy means embracing diversity and seeing how much we have in common.
You must meet people where they are and understand how they got there before you can help them get them to where they need to go.
Empathy means we must be kinder.
We treat people with civility, respect, and love when we see humanity.

Posted on Thursday, August 4, 2022

Global Leadership Summit Takeaways (Craig Groeschel)

by Josh Reich

Our church is hosting the global leadership summit. This is, by far, one of my favorite events to attend every year: the learning, the relationships, and how God moves through leaders in our region.

Here are a few takeaways from the session with Craig Groeschel on “Lead Like it Matters”:

All leaders and churches want it.
It is not a model, a result of a program.
There are things you can do to lead towards it and things you can do to kill it.
Every leader that has it, they have very extreme qualities.
Greatness is found in the extremes.

Greatness is found in the extremes. -Craig Groeschel

Contradictory leadership qualities together create a synergy of undeniable leadership impact.
If you want to grow in your impact, grow in your extremes.

Leaders with it, are a contradiction.

Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are incredibly confident and humble.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are focused and flexible.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are driven and healthy.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are optimistic and realistic.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are direct and kind.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are empowering and controlling.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are urgent and patient.
Leadership paradox of leaders who have it: Leaders are frugal and abundant.

Leaders that have it, are confident and humble.

Some leaders have too much confidence.
Some leaders are strong, talented, and capable, but you are still hesitant because you don’t know the greatness in you.
To grow in confidence and humility, push yourself to the place of leadership discomfort.
A growing leader is in a constant place of discomfort.

Leaders that have it, are both driven and healthy.

Some of you are doing too much. You are working too much, working outside of your gifts.
The best leaders learn to delegate.
You aren’t doing too much, but you aren’t recovering well.
You aren’t tired; you are depleted.
You need to raise your tolerance for work and stress.
The leaders who have it, bring a bit more but not at the expense of family.

Leaders that have it are both focused and flexible.

As a church, we started doing only 5 things: worship services, small groups, kids, students, and missions.
The greatest threat to you is not a lack of opportunities but a lack of focus.
Are we getting the most out of our use of resources and time?
The most spiritual thing you can do is not create a to do list, but a to don’t list.

Posted on Monday, August 1, 2022

Where is Your Church? Really?

by Josh Reich

Photo by Karl Fredrickson on Unsplash

Do you know where your church is?

Most pastors think they do, and most church members and elders believe they do, but do you?

Do you know where your church is? Especially after covid?

After going through these last several years of people coming and going, people decided to stay or leave based on how you handled masks, vaccines, opening and closing, people moving because of jobs, or simply deciding that it is nicer to watch church in their pj’s. Do you know where your church is?

Really?

Taking a new job at a church towards the end of covid and the church gathering had some disadvantages, but it gave me some advantages. It helped me see more clearly where the church is and ask some questions because “I wasn’t in it” as much as others.

But even if you haven’t changed churches or jobs, you can still step back to see where your church is.

This matters because you as a pastor might think your church is one spot on the map, your elder team or staff believes it is somewhere else, and then throw in the people who volunteer and attend your church. If you don’t know where you are on the map, you won’t be able to lead people to the next place in the journey.

When I arrived at Community Covenant, I found documents of 4 different sets of mission statements or values in the last decade. When I asked people why we existed, I got the answer based on when they started attending and what they heard repeated the most. Consequently, we weren’t on the same page.

This happens in churches, even if the pastor doesn’t leave. Churches slowly lose their way, lose focus on their mission, go to a conference and hear a new idea they have to implement immediately and gradually; the direction they had isn’t laser-focused anymore.

In his excellent book, Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Times, John Eldredge tells us what to do now: “The first thing you should do when you are lost is stop! This is critical – stop moving and get your bearings. Even if it takes some time.”

The first thing you should do when you are lost is stop! This is critical – stop moving and get your bearings. Even if it takes some time. -John Eldredge

Many of us, as pastors and leaders and churches, are lost. We are lost in the fog of covid, unclear on who is still a part of our church, and unclear on what church looks like in this post-pandemic world.

