I came across an interesting interview of Rob Bell by YouthWorker Journal. It was interesting because I am not a youth worker per se, but I found a lot of Rob’s points to be interesting.
Rob wonders aloud about a lot of topics in the interview, including the tension between production/programs and authentic discipleship, the importance of intuition in leadership, leading from our own interior life with God, and the importance of sabbath in the life of leaders.
I appreciate a lot of what I read in this interview. For me personally, I found Rob’s emphasis on sabbath as a tool for ministry to be especially compelling. As he says here: “If you’re busy, fried and a wreck, who wants your gospel?” Too often, as leaders we see rest and deliberate stopping as a weakness and a distraction from the real thing in ministry. But if we are honest with ourselves, our activity is often more about us – our ego, our glory, our need for attention or affirmation – than about God’s work. Although Jesus did ‘break the sabbath’ in the traditional sense, He also clearly took time away to “cease” from his work and refresh. That’s the underlying sabbath principle in Jesus’ ministry and life.
For the full article, click here.
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Matthew Erickson 
I’m finding children to be a bigger hindrance to Sabbath than my ministry is! I’ve found some ways to Sabbath with the family, but it’s just not the same as a really solid nap.
I completely understand, Brian. As my kids are getting older, I’ve switched my day off and my personal ‘sabbath’ to Fridays. Most of the day, they are in school.
However, this hinders the experience of sabbath from being a family experience. I have not yet figured this one out.