{"id":2166,"date":"2010-03-13T16:43:48","date_gmt":"2010-03-13T21:43:48","guid":{"rendered":"\/news_blogs\/john\/?p=2166"},"modified":"2023-12-22T17:04:52","modified_gmt":"2023-12-22T22:04:52","slug":"sabbatical-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2010\/03\/13\/sabbatical-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Sabbatical Anyone?"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 1 of 37 in the series Sabbatical<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

Oh how the time flies. My seventh anniversary with CCCC is coming up in September and I still feel like I’m the new guy. That’s why I’m so surprised that a number of other executive directors who started with their ministries the same year I did are already transitioning out!! What!  Are they done already? I’ve got lots left I want to do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My seventh anniversary will be very special because the board offered me a 3 month sabbatical. That means I’m thinking now about what I should do<\/strong> while on sabbatical<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biblical Basis forSabbaticals<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sabbaticals are based upon the biblical concept of sabbath rest. There is the day of rest, the Sabbath day, but there is also the Sabbath year when the land lays fallow. At the end of every seventh Sabbath year, God instituted the Year of Jubilee. Observance of this fifty year cycle of rest years was meant to teach people not to be in bondage to endless work or greed. They could enjoy the fruits of their labour and trust God for sustenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words<\/em><\/a> reports that “in a redemptive-historical sense, the “Sabbath” day anticipated…ultimately, the heavenly rest of the believer.” I find that exciting. A number of people have written excellent\u00a0biblical-theological studies on what heaven will be like, and it sounds to me like it will be filled with enjoyable, productive work in which you can\u00a0bring to bear all of who you are in a way that will\u00a0be\u00a0 richly rewarding\u00a0and deeply satisfying. (Check out N.T. Wright’s Surprised By Hope<\/em><\/a>\"\" for example.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So in the biblical context, rest is not inactivity but rest from the aspects of life and work that cause you to toil and struggle. At heart, a sabbatical should be a rest from the routine of work (so no contact with the office!!) and a time to refresh oneself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sabbaticals in Different Sectors<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The modern context for sabbaticals depends on the kind of organization that grants the sabbatical, because they have different ideas about the purpose or philosophy about what sabbaticals are for. A quick Internet search for policies about sabbaticals reveals some trends:<\/p>\n\n\n\n