by M. Scott Boren
If you are a leader, there will be times when the ministry needs that you face will be more than you can handle. The group grows, and the new members have lots of questions. So you have them over for meals. You have two people that are potential group leaders. So you start meeting them for coffee every week. The group is excited about reaching out to some people who live nearby. So you help organize a regular cookout, even hosting some yourself. Then of course there are those three people in the group who always need extra attention.
Then it hits you. You wake up and you don’t want to go to work. You don’t want to prepare the lesson for the upcoming meeting. You don’t want to answer the phone. There you are. Now what do you do?
First of all, slow down. Since you are not the answer to the needs of the world, you can give yourself permission to take a deep breath and rest. Of course, this assumes that you know how you best rest. Many leaders do not know how to rest and what kind of rest best suits them. Do you need a retreat? Does taking a walk in nature help? Some find reading helpful?
Secondly, talk to your coach or pastor about what you are feeling. Push aside any guilt you might feel because you are experiencing what you are experiencing.
Third, focus your ministry on your strengths and your gifts. You don’t have all of the gifts of the Spirit. If you don’t know how God primarily works through you, then find out. Talk with others about how they see God moving through you.
Fourth, get some help. You don’t have to lead your group alone. Delegate some of the responsibilities to others. One of the worst assumptions I’ve made as a leader is that I had to do everything, including the stuff that I was bad at doing. There are people who want to help and they actually enjoy doing the stuff that you don’t like to do. Talk to them and find out.
Fifth, take a weekly Sabbath. Too many people involved in Christian ministry do not know how to let go of their responsibilities. A weekly Sabbath teaches us to trust God and to pay attention to the ways he is working without us.
In no way is this some kind of recipe for getting out of burnout. In my experience, the only way out is to struggle through it. The patterns that lead to burnout usually need to be replaced by other patterns. These five things can help you develop new patterns that will lead to more effective ministry and avoid burnout.
