Burnout

In both of the churches my wife and I have served in, burnout was common. People volunteering many hours at ministry team meetings, leadership meetings, music practice, Sunday school planning meetings, worship team meetings…meetings, meetings, meetings! At each meeting, one person in the room was paid, the senior pastor, everyone else was volunteering either out of obligation or guilt… or passion, if they were fairly new to the church system.

When people make the valiant effort to brave the front door of a church for the first time, or at least the first time in a long time, they are fawned over like a new baby. It’s only a matter of weeks or months before they will be encouraged to find fulfillment in a specific area of ministry in the church. I’ve watched people move from feeling like a valuable visitor to an undervalued volunteer in record time. You wouldn’t think teaching Sunday school could cause someone to turn away from God, but I’ve seen it happen.

We are called to become servants of all, but can have a tendency to treat each other as slaves. Volunteer service in the church has all the requirements of regular job, and then some. There are application forms, reference checks and character references. There are performance evaluations and staff meetings. There is no pay and appreciation is discretionary and subjective. All for the Kingdom.

I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve heard about “building God’s Kingdom” but as far as I’m concerned, He’s building it! After researching each instance of the word Kingdom in the New Testament, I don’t see where God tells his people to build it. The kingdom isn’t a network of buildings or institutions! The Kingdom is spiritual, with a set of principles to guide us. I just want to live by the principles of His kingdom, many of which the Church is getting wrong or not recognizing all together.

Service does not equal Salvation. We don’t tell new people who come to church that they’re gonna have to start pulling their own weight once they settle in. We expect them to want to,  once they get a revelation of how great it is to serve in the house of the Lord.

I couldn’t count the times I’ve heard this sermon preached: “We’re going further, higher! We’ve just gotta give a little more-ah! Now isn’t the time-ah to back down-ah! Now is the time to pah-ress in-ah!” Notice the added syllables, signifying how important this topic is… You think I’m joking, but listen for it, it’s there.

Meanwhile families are being torn apart, exhausted in their commitments to the church, parents are feeling obligated to give more and more time, more energy and more money, but for what? To gain the respect of the people, of the pastor? Whatever the motivation, be it popularity, fame or the peer pressure to fit in, people will be chewed up and spit out by the institution with an insatiable appetite.

There is no long-term relationship forged by serving like this. I’m not even sure if God honours it. I can’t tell you how many families I watched slip away, torn, tattered and abused by church, when they came looking for rest and a reprieve from the breakneck speed of their lives. During times where families begin to pull away and protect themselves from being sucked dry I’ve watched as they were “counselled” or “advised” by church leadership to back out of other things, such as their kid’s saturday morning soccer league or perhaps work less. One things for sure, you don’t back out on God!

But wait. Who said they were backing out on God? Maybe they simply needed to take a break for a while, and perhaps even leave the church. There is a real danger of burning people out for the sake of “the Lord’s work” and that is, in the end, they blame the Lord for their exhaustion! So not only do they leave the church, but they do end up turning their backs on God. I wonder if this falls under the verse that talks about the millstone…just a thought. A scary thought.

To run our church of around one hundred people, we required a minimum of 20 people to “produce” our service. We needed volunteers for sound, lighting, powerpoint; as well as camera operators, Sunday school workers, ushers and parking attendants. And the cost…wow. At least 80% of the funds we raised were used just to keep the building running and the paid staff paid. But…the money is another issue.

Why does “the Lord” need all this work done anyway? I don’t think He does, but the Church does. It’s kind of like the make work/economic stimulus jobs the government creates in times of recession. There are people who need jobs, so work is found or created to keep them employed. It works the same way in the church, because it is believed that people who are involved stay. People who stay, tithe. Without money, the doors close. But again, that is another issue.

I wonder…wouldn’t people “stay” if they had genuine relationships with each other? What a concept. When you read Matthew 11:28, it’s hard to imagine Jesus talking about how easy it is to live in relationship with him, and experience life stressed out in “His service.”

When we finally stepped away from it all, we realized we had no friends, no relationships of any real value at all. Anyone we’d been close to in the church were directed to avoid us, and we’d lost relationship with any family members and friends outside of the church because of our devotion to the work we were doing.  Something just doesn’t line up. Doesn’t feel like the kingdom of heaven to me.

  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30