“HOW I RECOVERED FROM BURNOUT:
12 KEYS TO GETTING BACK” [1]
I am so tired of these kinds of headlines and 12 step suggestions to overcome pastoral fatigue! It is one of many such articles. The responses to these articles are even more disquieting — ministry leaders, workers, and pastors who add the harmony to the sad song of difficulty and despair.
Ministry leaders and pastors highlight their personal battles in the ministry with all of its unrelenting demands, not to mention how their load has been terribly heightened by the 2020 pandemic. Worse yet, 2020 is bleeding into 2021 — Oh, deary-deary me!
Such ministry leaders and pastors reveal that their knowledge of the Word is as inadequate in addressing life and living, as it is too often for those who sit in their pews — and there is a connection between the two. A message which can’t be found in the Scriptures, to address the heart and mind of the preacher, will never be heard in the pulpit. Sadly, in far too many cases, the Shepherd is as sick as the sheep! The articles, posts, and responses prove that reality!
There is a woeful lack of perspective as well.
- We live in America, not a third-world county, or worse!
- There is food on our tables! We are not scavenging garbage pits to stay alive. Truth is, overweight is the problem in America!
- Ministry leaders and pastors work over 40 hours a week, more like 60 hours — LIKE MOST PEOPLE who work in the professional world!
- Ministry leaders and pastors work in a great environment! If not, then change it because the culture around your ministry is the culture you built, and it reflects you!
- Most all have received their weekly check, without any disruption resulting from C-19. Can’t say about some of those outside the ministry!
- Most all of God’s people want to support their leaders and pastors. Fact is, many ministry problems are self-inflicted.
- You don’t want to be around for the Tribulation! Some should be pre-tribulation if only for that reason -TIC (tongue in cheek).
- Some believers around the world are going to sleep right now and are not sure they will be alive tomorrow morning or if their loved ones will be accosted or worse!
“Burnout” is what happens when living for and in the world — not what describes ought to describe the ministry. That’s what happens when you move away from singing . . .
- There Is Joy In Serving Jesus
- It Is Well With My Soul
- On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand
- Onward Christian Soldiers
- Am I A Soldier Of The Cross
- And Can It Be
. . . You lose perspective when music begins to revolve around the sinner’s and saint’s experiences.
These articles, which seemingly continue to pop up over and over, are self-defeating, as are the appeals of pastors who call on God’s people to sympathize with their pain. They not only don’t inspire confidence, but such self-serving invitations for sympathy actually cause people to walk away. Such appeals reveal the weakness of the ministry leaders and/or pastors, which attracts few fellow soldiers. You inspire and command no soldier’s commitment!
There was a reason that David inspired 600 fighting men, and the reason wasn’t — “Woe is me — do you feel my pain — please come help me at the cave of Adullam — not that I need your affirmation, you understand.”
♦♦♦♦♦
JEREMIAH 12:5
If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee,
then how canst thou contend with horses?
and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee,
then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?
♦♦♦♦♦
When the doctor is in bed alongside the patients,
and the patients are called upon to minister to the doctor
— don’t walk, run! —
♦♦♦♦♦
The task of the Shepherd is to shepherd his sheep . . . .
Ministry is not the sheep carrying the shepherd . . . .
♦♦♦♦♦
. . . . . .
If the Word cannot protect one from ministry-pastoral “burnout,”
then don’t preach about its power to others!
All Things Church 