Introduction:
When I was in my teens, one of my main chores at home was to take out the trash and put it into the burn barrel down behind our house. About every two weeks the barrel would get near full. My job then was to ignite the trash and tend to the fire as the contents turned to ash. I then had to use a garden hose to put out the fire once it was about finished.
I noticed after a few months of this bi-weekly cycle, rust would appear, followed by small and then larger holes around the perimeter of the barrel. At first, we ignored it, but then the holes got larger until the flames inside would emerge outside the barrel. The barrel became broken down due to it being "burned out".
A personal example of experiencing ministry burnout
Back in 2007 I was in the third year of my first pastorate. That year, I had literally taken no time off, not even on weekends. I was run ragged, yet I observed an old motto taught to me by older preachers, "I'd rather burn out than rust out". It sounded pretty courageous coming from a pulpit, yet I learned it wasn't a very healthy philosophy of ministry. Consequently, I experienced burn out and nearly ended up being rusted out.
If anything, I should had learned from the burn barrel chore, rust and holes on the inside form long before the evidence of burnout becomes known to all. I wish I could say 2007 was the only time I have experienced this condition. Sadly, too many in ministry (whether pastoring or serving in a volunteer capacity) can go for months and years, not even knowing they are "burned out". In this post I want us to identify this common experience and then examine it from the Biblical point of view.
What is "burnout"?
The term "burnout" was coined by psychologist Herbert Freudenberger in 1974. His 1980 best seller "Burnout - The High Cost of Achievement", is available online at Internet Archive here Burn-out : the high cost of high achievement : Freudenberger, Herbert J : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. I don't agree with everything Dr. Freudenberger writes in the book, since his worldview is that of secular psychoanalysis. Nevertheless, there is enough of God's general revelation shining through his insights that at least shed light on this common condition. Freudenberger notes with insight the following,
"Somehow, there is a great contradiction between reality and the messages we have been receiving, and we end up confused. I believe it is this climate of confusion that has given rise to the phenomenon of burnout."
On page 13 of his book, Freudenberger defines burnout,
"Burnout is someone in a state of fatigue or frustration brought about by devotion to a cause, way of life, or relationship that failed to produce the expected reward. Whenever the expectation level is dramatically opposed to reality and the person persists in trying to meet that expectation, trouble is on the way."
As a Christian, the definition shows me why burnout comes about - we come to have the wrong goal in practice. In Christian ministry, if we aim at anything else but drawing nearer to Jesus Christ and being faithful regardless of the outcome, we will run the danger of becoming burned-out. As we will see later, there is a link between chronic worry and burnout.
Dr. Freudenbeger then suggests that one of the key contributors to increased burnout across society (remember, he wrote this book in 1980!) is the abandonment of the Judeo- Christian worldview! I was very surprised by what I read in context, since I knew the author himself was not sympathetic to Biblical Christianity. Nevertheless, he wrote with a candor that aimed at honest assessment. He wrote,
"In a society where we have killed out gods, exorcised our ghosts, separated from our parents, and left our neighborhoods behind, we have little left to cling to. Against what restraints to we reinforce our standards. According to whose values do we plan our lives? The old rewards and punishments have disappeared. We have to rely on ourselves and ourselves alone."
Freudenberger expresses the problem in his book of the abandonment of moral standards as codified in the Ten Commandments. His diagnosis is spot-on, even though the ultimate solution he offers in the book isn't (relying on oneself and employing his suggestions, which are good on some levels, but ultimately rooted in the self-life).
His comments about "killing our gods" echoes the sentiment of the 19th century Atheistic Philosopher Friedrich Neitzsche who wrote that in the wake of abandonment of the Christian worldview, all standards of right and wrong are exchanged for a secular world where anything goes. The phenomenon of burnout certainly emerges in a world where we try to operate at a faster rate than we were meant to, ignoring the One who made us to experience life at a pace He set, not we ourselves.