And we need to stop.

We must pull everyone together, figure out who is with us and where we are on the map, and then set a destination together.

When I arrived in New England, I interviewed almost 40 people in our church. People who had been a part of our church for decades and some who came in the last year. I asked them the same eight questions and those answers were invaluable to me. They helped me figure out where we were, so we could determine where we were going.

Once you know where you are, it makes it easier to know where you’re going.

Here they are:

What is going well at Community Covenant Church?
What is not going well at CCC?
What is one thing about CCC you hope doesn’t change?
What is one thing about CCC you hope does change?
What burning questions would you like to ask me?
If money weren’t an issue, what would be your next full-time hire(s) and why?
If you were in my shoes, what would you focus on first?
How can I pray for you?

Here’s the fantastic thing, 90% of the answers were the same.

Whether you are new to your church or not, you can ask these questions or questions like them to find out where you are. You might tweak them to find out what you learned in covid, what did covid reveal about your church, and what has God put on your heart in the last 2-3 years that you need to pay attention to.

But as I’ve said before, this is a season where pastors need to think like church planters as they move forward. Church planters are pioneers; they are starters, forging new ways of doing church and risking, and more and more pastors need to have this mindset.

How you need to be thinking as a pastor right now.

Posted on Thursday, July 28, 2022

7 Ways to Love Your Work & Glorify God

by Josh Reich

Photo by ian dooley on Unsplash

We spend the majority of our time in one place. Whether we work from home, are a stay-at-home parent, a business owner, teacher, or chef, we spend most of our lives thinking about, worrying about, and preparing for work.

We spend most of our lives sitting at a desk, in a cubicle, listening to a boss who is not as smart as you. Dreaming about when the weekend will come, the next vacation will arrive, or a promotion.

How to stand out at work.

But it doesn’t have to be like that. It can be different.

We often separate our work lives from our faith, but God cares deeply about our work. It matters to him a lot.

As I shared on Sunday, God created work and made it for us to glorify Him and find pleasure, joy, and meaning in our work, that we are to come alive when we work. Because of that, Christians should think about their job differently.

Yes, I know that work is hard, often stressful, and sometimes even a struggle. That is part of the fallen world we live in and one of the curses we live under because of sin (Genesis 3:17b). But it also doesn’t change God’s original intention for work. It just means we need to change our view of it and, sometimes, change how we do it.

In light of that, here are some of the ideas:

7 ways to glorify God at work.

1. Focus. What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Like most Americans, you reach for your phone and check your Facebook, Instagram, or email. What you fill your heart and mind with first thing in the morning determines much of what your day becomes. What if you grabbed your Bible and prayed instead of your phone? What if you took some silence to begin your day to center your heart and mind? Your life and day will change if, instead of reaching for your phone first thing in the morning, you prayed and said, “God, use me today, guide me, help me honor you in everything.”

2. Integrity. Be honest and trustworthy on the job. Be on time. Give a full day’s work. So many people rob their employer by being lazy, doing fantasy football, Facebook, and March madness at work. Go to work and work. Be that guy. It will be rare if you want to stand out at work and have integrity. Integrity and dependability are reasons people get promoted or not, whether or not they can come through on a promise or assignment.

3. Skill. Get good at what you do. God has given you the gifts, talents, and abilities you have. Take continuing education when you can, read books on your skills, listen to podcasts, and read blogs. We honor God when we use the gifts and talents he’s given to us to their maximum potential. The ability to grow in your skills and talents is another reason we do or don’t see promotions in our lives.

4. Beauty. If you’re part of creating things, create beautiful things. Beauty is in things that are pleasing to the eye, taste good, and work well. CPAs know this feeling when an excel spreadsheet adds up. That’s beauty: a beautiful meal, clothes. When you build something, create great stories, works of art, movies, or buildings.

5. Winsome. Being winsome is how you relate to others. Your speech to others should be kind and loving, and your countenance at work should be one of winsomeness, not being a jerk to those around you.

