Tired, broken and in need of rest. That’s how Senior Pastor, Pete Wilson described himself while standing in front of thousands who were listening to his Sunday sermon at Cross Point Church in Nashville on September 11. And maybe we are all a little tired, broken, and in need of rest but we aren’t bold enough to admit it.
Maybe the shock on people’s faces isn’t so much about the unwanted news of a resignation as it is about holding up a mirror.
Fourteen years ago, the first seed of Wilson’s dream was planted and it grew into one of America’s fastest growing churches. And some may fall under the temptation of interpretation, naming Wilson’s final address to thousands as failure.
He didn’t have what it takes.
He was unprepared for success.
He is making a big mistake as a leader.
Leaders who live on empty don’t lead well. As the wife of a Pastor who leads church planting movements, I breathe Wilson’s prophetic words as oxygen. As a Sabbath mentor to hundreds and an author publishing her first book, his words are a rebuke I long to hear from God often. Tired and broken is not the Jesus way to flourish.
What if you were to admit being tired, broken and in need of rest, not in front of thousands, but at the altar of your kitchen sink, at the rails of your child’s crib, behind the wheel of your car on the way to your next appointment.
What if admitting you’re not okay is the Jesus way that leads to your greatest success?
Everyone is welcome because nobody’s perfect and everything is possible, it’s the slogan of Cross Point Church and it’s the heart of God in Sabbath – all are invited, no one rests perfectly, and everything is possible because I love you.
Trust Jesus with time and he’ll blow your mind with possibility.
Perhaps a slogan that builds a church isn’t so much a meditation as it is about inviting mediation — the Holy Spirit breaking into your chaos with Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)
Seem counterintuitive?
In the Hebrew, the words be still mean to allow yourself to become weak, to let go, surrender and release your grip. And isn’t this what we are all witnessing from a man who is admitting he is spent; a man who is bravely choosing a legacy of leading well over mediocrity.
Wilson’s resignation from work is a warning to all of us: Cultivate a Sabbath heart because God has created you to flourish, not just exist.
Rest has been on God’s heart from the beginning and he is relentless in proclaiming it. God created the seventh day and it was the first time he named something holy. Listen! And beware of translating holiness as perfectionism and following a set of rules.
We let go in order to know that we are not the center of the universe. And in Sabbath, we release our self-sufficiency in order to claim the riches that reside in His all-sufficiency.
Let’s engage less in accusing, assessing and assigning judgment and practice more listening and leaning into stillness.
We don’t need to know the details leading to Wilson’s decision in order to perceive he is a voice in our wilderness, a warning for the weary — Am I enough? Do you trust me? Remember the Sabbath.
How will you respond?