If we got with his working definition of burnout, "Burnout is someone in a state of fatigue or frustration brought about by devotion to a cause, way of life, or relationship that failed to produce the expected reward", we can then proceed to address the diagnosis with a Biblical answer and analysis to help out those who are nearing it or who are there already.
Characterizing burnout from a Christian worldview perspective.
David P. Mann, who served as an Associate Professor of Christian Counseling at Ashland Theological Seminary at the time of his 2007 article "Preventing Ministry Burnout - A Health and Wellness Approach" in the Volume 39:1 of Ashland Theological Journal, took some of Freudenberger's insights on burnout and noted some characteristics of burnout to watch.
*Loss of creativity
*Enjoyment once present is now gone
*Frequent changing or quitting of ministry positions
*Vacillating between over involvement and disengagement
*Errors in judgment
*Emotional experiences of panic attacks, depression, feelings of meaninglessness, emptiness, mood swings, irritability, suicidal ideations.
Mann's analysis of the above prompted him to comment in his article,
"many people in ministry find themselves practicing a propensity toward driven by the urgent (i.e. 'perceived needs of the ministry') at the expense of the necessary (that is, ordering our inner world in time of prayer and solitude).
The link between worry and burnout
We've noted what burnout is and what characterized burnout from a Christian worldview perspective. As I close out today's post, I want to end by noting the link between persistent worrying and burnout.
Over the last little while I've been preaching on worry from our ongoing Sunday morning study through Luke's Gospel. In that message I cite Christian author Paul David Tripp. He insightfully notes of worry and its causes,
“Things that were not designed to give us peace and over which we have no control become our replacement Messiahs. We ask them to do for us what only God is able to do” [Ligonier Table Talk Magazine, January 2010, “Thinking Biblically About Worry”].
His remarks sparked in me a realization of the connection between the phenomenon of worry and that of burnout. In both cases, we are aiming toward something other than faithfulness to God or drawing closer to God, making success or achievement some type of "replacement Messiah" that will make us feel better.
In the message on worry I find the term "preoccupation" a helpful onramp to better understanding what makes worry tick. As I have studied on the subject of "burnout", this idea of "preoccupation" accompanies the literature on the subject.
When we look at burn out in a Christian ministry context, we get so preoccupied with our service to God that we forget about the God whom we serve. It was years ago I read Oswald Chambers write that the number one competitor to our communion with God is our service to God.
As Jesus addresses this matter of the causes of worry in Luke 12:13-22, we can see how they contribute also to our burnout. We don't start out in any service area thinking we will burnout. Nevertheless, without being careful or aware, burnout creeps upon us just like worry. Notice the following causes of worry and see if they do not also contribute to the more chronic condition of burnout we have identified today.
1). Preoccupation with the tasks of life. (Luke 12:13-14)
People in ministry burnout don't know when to put something down, let something go, or delegate something to another. We get so focused on outcomes we forget the people. In turn, we sometimes can get so consumed with pleasing people that we neglect the goal of bringing pleasure to God.
2). Preoccupation with the treasures of life. (Luke 12:15-20).
Jesus tells a parable of a man who had a farm and crops to bring in from the field. He became so enamored by success that he proposed to tear down his current barns and build bigger ones so as to live off the wealth and to enjoy himself for the rest of his life. At the end of the parable in Luke 12:21, Jesus notes how the man was not rich toward God. Jesus then makes this statement to His disciples in Luke 12:22-23
"And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing."
The "treasure" in Christian ministry can often boil down to meeting a budgetary deadline or making sure a certain group of people are happy with me. The perception of "having it all together" and then getting the applause of others is another so-called treasure pursued by those who relentlessly worry and end up getting burned out.
3). Pre-occupation with the self-life.
When I get preoccupied with myself, it’s as if I am practically thinking of life revolving around me and forgetting about God. I cut off the grace and power of God needed to keep everything in perspective. As Adrian Rogers once noted years ago, “worry is the mildest form of atheism”. So, think of these three streams feeding into the swamp we call worry and the larger pond we call "burnout": preoccupation with tasks, treasures, and self.