6. Money. Work is where you make (and spend) money. It is all God’s, not yours. Tim Keller said, “The way to serve God at work is to make as much money as you can so that you can be as generous as you can.” Turn your earnings into the overflow of generosity in how you steward God’s money. Don’t work to earn just to have. Work to have to give and to invest in Christ-exalting ventures.

7. Thanks. Always give thanks to God for life and health and work and Jesus. Be a thankful person at work. Don’t be among the complainers. You have a job; you have the boss God gave you. Think about that one for a moment.

7 ways to glorify God at work.

Posted on Monday, July 25, 2022

The Practice of Letting Go

by Josh Reich

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

On Sunday, I talked about the year(s) that we have lived through. It has been a lot.

Some of us have lost and started new jobs or watched family and friends do so. Maybe you have moved or watched friends move. We have seen friends and family get sick, and some of us have said goodbye to friends and family who have passed away.

All of it has been a lot to walk through.

Over this last year, I have heard from countless people and thought, “Can’t we just go back to how it was?” But we can’t. We can’t get back what we lost or go back to how it was; we have to move forward. But to move forward, we have to take stock of where things are and give things over to God.

Over this last year, I have heard from countless people and have thought to myself, “Can’t we just go back to how it was?”

Ecclesiastes 7 stopped me in my tracks one morning during my preaching break.

It says:

A good name is better than fine perfume, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth. It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind, and the living should take it to heart. Grief is better than laughter, for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad. The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure. It is better to listen to rebuke from a wise person than to listen to the song of fools, for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is futile. Surely, the practice of extortion turns a wise person into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the mind. The end of a matter is better than its beginning; a patient spirit is better than a proud spirit. Don’t let your spirit rush to be angry, for anger abides in the heart of fools. Don’t say, “Why were the former days better than these?” since it is not wise of you to ask this. Wisdom is as good as an inheritance and an advantage to those who see the sun, because wisdom is protection as silver is protection; but the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of its owner. Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that no one can discover anything that will come after him.

God has made the day of prosperity and adversity.

God has made the day of prosperity and adversity.

This season led me to an essential practice that has helped me immensely. I saw it in John Eldredge’s great book Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad. He calls it benevolent detachment. It stops several times each day to give everyone and everything over to God.

The practice of pausing in your day.

To help me with that, I use his pause app (which I’d highly recommend you download for free), set the time that works for your day, and pause to give everything and everyone over to God.

How to let go of your worries, cares, and stress.

Each day, my phone buzzes at 10:45 and 3:30 to remind me to pause. When I do, I sit still, take several deep breaths and pray over and over, “God, I give everything and everyone to you.” This has helped me let go of what is behind me and see what is in front of me so I can be fully present with God, myself and others. It reminds me that I am not all-powerful, but God is. It reminds me that God cares for me, and I can give him what is weighing me down. And ultimately, God has it all in his hands.

Posted on Monday, July 18, 2022

How to Create your Rhythm Dashboard

by Josh Reich

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

One of the things I hear people talk about way too much is the goal of balance in life. Google work/life balance, and you will find many ideas on how to balance everything you do.

The problem is that balance is a pipedream, an illusion, a mirage that is impossible to come by.

Instead of balancing life and all the demands that come our way, I have found it better to look at life through the lens of rhythms. Each season of the year has a rhythm. There are different feelings to the fall, winter, summer, and spring. And we need to understand that.

We were created to live in a rhythm.

God created the world in six days and then rested. There is a rhythm to sabbath rest, a flow that is so important.

But to understand that, we have to understand our rhythm dashboard.

When I burned out almost a decade ago, Katie and I sat down to create a rhythm dashboard. A system of warning lights to know when we are running too fast.

Think for a moment, when do you know you are running on empty? Can you pinpoint it? Can you look back a few days, weeks, or months to see what led to it?

This matters because if you can see when you get tired before you get tired, you can learn to live in rhythm.

If you can see when you get tired before you get tired, you can learn to live in rhythm.

Too often, we run until we run out of steam and then crash through a wall.

Here are some of mine:

The warning signs of burnout.

