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Burning out as a Christian

Having been around a few years in youth ministry, I see several of my Christian friends burn out around me. Sometimes it takes the form of changing churches, changing services, changing ministries, or not doing any formal ministry. There is nothing wrong with those things, I’m more interested in the psychological, physical aspects of burnout and how it’s not good in the long term.

What is burnout? Well I like to see it as not getting enough input in order to output. Just like a car, it needs fuel to run. When it doesn’t get enough, it won’t run (otherwise you’ll be pushing it along the side of the road which is painful…).The effects of burnout are many and can be short and long term. These include physical effects such as a decreased ability to function or perform (in ministry and in studies, secular work, family life), fatigue, exhaustion and physical complaints such as headaches. There are also psychological or emotional effects such as withdrawing yourself from others, low motivation, boredom, being cynical about change or about certain people, becoming impatient and easily irritated, feeling unappreciated, increased paranoia, inability to concentrate and depression. Not to mention the effect it has on family life, friendships and personal / spiritual life.

Input is the cultivating of a deeper relationship with God day by day and takes the form of reading and meditating upon the Scriptures, putting sermons into practice, praying to God, being concerned for those around you who do not know Jesus, etc. Output is all forms of ministry be it official ministries such as word ministries, creative / performing arts, administration or non-labeled ministries such as hospitality, one to one bible study, driving people home, etc.

So why do people burnout? It can be driven by certain beliefs and circumstances, but I think sometimes it just comes down to not knowing where your boundaries are; i.e. not being able to say ‘no’. What are some of these and how can they be overcome?

1. Saying ‘yes’ because you are using ministry to fulfill a need to feel important, seen and loved.

If this is you, examine your motivations and repent! Output should be loving service for others’ sake, not your own.

2. The ministry is driven by your personality and personal goals and nobody else shares your vision.

Perhaps you should consider why not many people share your vision. If it is a valid vision, learn to let go and include others. The ministry does not belong to you, it belongs to God and to the people that it serves. Hence, anybody else should be able to do it, even if it’s not in your style! If the vision is not valid, then perhaps it’s problem no. 1 described above.

3. The structure of your church and its leadership may be conducive to having a small number of people doing a large number of people’s work.

If this is the case, talk to your pastor about encouraging others to serve and to help others realise what they are capable of, and to give them opportunities.

4. A feeling of obligation – this is especially true if you are helping out the ‘adults service’ because they are no ‘young people’ around to help them.

If this is the case, know where to set your boundaries. Also examine your motivations again. If you don’t want to do a task because it is uninteresting and not flashy, then perhaps this is a bad reason for you to ‘get out of it’. However if doing this task is really stretching your time, then have a chat to the person who’s asked you to do it, gently explain to them how you’re feeling and ask if you could not do it this time. Offer to help them find someone else if you can.

5. It’s a small church and there’s no-one else to do it: Discuss with your pastor about the structure of the ministries in your church and also about how the church members can be supported.

6. You’re the only one who knows how to do the task (or you are really good at it and so they choose you a lot of the time), you don’t have time to train or teach someone else.

Surely you can ask at least one person to learn by watching you do it, then guide them as they try it out. You might delegate them some easier tasks first and then gradually give them more difficult ones to do so they can work up their confidence.

7. You don’t plan in advance so you end up being stressed.

Look at the calendar early and plan things in advance, around your other family / social / work / study responsibilities.

8. You may be facing stresses and pressure in your ministry.

For example, not getting on well with a fellow brother and sister – and you’re not committing this problem to God because you have no time. Well, if you want to continue expanding that ministry and being effective, you will have to deal with it sooner or later. It’s probably worth setting aside time to pray for it on your own and talking to others about it.

9. Finally, if you don’t delegate much, learn to trust others and DELEGATE!

In the end, you want to be an effective servant of God in the long term. If your current pattern of behaviour means that you’re going to grind to a screeching halt to soon, then perhaps you need to step back and put things in perspective. Wouldn’t you want to be able to serve God and His people over the long-term? Do you want to be an effective servant and not a tired, cynical, bored servant?

Then remember to cultivate your relationship with God. This is what you were saved to do – you are saved back into a relationship with Him, that is the whole point to Jesus dying on the cross and rising again – so that you can be in relationship with Him. Also, get more sleep, eat properly, get some exercise and set out time to relax and rejuvenate.

Continue to fill up your tank… grow in intimacy with Him, bringing Him all the frustrations and joys of ministry. He is with you every step of the way.