Mark 2:27 – “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
In just one sentence, Jesus reframes a centuries-old religious tradition. The Sabbath, with all its rules and regulations, was never meant to be a burden. It was meant to be a gift. A delight. A restorative rhythm for a weary people. But somewhere along the way, the structure became more important than the soul it was built to support.
This same tension exists today—not just in how we treat the Sabbath, but in how we do church.
Structure vs. Soul
Every organization—including the church—has a structure. Budgets must be balanced. Buildings maintained. Committees formed. Schedules kept. These are the bones that support the body. But bones were never meant to take center stage. The real life of the church is found in relationships, spiritual formation, service, and grace. When the machinery of church becomes more important than the mission of church, we’re in danger of forgetting why we exist in the first place.
Jesus could just as easily have said, “The church was made for people, not people for the church.”
When Preservation Becomes the Point
History is full of examples where organizations—churches included—began to care more about self-preservation than about the people they were called to serve. We cling to policies instead of people. We protect procedures instead of nurturing the hurting. We preserve a brand instead of making space for brokenness.
When this happens, the church stops being a place of grace and becomes a place of performance. People feel the pressure to conform instead of the freedom to be transformed.
The Right Kind of Tension
To be clear, it’s not wrong to care about organizational health. Without structure, our ministries lose focus. Without resources, we can’t serve. Without leadership, we drift. But let’s be honest—structure is only a means to an end, not the end itself.
The tension is real:
- We do need systems, but not at the expense of souls.
- We do need strategy, but not without compassion.
- We do need sustainability, but not if it means sacrificing our reason for existing: to love God and love people.
Priorities in the Right Order
Jesus didn’t abolish the Sabbath—he restored it. He reminded us what it was for. In the same way, we don’t have to abandon our structures and systems. We just need to remember their purpose: to serve people, not enslave them.
So let’s keep the main thing the main thing.
Let’s build structures that serve people—not the other way around.
Let’s be a church that chooses compassion over control, and presence over programs.
Let’s not get so busy preserving the institution that we forget to nourish the body.
Because in the end, it was never about keeping the Sabbath.
It was about keeping each other.
Reflection Questions:
1. In what ways do you see our church prioritizing people over programs? Where might we improve?
2. Are there traditions or routines you’ve held onto that might need to be re-examined in light of Jesus' teaching?
3. How can you personally help foster a church culture that puts relationships and spiritual health first?
Let’s continue to be a church made for people—a church that exists not to be preserved, but to be poured out in love.