Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Effectiveness and Burn Out
Out of Ur recently discussed pastors who were feeling vacant in ministry.
Now, having said all that, the essential point of the Ur post - that there is something very sick in the church using the measures of success we do is dead nuts on.
The key to this, I believe, is to change what constitutes leadership in the church. Leadership does not come by virtue of position, or education, though those things help. We need to look less to corporate models of leadership and more to I Timothy - though I think they are more similar than we might suspect.
Most of all the church needs to MAKE leaders, not find them. Our job does not stop when people are saved. Why did Jesus have disciples? Who were the twelve, but those people that Jesus spent most of His earthly ministry making into leaders for His church? We focus all our energy on "growing the church" when it should be on "building disciples," who in turn build disciples, who in turn....
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Something’s wrong. We pastors are the stewards, the spokespeople, the advocates of a message of hope, life, and peace. And yet so few of us seem to be experiencing these qualities in our own lives. Something’s wrong. In a world saturated with fear, insecurity, and stress, we are to show a different way. And yet those at the center of the church are burning out and leaving ministry at a rate of 1,500 per month. If that’s what’s occurring at the heart of the church, why would anyone on the fringe want to move in closer?Well, yes and no. Too many, way too many, pastors get into the business looking for something for themselves. The nature of "up front" ministry is such that I expect a high turnover rate. It looks far more attractive a career choice than it actually is. To me one of the key questions is "Why?" Well, let's start with one key phrase in that pull quote, "...some pastors “admitted they promoted growth models that were incongruent with their values...." That kind of cognitive dissonance is going to burn anybody out. Note that they do so for "validation." OOPS! Getting into ministry for validation is just a bad idea. Actually, getting into pretty much anything for validation is a bad idea. People are too self-centered, too egotistical, too sinful to provide any of us with the validation we are looking for.
I’ve just read an article by two Christian counselors about the soul-killing impact of church ministry on leaders. (The statistic above comes from them.) They note that the pressure to grow the church is a significant factor leading to pastoral burn out. And some pastors “admitted they promoted growth models that were incongruent with their values because of a desperate need to validate their pastoral leadership.” It seems too many of us have our identities wrapped up in the measurable outcomes of our work rather than in the life-giving love of the Christ we proclaim. Something’s wrong.
Now, having said all that, the essential point of the Ur post - that there is something very sick in the church using the measures of success we do is dead nuts on.
Consider a chapter titled “Bigger is Better” from a popular ministry book. The authors write, “A church should always be bigger than it was. It should be constantly growing.” Talk about pressure. The problem is this standard doesn’t hold water when applied to Jesus himself. John 6 describes the scene where “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” After teaching some weird stuff about drinking his blood and eating his flesh, the crowds who were drawn by Jesus’ miracles decided they had had enough. Did Jesus’ shrinking ministry mean he was an ineffective leader? Why do we hold ourselves to a standard that Jesus’ doesn’t apply to himself?That is something I agree with wholeheartedly - All I am saying here is that pastoral burnout is not necessarily a symptom of that particular disease. We are dealing with two separate but related problems here. The problems are related in that the only way to really turn this around is with genuine, called leadership. Leadership that seeks not to be validated, but to serve God. Leadership that actually leads as opposes to follows the latest trend. Leadership that shapes the desires of its congregations, not caters to them.
The key to this, I believe, is to change what constitutes leadership in the church. Leadership does not come by virtue of position, or education, though those things help. We need to look less to corporate models of leadership and more to I Timothy - though I think they are more similar than we might suspect.
Most of all the church needs to MAKE leaders, not find them. Our job does not stop when people are saved. Why did Jesus have disciples? Who were the twelve, but those people that Jesus spent most of His earthly ministry making into leaders for His church? We focus all our energy on "growing the church" when it should be on "building disciples," who in turn build disciples, who in turn....
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