the burnout question- pt. 3

4. Improper view of family.

The one can be a very touchy subject. However, I think it's fair to say that if your family becomes "expendable" when compared to ministry then you are very likely to burnout on both. I've heard several pastors state the following phrase so I'm not sure who to credit it to. "Don't sacrifice your family on the altar of ministry!"

If you are passionate about ministry and yet neglect your family then the price is too high and I have a tough time seeing a scriptural directive instructing us to follow such a path.

5. Improper view of rest.

Have you heard or said one of these?
"I'll sleep when I'm dead."
"I'll rest when Jesus comes."
"Just let me do one more thing and then I'll go to bed."
"I don't have time to take a day off/vacation."

All of these are lies straight from the pit of hell. God did not design us to go with out breaks. He intentionally made us and then commanded us to take a break every seven days (at the bare minimum). Without rest we have no energy to give our passions the attention they need and deserve, much less anything else in our lives.

So there you have it. Five things that can lead us to burnout doing something we are passionate about. This is obviously not an exhaustive list but I hope it helps in some way.

The key is a balanced life and the only one who can grant complete balance for each person is God Himself. So start today in seeking direction from Him and pause a moment to listen to what His Spirit is telling you right now.

the burnout question- pt. 2

2. Improper view of others.

How we view other people can dramatically affect our ability to pursue our passions without burning out.

Have you ever seen someone and dreaded talking with them because you know the conversation will take more effort than you want to give at the moment? Or have you ever look at someone only to see what you can get from them? There are millions of ways we look at each other all the time that have nothing to do with love. God's love allows us the ability to see each other in such a unique way. We see others as valuable, important, and worth our time and effort.

Don't get me wrong, people drive me nuts sometimes but if I'm honest with myself it's in those moments that I'm relying more on the flesh than on the Spirit.

3. Improper view of God.

God needs me.
God will only do this if...
God can't...

This one is simple. If you have caught yourself saying or thinking any of the above statements you have fallen into a trap. These statements are not biblical and just plain "ain't true".

If you think God needs you to accomplish anything think again. He may want you. He may choose to use you. He may invite you to play a part in what He is doing. However, to be so bold as to think the God of the universe can not accomplish a task without you is a recipe for disaster.

Not to mention this type of thinking will wear you out FAST!

Two more to come...

the burnout question-pt1

Last week one of, if not THE greatest basketball coaches of all time died at the age of 99. John Wooden (the "Wizard of Westwood") was a man who very few, if any, have anything bad to say about. He was a teacher, thinker, coach and all around good guy who stood for honesty and integrity.I mention Wooden because I think he addressed the issue of burn out in the following way. He always taught his players to seek two things in life. LOVE and BALANCE.It seems to me that when we are lacking in one of these two areas then we are in danger of experiencing what some people would consider "burn out". There are five things that I want to share this week that I believe leads us directly towards a lack of love and balance and thus into the pit of burn out.

1. Improper view of ourselves.

Sometimes we are tempted to think one of two ways. Either we are better than we really are or we are less valuable than we really are. Both ideas cause us to cripple ourselves of our usefulness. If we think we are better then we are so full of pride that it really doesn't matter what is happening around us. If we think less of ourselves then why would we put any effort into life. Afterall, what I do doesn't matter or make a difference at all.

The best way to defeat this is to let God tell you who you really are. It's His power and authority that really accomplishes things anyway. So why not trust in what HE says. As a believer in Christ you are His child, His friend, His sheep, His saint, His ambassador, His beloved...simply put you are HIS.

The next 4 are coming soon...

question about burnout

This morning a great question was brought to my attention.

"If you are passionate about something how can you burnout doing it?"

I had some immediate thoughts about that question but I wanted to throw it out there in blog world to see if anyone else has some thoughts before I offer any.

So how would you respond to that question? Especially as it pertains to ministry.
Let me know.