When Rest is Radical: Why the Sabbath Matters for Christian Leaders

What Eric Liddell Did Not Do

Scottish athlete and missionary Eric Liddell, whose story is told in the movie Chariots of Fire, was a favorite to win the hundred-meter sprint in the 1924 Paris Olympics. When he learned that the final would be run on a Sunday, he refused to run due to his Christian convictions about the sabbath.

Liddell was considered a fool by many and criticized heavily by the media, but he stuck to his convictions and did not race. In a dramatic turnaround, Liddell then raced the four hundred meter (for which he did not train) and decisively won the Olympic gold. In the end, Liddell’s enduring legacy is not his unlikely gold medal. He is famous for what he did not do.

It can be true for us as well: what we don’t do can be as significant to our leadership as what we do.

A Radical Pattern

From the very beginning, a radical pattern was built into creation. The word radical in its most literal form means “from the root.” The core of the word is from the Latin radix. The word has come to mean “extreme” or “revolutionary,” but it got there through subterranean paths.

You see, characters or causes arrive at full commitment only if their commitment goes to the deepest level, the level of the root.

The pattern of sabbath keeping is radical in both senses: it is foundational, at the roots of creation—and it is also revolutionary. Rhythms of rest can be an antidote to many of the forces of cultural and family brokenness that impede our formation. These rhythms can bring us back to the baptism of Jesus and the identity, affection, and pleasure that shape our souls at the deepest level. This is particularly crucial for leaders who are tempted to the idolatry of work.

When the Lord commands sabbath keeping in Exodus 20, he refers all the way back to the beginning. When God created everything and saw that it was good, he then rested on the seventh day. And so the Lord commands that his people set apart one day per week, devoting it completely to God in rest and worship. In this way, the pattern of sabbath keeping extends back to our historic roots and goes as deep as our created identity.

The Sabbath Against the World

Sabbath keeping is revolutionary in the sense that it actively resists the forces of idolatry and empire. Where the systems of our world promote productivity and profit, sabbath invites us regularly to stop obeying those impulses—to pause and receive rest and nurture from God. When the idolatries of our world (for example, money, pleasure, and power) invite our allegiance, sabbath invites us to focus a full day on worshiping the one God.

Some of us (especially leaders) are tempted to work ceaselessly. Some of us are also tempted to rest thoughtlessly, expecting that entertainment or avoidance will fill us up.

Sabbath is intentional, both as a pause from work and an engagement with God. In that intentionality, sabbath keeping is leadership. Sabbath disciplines are radical. They direct my attention to the roots of my life. At the root level, I draw nutrition and pure water from God’s truth and love. I also sink roots deeply into the soil below me, gaining stability for times when storms may threaten to topple me.

We rest and worship, then we enter into the work God has prepared. In contrast, if we never stop working, we live out the anxious toil of our culture. Our actions of constant busyness teach our souls to worship productivity and self-reliance. We need fundamental disciplines of stopping our work in order to become people of faith, hope, and love.

Sabbath disciplines also shape my radical, revolutionary posture in the world. By stopping and praying, I turn my life away from the powers and principalities that use people and toil for the sake of money, pleasure, and power. By pausing and intentionally seeking God, I center my life on the identity, affection, and pleasure that only God can speak over me.