What usually is easy is now challenging. This is one of the first things that happen. Things you usually can do without much effort suddenly become tough.

Decision-making. You struggle to make simple decisions and find yourself paralyzed at making a choice. You are indecisive.

Sleep is hard to come by. For many Americans, sleep is hard as it is. We go to bed too late; we don’t take enough naps, spend too much time on technology, and get worked up. If you have to take sleeping pills, watch TV to fall asleep, or find yourself going to bed at midnight or staring at the clock at midnight, you need to work on your sleep.

It is hard to get going in the morning. Some people are morning people and can’t wait to get going; others are not. I’m not a morning person. But, when I find myself having a hard time getting going in the morning, needing multiple cups of coffee to stay awake or focus, that’s a warning sign. Think about this morning; how hard was it to get out of bed? The harder it was, the closer you are right now to burnout.

You get angry fast. When you are tired, you tend to get angry fast. Your fuse is shorter with those closest to you: family, friends, and coworkers. Your reaction to situations does not match the situation. You get angry at small things or cry without knowing why.

Motivation is hard to come by. You are indeed more motivated and alert at specific parts of the day. It is first thing in the morning, which is why I reserve that for sermon prep and not meetings. When I am most creative, I need to give that mental time to the most critical part of my job: preaching. When I find that motivation is not there, I know I have a problem.

You have impulses to eat and drink, and you struggle to control them. You may also use things to calm down. This might be food, sex, porn, exercise, drugs, smoking, or alcohol. While these things calm you down, and all of these are not necessarily sins, when used to calm us down or help us relax or sleep or “take the edge off,” we have a problem. If you think, “I just need ____ to calm down or feel better,” you have a problem.

You don’t laugh as much or have fun. This is connected to what we’ve already said, but if you can’t remember the last time you laughed and had fun, that’s a problem. When you are tired, the last thing you have energy for is fun or community. You are more irritable and have less courage.

What is on your dashboard? How do you know that you are running too fast? How do you know that one busy season has run into another season, and now that is just your life?

How to know if you’re about to burnout.

Posted on Thursday, July 14, 2022

Red Flags in a Job Search

by Josh Reich

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

So, you’re searching for a job. You are excited, talking with churches and maybe narrowing down the list of potential places to move.

It is easy in a job search to talk yourself into a place. You might imagine that it is better than where you are, or that you can be the hero that finally does what no other pastor did before at that church. Don’t buy those mirages. Make sure you ask the right questions to find a church’s heart.

But, how do you see through your emotions and desires to see red flags that you might be missing?

Now, before listing these out, let me say these red flags aren’t necessarily a reason not to take a job, but things you need to pay attention to, even though they aren’t always obvious.

Red flags to pay attention to in a job search.

You don’t want to live there. I think this is a big deal. I remember talking to a large church in the midwest. I clicked with the elders and team there, and they were renovating their building and making it more prominent, but as I talked with Katie about it, she said, “But you don’t want to live there.” I got defensive and started to tell her all the reasons we wanted to be at that church, and then she said, “But you’d still have to live there.”

Now, we don’t always get to choose where we live, and sometimes, the doors to the place we want to live don’t open. We tried in our search to move to several areas that were closed to us. Sometimes, the family determines where you can or can’t live. But, as a pastor, you need to live in that place and love the people and the culture that makes up that place.

Make sure you want to live there, and that you like the worst season of the year there. Because it will be winter, or a blazing hot and humid summer.

The elders are mad at the previous pastor. In my first conversation, I could tell the elders were still angry at the last pastor in one church I talked to in our search. They weren’t mad at what he did or carried any bitterness from his time; they were furious that he left them.

Listen to how the people talk about the previous pastor and what stories they tell. Do they tell stories of a mythical time you won’t be able to replicate? Do they tell stories of hurt? Anger? Bitterness? This is a red flag because some churches are so hurt and don’t know it. Some churches need more time without a pastor to truly understand what they had and took for granted. Some churches must deal with their hurt and not take it out on the next pastor.

When interviewing with a church, pay attention to how a church talks about the previous pastor.

