By Justin Heap
June 27, 2022When they found him beside the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” This was Jesus’s reply. “I’m telling you the solemn truth,” he said. “You aren’t looking for me because you saw signs, but because you ate as much bread as you could. You shouldn’t be working for perishable food, but for food that will last to the life of God’s coming age — the food which the son of man will give you, the person whom God the father has stamped with the seal of his approval.”
“What should we be doing,” they asked him, “so that we can be doing the work God wants?”
“This is the work God wants of you,” replied Jesus, “that you believe in the one he sent.”
John 6
Church Planting is a lot of work. Good, meaningfully hard work. That’s an understatement, right? And it’s not just Church Planters I have in mind; it’s everyone close to the church plant: musicians, moms and dads, elders, friends, artists, lay ministers, and life group leaders. Everyone is connected through the work of the ministry.
When there is a lot of work to be done, prioritizing becomes, well, a high priority. Indeed, there are funds to raise, spaces to rent, launch team meetings to organize; we have language to craft, volunteers to connect with, and gear to order/fix/setup. And, for some, that all takes place in a single day. It’s work.
But, is there something more important than all of the above? Is there something that holds it all together and, at the same time, provides the momentum to catalyze a movement?
When we’re talking about ministry and praying and seeing God move, aren’t we all asking, “What should we be doing?” I want to suggest that Jesus calls us to do something shocking. He calls us to rest.
Resting is some of the most important work there is to do. Rest finds it’s vitality through the intimate connection to faith, trust, and peace. Rest is the world in which belief thrives.
This is the work God wants of you, that you believe in the one he sent.
For the heart made weary by anxiety, pressure, and the drive to perform, may you be refreshed as you reclaim the truth that the power of the Spirit lives in you, is pleased with you, and desires to produce the only Fruit that matters in your life and those around you!
For the heart made heavy by a constant fighting, may you be relieved to know that the Victory is won! Christ is King, we are Saints in his kingdom and we are free to live a life that matters.
Rest is the world in which belief thrives.
The work we are all to be a part of is believing in the one the Father sent — Jesus. And from this, the daily work (so often tied to faith) we are to be a part of, is to always be the result of the holy, powerful, and active Spirit in us — we live and move and have our being in him.
Likewise, church plants who find their daily rhythm and work flowing out of a river of rest will be a refreshing source of life to a hurried world. Leaders who call on their staff to take time for the nourishment of their souls will begin a restful revolution: it will create a culture where people want to work with you.
Rest is a vital part of the very, very good news.
Beautiful tension is found in the Good and Blessed daily work of our hands. Don’t dismiss this tension, but hold it steady through prayer, silence, and rest.
Insomuch as we believe these things, we will do the occupational, tangible, practical work — but the most profound thing will be revealed: even the work that we, ourselves, our doing, will be the result of the Holy Spirit animating us to do it. Surely, this will be to the benefit of church leaders and planters — but so, too, to the disenfranchised, dechurched, and doubters as well. Rest is a vital part of the very, very good news.
