Is It Stress or Is It Burnout?

Recognize the signs of ministry burnout and chart a path to health

Writer Anne Jackson points to a plan for healing and change.

In researching my 2009 book, Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic (Zondervan), I heard from thousands of ministry leaders, often anonymously, who reported feeling overwhelmed and fatigued by work.

But that condition makes it impossible for us to love others in the godliest of ways. We intentionally and purposefully need to make a plan for healing and change.

Respected psychologist Dr. Archibald Hart, an expert on stress, anxiety and depression, says burnout is the result of cumulative stress developed over time.

Applying the following five principles will build a strong foundation for making practical decisions in the future:

1) Accept responsibility for your decisions. The effect of the decisions you’ve made over time has led to your current condition. You alone are responsible both for the choices you’ve made in life and for seeking God’s plan for healing.

2) Change your purpose. Even with the best intentions—even when those things are about outreach and ministry—if we aren’t committed to pursuing a loving relationship with our Creator first, we are destined to fail.

3) Chart a plan. Small steps over time can yield a big difference—and God will honor your obedience in ways beyond what you can humanly accomplish.

4) Create boundaries. As ministry leaders we need to look at the entire kingdom picture when we review our to-do lists. Creating boundaries isn’t selfish; it’s vital.

5) Find accountability. If we keep our struggles hidden, we’ll never be completely free of them. Accountable relationships are important for every area of our lives.

Contrary to popular belief, burnout—or even stress—is not just a part of doing ministry. We are in the midst of a crisis that needs our full devotion of mind, body and spirit. Are you fully dependent on God’s strength to be the light He calls you to be?

An author, speaker and transformational activist, Anne Jackson lives with her husband, Chris, in Nashville, Tenn. Her book, Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic (Zondervan) released in February 2009. Her second book, Permission to Speak Freely, releases in fall 2010. Jackson blogs at FlowerDust.net and serves on staff at Cross Point Church.

*Portions adapted from Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic by Anne Jackson (Zondervan 2009). Used with permission.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Outreach magazine ran an in-depth article on this subject in the September/October 2009 issue

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