As a pastor, you need to know what you are walking into in this regard. You will be the one to pastor these people through whatever feelings they have about the previous pastor(s).

Tons of turnover. Ask about staff, elder, and volunteer turnover. One church I talked to had over 50% of its staff turnover in three years. No matter how big or small the staff, that’s a significant number. In this church, it was over 20 staff members. When I asked questions about it, there were good reasons and stories. However, it also revealed some things about the culture. It is easy to spiritualize staff transitions in a church, but you must ask questions about it and what it reveals about the culture.

Tons of staff turnover at a church tells a story.

Long-tenured staff. The flip side of the turnover coin is a staff with no turnover.

While this can be a healthy thing for staff, it can also be a red flag for a new staff member coming in. What has happened to previous new employees? Did they last? Why or why not? How open is this staff to new ideas and ways of doing things?

You meet someone you don’t click with. Depending on who this person is, it may not matter. But pay attention to people you don’t connect with in an interview process. Are they powerful? Influential? What rubbed you the wrong way?

This person will one day be a part of your staff, board, or church, so make sure you click with people.

They don’t want to change. Every church that hires a new pastor says, “We want to change and reach new people.” But do they? Like all things a church says, ask questions about it. Ask what change means to them, what kind of new people they want to reach, and what things they are willing to change and not change for this to happen.

How to know if a church wants to change.

Lastly, talk yourself out of it.

Here’s what I mean. A friend who does a ton of hiring for his job told me that one of the things he encourages search teams to do is to figure out why they wouldn’t hire a candidate. Just like it’s easy to talk yourself into a job, it is easy to talk yourself into a candidate. So, create a list of why you shouldn’t move or take a position. Do some opposition research on a place. If you have difficulty doing that, ask your spouse or a friend to help you with it. They might see things you don’t see.

7 red flags to pay attention to when you’re interviewing with a church.

Posted on Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Two Sneaky Things for Leaders Over 40

by Josh Reich

Photo by Erik Sandybaev on Unsplash

Two sneaky things for leaders over 40?

Yes.

While these two things are things that every leader needs to be aware of, I think they start to rear their heads once you pass 40.

Two things leaders over 40 need to pay attention to.

For simple reasons.

At 40, you have gotten somewhere. You might own a business, be the lead pastor, or have climbed some ladder. You are “someone.”

You spend your 20s and 30’s learning, building, driving, and moving up.

But something happens at 40. Things change in life, leadership, and marriage.

There is an important shift that happens around age 40 that leaders and pastors need to be aware of.

So what do you need to be aware of and guard against when you hit 40 as a leader or pastor (or everyone, really)?

Two things every leader or pastor over 40 needs to guard against.

Becoming cynical

The older you get, the more cynical you become. The gif’s of Clint Eastwood telling kids to get off his lawn is real life!

In your 20s, every idea is a great idea, brainstorming is more accessible, and you are the one starting the firm or church that will finally get it right. You won’t be like “grandma’s church” down the street.

At 40, you have more things to lose; you have less energy to pull things off. It becomes easier and easier to sit in a meeting and think about why something won’t work, why you are the most competent person in the room or why it isn’t their turn yet because you just got your turn.

It is embarrassing to admit how many times I have had to catch myself saying, “That’s dumb,” more times than I can count when I hear an idea from someone under 30.

The reason cynicism comes into play in your 40s is that you worked hard to get to where you are and want to have your time at the top. You might be the most intelligent person in the room on specific topics. You are probably the top leader in the organization or team, so you have much power and influence. And you still think of yourself as cutting edge and young because you aren’t full of gray hair or near retirement age. The cutting edge’s shelf life is getting shorter, and younger leaders aren’t waiting around like they used to.

Coasting on your gifts and talents

It is amazing how many leaders begin to coast later in life. They do this in all kinds of areas, but one place in particular that leaders and pastors need to pay attention to is in the areas of your gifts.

Around 40, you are probably proficient at some things; you know how you are wired, what you are good at and what you aren’t. You have spent years working on your craft in a host of areas; you have refined and tuned processes around those gifts and talents, and more than likely, you have seen some evidence of growth, success, and promotion because of that work.

