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School and the Sabbath

Taking Back Sunday

When I was a kid, there were three of the Ten Commandments that I considered to be the easy ones: thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, and remember the Sabbath.¹ Sure, my little brother and I didn't always get along, but murder was a few clicks past my level of brotherly retaliation. Adultery? As a 4th-grader, I hardly understood what it meant, much less was in a position to break that rule. And having been told to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," I was pretty sure that would be no problem either, because "keeping it holy" meant going to church on Sundays. And where did I learn about the Ten Commandments? In Sunday school.

Thanks to Mom and Dad, I was an avid churchgoer. Every Sunday morning. Every Sunday night. The Sabbath was about making sure we gave God one day out of the week for worship, and we Boyetts were pretty good at it.

Then, almost three years ago, I stopped going to church on Sundays. Totally. Cold turkey. And you know what? It transformed my Sabbath. Suddenly it became a lot more meaningful, more complete, and more personally beneficial.

Let me explain.

In 2005, my church started a progressive, Saturday-night worship service with a totally different flavor from our normal Sunday morning gatherings. I was part of the leadership team for this experiment, and the prospect of switching our church attendance from Sunday morning to Saturday night was a big change for my family. It meant not only a change in what church looked and felt like, but it also meant repurposing our Saturday nights for worship. On the other hand, we regained our Sunday mornings.

And it was wonderful.

The Moral of the Story

I'm going to be real honest with you: Staying home from church on Sunday mornings after a lifetime of weekends structured around that practice is — not to be too subtle about it — out-and-out awesome. Because other than church, absolutely nothing happens on Sundays before noon. It's total free time. On Sunday mornings, my wife and kids and I have rediscovered the value of doing nothing, but doing it together. We sleep late. We lounge around in bed. We watch movies. Instead of working, we play. Instead of answering e-mails, we ride bikes. We get to be together as a family without distractions. As a result of this change, we learned that the Sabbath wasn't just valuable as a day of worship, but also as a day of rest. And this only became clear when we stepped outside the structure of the way we worshiped.

So, the moral of the story is that you, dear college student, can only observe the Sabbath if you get married, have kids, then start going to church on Saturday night.

Actually, no, that's not really the point, and please don't take it that way. The point is that it took a significant life shift for us to wake up to the fact that, while we were attending church on the Sabbath, we weren't truly observing it. Not completely. Sure, we worshipped on Sunday, but Sundays weren't a day of rest for us. They were busy — just as busy as any other day of the week — but because we got our church attendance in, we hardly gave the Sabbath a thought.

As a spiritual discipline, however, Genesis 2:3 makes it clear that the Sabbath is set apart to provide rest as much as for any other purpose: "And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done" (NIV).

So here's the question for you. Are you keeping the Sabbath? How? If your answer is "by going to church," that's great. I encourage it. But worship is only part of the Sabbath, and if that's all you're doing, you may be missing out on at least half its intention. Are you also resting on the Sabbath?

Keeping the Sabbath on Campus

I know what you're thinking: Get real, Boyett. I understand. Finding ways to unplug on a Sunday (or Saturday) is easier said than done, especially for a college student. Friday nights are great times to relax after a stressful week of classes, but Saturdays and Sundays are often filled with jobs, schoolwork, and other duties. Is it even possible to observe a Sabbath rest in college?

Yes. Because even if you can't devote a full day to it, you can begin to take small, restful steps toward a meaningful Sabbath. Here's how:

1. Find time to worship. This is the obvious first step, but church attendance is often one of the first things that falls away once you hit college. Don't let this slide. It's good to worship, and whether it's on Saturday or Sunday, it brings a great rhythm to your week. But keep in mind it's just the beginning — not the end — of a Sabbath observance.



You wouldn't believe how freeing it can be to untie the technological leash, if only for a few hours each weekend.
2. Schedule time to unwind. The non-stop pace of classes, assignments, and social responsibilities can be hectic. Take control over an overscheduled weekend by penciling in some time for yourself. Block out an hour or two on the Sabbath — separate from going to church — in which you get off the treadmill for awhile. Go outside. Enjoy a cup of coffee. Read a few passages of Scripture or a good book. Get some exercise. Pray. Breathe.



3. Unplug as much as possible. I know some people who turn off their cell phones, or refuse to read or reply to e-mail, or abstain from Facebook (gasp!) as a Sabbath observance. Talk about countercultural — in a world where we're always connected and attuned to the chirp of our gadgets, this is a bold step. But you wouldn't believe how freeing it can be to untie the technological leash, if only for a few hours each weekend.



4. Practice community. We weren't made to live alone, and part of the joy of the Sabbath is freeing up space to hang out with family and friends. Be deliberate about this, and find a group of friends who want to rest with you. Play games. Go to the park for lunch. Or join together in pursuit of the next point …



Doing good is a great way to serve God, love people, experience community, and get refreshed all at the same time.
5. Find something good to do. In Mark 3, the Pharisees get annoyed with Jesus because He heals a man on the Sabbath. Jesus answers them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?"² The answer is pretty self-explanatory, and doing good is a great way to serve God, love people, experience community, and get refreshed all at the same time. Volunteer at a local nursing home or poverty ministry. Pick up trash on campus. Participate in a fundraiser for a social justice cause. The Sabbath may be about subtracting things, but this is one positive thing to add.



6. Be willing to say No. It's easy to get overwhelmed by the things we have to do — even when they're good things we've taken on as a result of #5. But too many responsibilities can lead to a Sabbath packed so full of spinning plates that eventually some of them will crash. That's not too restful. Part of unplugging and resting means saying "no" to things that keep you plugged-in and restless. Easy? Not always. But sometimes it's necessary for your spiritual, mental, and physical health.

The Sabbath Was Made for You

C O F F E E  S H O P

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Have you ever tried truly resting on the Sabbath? How did it go?

Join the discussion!

In pursuing a regular Sabbath observance apart from simply going to church, it's been helpful for me to think about something Jesus said in Mark 2:23-27 when the Pharisees saw Him scandalously picking grain on the Sabbath. As usual, they were angry with Him. How dare He pursue nourishment instead of adhering to their society's complex system of Sabbath regulations! And technically, Jesus and the disciples actually were breaking the "do not work" Sabbath law.³ But Jesus reminded them: "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). In other words, the Sabbath is to benefit us, and that benefit takes precedence over pretty much everything else — including the demands of our culture, our responsibilities, and sometimes even our religious rituals.

Which means it's OK, every once in awhile, to sleep in on Sunday. Worship is important. But so is rest.