How To Burnout In 5 Easy Steps

Staying strong is overrated. All this talk about avoiding the wall? Hooey. You were born to burnout. You were meant for serving weak. Want a quick way to burnout in ministry leadership? Here are 5 easy steps:

1. Seek Unforgiveness. Someone hurt you lately? Cool. Here's what you do: Hold a grudge. That's right. Don't give in to the temptation to be the weaker one. Keep steady. Better yet, give them the silent treatment. Yeah! It will teach them a lesson and you'll be well on your way to burning out.
2. Pursue Passionlessness. Ask yourself this question: "What ministry fuels my passion?" Got your answer? Good. Now do something (anything) that is the opposite of your answer. Do the thing that is a total drag for you. Give it your all. Seek the boredom. Revel in the difficulty. It will annoy those around you and you'll be well on your way to burning out.
3. Engage In Prayerlessness. Got prayer concerns? Want to touch the heart of God? Want to seek and sense His will for your life? Forget it. You're looking to burnout, right? Good. Then cut ALL prayer from your routine. Don't pray in the morning. Don't pray when you're stressed or sad. And don't pray when things are going well. Think of the time you'll save.  It will grieve the Holy Spirit and you'll be well on your way to burning out.
4. Be An Impostor. Are you introverted by nature? Be extroverted. Are you methodical? Be spontaneous. Are you a people person? Then be a recluse. You have to understand that being yourself is simply going to keep you from burning out. So don't be yourself. Better yet, try to be just like someone else. It will irritate your loved ones and you'll be well on your way to burning out.
5. Over-identify. In your work with others, you will feel their pain. This is good. Dwell on it. Identify it so deeply that you begin to feel responsible for it. This will give you ownership of their pain, as though you were the cause. You will sink in the quicksand of their misery. You won't be able to help them because you'll be so depressed yourself. This will help others become co-dependent and you'll be well on your way to burning out.

So you see, if you are interested in burning out, it's quite simple really. Just follow these 5 easy steps and we'll see you in rehab!

photo credit

Question: Can you think of more than 5 steps to add to the list?

Comments

[Joel Sarrault]

6. Nurture a martyr personality. This will help you feel sorry for yourself.
Once that is in place you can really make your ministry "all about you"
and every arrow, barb, misstatement, wrong look or nuanced sentence will
hurt you and cause you to spiral downward at warp speed.

7. Don't get any exercise other than running in 16 different directions trying to
please everyone. When the Dr. says try anti-depresents along with some good
counseling convince yourself that you are "not that sick" and dry-clean your
Superman costume and go out there and fake it some more!

8. Read nothing other than the few goofy websites you waste your office time on.
You may buy dozens of new books about every thing from the early church fathers
to the latest trendy church fad but do not read them. Don't go to any
conferences or workshops that might challenge you and cause growth.
And actually since you're no longer reading words just stick with websites
and other materials with "pictures"...yeah that'll really feed you.

Been there, done that, gotten much healthier.

[Vern Sanders]

9. Control Everything. No matter how small, make sure everything crosses your desk before it can happen (or not happen). When interacting with fellow staff, let them know that the final decision is yours, and that you don't trust them to do anything on their own. When it is time for salary reviews, point out that the staff can't get anything done without your supervision, so that you'll be given more responsibility. When you are asked why the church isn't growing, tell people that you just can't get enough help. Then stock up on ulcer medicine...it'll keep you going...

[Scott Couchenour]

Joel and Vern, you both have added excellent additions to the list. It's apparent that a person could be in danger of burning out trying to burnout :)

I wonder if there is a 10th way so we could round it out to an even number...

[AC]

10. Believe that you can walk on water. Just step out from that pedestal people want to put us pastor's on and walk. What could possibly happen? Just ask Peter.

[Scott Couchenour]

Sweet, AC. Right on. Believe that you are all things to all people. Talk about a sinking plan!

[A. Amos Love]

Scott

Is it possible the reason "Burnout" is such a problem for today's "Pastor/Leader" is
they have found themselves with a "Title" and "Position" NOT found in the Bible?

Did anyone have the “Title” “pastor” in the Bible?
Was anyone ordained a “pastor” in the Bible?
Were any congregations "led" by a “pastor” in the Bible?

And every pastor I’ve met also had the “Title” “Reverend.”

Does anyone have the “Title” Reverend in the Bible?

In my experience...

Titles become Idols.

Heavy weights on men shoulders NOT easy to lay down.

Ezekiel 14:1-7, speaks about "Idols of the Heart,"
and now God will speak to us according to the "Idols of our Heart."

And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold:
them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice;
and there shall be "ONE" fold, and "ONE" shepherd.
John 10:16

One Fold - One Shepherd - One Voice.
If Not Now, When?

Be blessed and be a blessing.

[Scott Couchenour]

Nice angle, A.A.L.

To my knowledge, there is no "Reverend" in the Bible. There are, however, Disciples; Ambassadors.

I believe I can see your point. The issue (regardless of title) is whether a servant of Christ allows his/her position/role to take the place of Christ on the throne. One habit among people who serve strong (aka serve without burning out) is "CENTERING" - the perpetual, habitual, consistent posture of brokenness and dependency on Christ.

[JQuincey]

11. Focus on your own vision. God's vision for His church is only a starting point. You know what the culture says. Little churches need to be big churches and big churches need to be bigger. It's all in the numbers. Focus on what you do not have in order to prep your head for the beating it will take while you smash it against the wall trying to figure out why you only have 30 people in regular attendance. Then try another idea that you come up with and get the same result while ignoring the original vision of God. You'll be well on your way to burnout.

[Scott Couchenour]

JQuincey - "...God's vision for His church is only a starting point..." WOW! Now, THAT'S a great statement (in the context of this "upside down" view of burning out). Self-reliance is a real problem. What a roller-coaster ride it is when things go well, we're up. When things go poorly, we're down.

[EFerguson]

12. Stop reading & meditating on/in God's word. Just read lots of books by others who do. God's not going to say anything different to you that He hasn't said to them. It's a filter. It's osmosis. Works every time...every time you're asking to burnout.

(A Freebie) Secret Sin. Get one. It doesn't have to be anything "big" (addiction to porn, an affair, etc) It can be small, something that doesn't directly hurt anyone. It's like a little personal pet that I'm sure you deserve with all your going through. It's not that big of a deal and heck, it's so small, I'm sure God doesn't really notice or mind. Hold it close, keep it warm and feed it only a little and you'll stay in complete control...right?...is that toast? Is someone burning toast?