It is easy at this point to start to pull back and coast. To think, “I’m not the greatest at ___, but I’m pretty good.” It is easy to feel like you have arrived somehow, and that can be very dangerous.

I have been preaching since I was 19 and have logged many hours in prep, fine-tuning, standing in front of a group of people, and opening God’s word. A few years ago, I was on staff at a church that did a weekly run-through, no matter who preached, and it changed my preaching in some profound ways. I would never go back, as it has continued to help me grow and not coast as a communicator.

How do you guard against these two things?

You first need to admit you could fall into these areas or others not listed here.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Are you still learning and growing?
Are you getting around people younger than you and more intelligent than you?
How often are you saying no compared to yes to new ideas?
When was the last time you were uncomfortable?

Questions pastors over 40 should ask themselves.

Posted on Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Summer Break!

by Josh Reich

Photo by Ethan Robertson on Unsplash

I’m thankful that the elders of our church give me a summer preaching break. You might wonder, what is a summer preaching break?

It’s a chance for me to catch my breath; to rest my body, soul, and mind; for our family to rest and play, but also a time for me to pull back and seek what God has next for our church in this next season.

I also spend a week that I call my “listening week.” It’s a week of intentionally listening to God, praying, dreaming, writing, and exploring what God has next for our church. This is one of the most important weeks of my year.

We are on the verge of an exciting chapter at Community Covenant Church, with Noah Kamper joining our team and all that God has ahead for us.

I’ll be posting many of our adventures on Instagram if you want to keep up on our experiences, what I’m reading, etc.

I often get asked what I’m reading over the summer, so here are a few of the books I’m most excited about (remember, leaders, on your vacation, read books that benefit you personally):

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Some of the books I’m reading this summer.

In the meantime, here are some of the most recent top posts on my blog to keep you company until I get back:

Healthy Job Hunt & Transitions

I spent a lot of time interviewing churches and exploring places to live over the last two years. After moving to New England last summer, I tried to chronicle a lot of what I learned, especially with more and more people thinking about changing careers or churches.

Finding the Heart of a Church
How to Interview a Church
How to Know It’s Time to Leave a Ministry
How to Know It’s Time to Leave a Ministry Part 2
How to Let Go of Your Last Ministry Season
How to Start a New Season of Life & Ministry
Don’t Waste Your Desert (While not a job post, looking for a job will feel like a desert)
When You’re Passed Over or Rejected for a Job
Why Job Hunting is So Exhausting

9 posts to read if you’re thinking about moving or changing jobs.

Healthy Marriage

6 helpful posts on marriage and relationships.

Healthy Leadership

7 ideas to help you be a healthy leader over the summer

Healthy Faith

4 things to help your faith when it is hard to trust God.

Healthy Preaching

5 ideas to help you as a preacher and communicator.

Posted on Thursday, June 16, 2022

How to Not be Productive on Vacation

by Josh Reich

Photo by Simon Berger on Unsplash

Many of us are good about planning our work and family lives. We have to-do lists and routines for how we accomplish things. The problem is that we don’t have that same level of planning and intentionality when we rest, go on vacation or try not to be productive.

The longer I’m in leadership, the most important thing to do on vacation and the sabbath is not to be productive. As a leader, this is hard and one of the most important things to keep in mind.

The most important thing to do on vacation and sabbath is not to be productive.

It isn’t decisions, meetings, counseling, or preaching that tires me out (although that can do it sometimes), but it is the production of things. I feel the pressure (real or imagined) to produce something, to prepare something.

To be productive.

How do you stop producing and rest? How can you take a weekend off? How do you turn your mind off from it? From the pressure, the deadlines?

I’ll be honest. Every week, this is my biggest struggle (when I’m trying to take my Sabbath day). I can survive without social media and email. But planning ahead helps me be intentional about not thinking about work, and being willing to not read a book for a sermon or leadership and stop producing.

I feel guilty about it.

But it is necessary and vital to your health as a leader, your family, and your church.

