Leaving Sundays: Are we missing out on God when we don't take a sabbath? Why do we leave church when life happens?

Are we missing out on God by not taking a Sabbath Rest

Mrs Brown Taylor talks about how her first Sunday after she left her job at the church she observed the sabbath and she also felt free. She felt free from the bondage of the clock. She was able to be still and observe the life. Around her. She talked about how her first Sunday away from church she understood the people who said they skipped church because the weather was so nice. As a pastor she judged them for “forsaking the assembly” (Those are my words and not hers.When I was growing up, Hebrews 10:25 was always the answer for people who questioned why we had to attend church every Sunday)

After that first Sunday of leaving church, Mrs Taylor asked this question:

If one day without work had that much holiness in it for me, then what else had I missed while I was laboring for the Lord?

How much do we miss not taking a sabbath rest? When I think about all of the time we spent in church when I was growing up, I feel like it was a giant waste of time. We never talked about finding the purpose and call for our lives, impacting others, or even how to navigate through life. We learned about why we don't sing with instruments and why if we go to another church we will go to hell.

We learned how to do church

We never learned how to do life

That's not just true of this denomination in particular. It's very common in church world. I think this is a big reason why people stop coming to church when life happens.

As a pastor Barbara brown Taylor saw this happen a lot and she recounts this experience in her book

One thing that had always troubled me was the way people disappeared from church when their lives were breaking down.
I was sorry that church did not strike these wounded souls as a place they could bring the dark fruits of their equally dark nights.

Its sad but if you get into trouble church may be the last place you turn. This week Rachel held Evans shared some words from pope Francis of why this may be so.

“I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol or about the level of his blood sugars. You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else." - Pope Francis (via Elizabeth Esther's Blog Friends)

If the church truly cared about the wounds of the human and not just the superficial safe concern they put on, then I think many people would regard church as a viable place to turn when life hit them. Right now the opposite reaction is happening.

The ironic part is that most people are led to church when life happens and they're seeking answers. I was drawn to the non denominational church after I had decided to self sabotage myself and my future for a six month period in 2007/8. I lived out some of my biggest fears such as settling for less, giving up on my dreams, and getting stuck in the world of fundamentalism.

I needed answers after that. I needed to know God.in fundamentalism I had encountered a dead God who was only concerned whether we used instruments or clapped during a song. I didn't believe in that God I needed to meet the living God who was part of the supernatural and did miracles.I needed to understand what faith was. 5-6 years later I understand it was a healing journey that had to happen

Mrs Taylor notes that her search for real life has led her repeatedly through three distinct seasons of faith finding life, losing life, and finding life again

This is the faith journey that Jesus talked about. I found life when I was introduced to actual faith and the living God. I lost my life that was limiting and connected with fundamentalism and I found life again with my new faith that equipped me with a calling and a belief that's bigger than myself.