Here are five things I’ve learned that might be helpful for you this weekend and on your next vacation:

1. Decide ahead of time what unproductive will mean and entail. This might sound counterintuitive, but the first step to being unproductive is to be productive. Set yourself up to succeed.

If you are married, sit down with your spouse and ask them, “If I was unproductive for a weekend, a week, two weeks, a month, what would that mean? What would we do?” Leaders struggle to rest because of the constant movement of ministry and leadership. It is addicting. As much as my heart, mind, and body need a break from preaching, I get antsy and have a hard time functioning when I take a break. That is a sign that I need it, but it’s also a sign that I have some heart work to do around that.

To be truly unproductive, you must decide what that will mean.

For me, here are some things that being unproductive means: no blogging or writing, no leadership or theology books (I read spy novels or historical books on vacation), sleeping in (or letting Katie sleep in), taking naps, extended game time with my kids, ample time with friends, being outside.

Answer this simple question: What would refresh me and recharge me? Are there certain people who will do that? Spend time with them.

Too many pastors work on vacation and prepare for upcoming things (you need to plan that for a different time). Your weekend or vacation is for refreshment, recharging, and reconnecting with your family in another way.

2. Set yourself up for success. If you don’t decide ahead of time, you’ll come back from vacation exhausted and then tell people around you, “I need a vacation from my vacation!”

How to not need a vacation from your vacation.

One of the things we’ve done in years past is for me to take a one or two-night retreat at a monastery before we go away. Leaders have a way of crashing at the start of vacation. I’d rather do this alone than crash on my family. It starts your time off on the right foot.

If you are tired of the church or have difficulty going to church without thinking about your church (which happens more than you think), take a Sunday off and sleep in. Watch a podcast (but not for ministry purposes).

The bottom line is if you know and have decided how to be unproductive, it makes it easier to reach it. It increases the likelihood of resting and recharging.

One of the best ways to set yourself up for success is to take social media and email off your phone. In fact, on vacation, Katie changes my passwords so I can’t even get on them in a moment of weakness (which never happens).

At the end of your week, finish things up. Set up some ritual at the end of the day or week that says, “I’m done. I’ve done all that I can, the rest is in God’s hands” so that you can be done mentally and emotionally.

3. Give yourself grace. Because you are a leader and are trained to be productive and critical, you will struggle not to be effective and not critical. When you think about work, a person, a situation, give yourself grace and then move on.

When you start to think about work, write it down and let it go on your time off. Give yourself a moment to reconnect to being off and be okay with that. Your weekend or vacation isn’t ruined at that moment. It can be if you let it, but it isn’t yet.

4. Get out of town. This isn’t always possible but get out of town if you can. There are so many retreat centers and housing for pastors and their families that you can do this inexpensively. We stayed at the same place in San Diego for four different years and then multiple years in Huntington Beach, and each time it was free or cheap. Plan (and Google pastor’s retreat) and start making calls. Our kids look forward every year to vacation because we’ve planned it. This also means we don’t do things during the year for this time to happen, but we got out of town when I was making less than $500 a week (and working four jobs) planting our church. So you can do it!

Find fun things to do on your weekend if that will recharge you. Go swimming, hike, go to a fair or a market. Get moving. You may stay in your town but get out of your house. Changing the scenery is crucial to resting and recharging.

5. Your church will be fine. Many pastors fear leaving their church as if they are the glue that holds their church together. If you are a church planter, you are the glue for much of your church but not all of it. You can get away for a long weekend or a week, and everything will be fine.

Too many pastors live with the pressure that someone will be mad if they take a week off. They might, but you’ll live. They get vacation time, too.

Often pastors will ask me, “What do I do if I don’t have someone to preach?” Simple, show a video sermon of someone. Download a Tim Keller, Matt Chandler, or Craig Groeschel sermon and show that. Better yet, download four and take four Sundays off from preaching.

A refreshed pastor, leads a refreshed church.

Let me tell you why this matters: A refreshed pastor leads a refreshed church.

A tired pastor leads a tired church.

A tired pastor, leads a tired church.