Burn Out or Rust Out?

Either way you are still out!

It has been a long time since I heard anyone speak on the topic of Christian workers becoming burnt out. There was a time when the issue was only discussed negatively, brow beating those feeling pressured to ’shape up or ship out’. I once heard the phrase used, “I would rather burn out than rust out”. This mindset ignores the fact that either way you are out and of no use to yourself, others or God.

However, even when most are conscious of the western (capitalist) culture distinctives of being time-poor, having to work extra long hours to make ends meet etc, little is said from the pulpit on burn out. The corporate environment has focused on work-life balance and for large companies seeking to expand their workforce, advantages of flexible work hours, working from home and part time opportunities are touted as benefits to assist in reducing pressure on employees and helping them maintain a balance between their work and non-work life and responsibilities. There are also claims that having work-life balance measures in place results in improved morale, increased productivity and longer tenure of valuable employees. The companies I have worked for within the IT&T sector in Australia have both had attractive life benefits that made the job more enjoyable. Whilst not the number one priority when looking for a job, it has caused me to pause when considering a job change. When I look for another job, aside from the career and salary benefits I will also weigh up the other intangible benefits. Can I manage my own start and finish times? May I freely work from home when I need to look after my daughter? Can I take flexible time off in lieu of overtime without having to reduce my paid annual leave entitlement? Etc. When it comes to participation in Church activities and ministries though there does not appear to be the same advantages or benefits.

Perhaps this is because offering flexible participation options would be construed as counter productive to the Church leadership. For instance, if part time Children’s Teachers are sought to share responsibility and effort of taking a 1 hour children’s class each week then more qualified people will be needed. Instead of having 1 teacher and 1 helper you now need to find 2 or 3 teachers and 2 or 3 helpers in order to share the work and provide each with relief to protect them from burn out, stress and other problems that arise. The scarcity of workers soon grows exponentially into a large problem that can cripple any church. If more workers are needed, then extra people have to recruit and train them. There are logistical challenges that arise, with the coordination and supply of teaching curriculum, crafts, activities, reward schemes, consistency for the children in teaching styles and discipline and so forth. If the principle of job sharing is applied consistently across other areas, then all of a sudden you have multiple people involved with the sound system, music, adult teaching, youth groups etc. When, as often is the case, only 20% of the congregation is capable of and adequate skilled and qualified to perform these tasks and responsibilities your workforce resources very quickly dissolve and the resulting effect is that while ‘Joe & Mary’ are part time Children’s teachers, they are also part time musicians and part time youth workers thus effectively having to be involved with ministry responsibilities every week anyway. It becomes a counter productive process. People still become exhausted, and when they are looking to reduce some of the pressures in their life, rather than cut back on work hours with their employer and risk reducing their income, they are going to set aside some or all of their Church associated responsibilities.

Pastors and leaders have the in-enviable role of trying to motivate and equip people to become more involved in order to support the growth of the Church numerically and qualitatively. Those already involved feel guilty and pressured about not being involved enough and those that have stopped for a break feel guilty about having broken down or in some cases become angry that they feel they are expected to become involved again to the point of having an emotional or physical breakdown. At what point within a theological economy does the Church and inevitably the leaders, stop to ask the question whether what they are doing is right? If a Church is indeed the work of Christ and the appointed institution responsible for fulfilling the commission of evangelism and discipleship, then would the maxim (cliche) of, what God designs or decrees he enables and equips to come to pass, apply? Alternatively, God wants it to happen so he will provide the means (& the people) to make it happen! I am making some presuppositions about the operation and fulfillment of God’s purpose and design with the Church, however the principle should apply that if God wants a Church to have a Children’s Teaching class then he will ensure qualified, enthusiastic, equipped people are available to teach the class, not to mention some children to attend the class Western Churches have reached an point, which I do not agree with, where certain activities are assumed to be compulsory, without which the Church is incomplete and inadequate and this to their detriment. When will the leaders stop to ask if they are doing right? Is it being overly pragmatic, and therefore insensitive or even sacrilegious to suggest that, for example, if there are not sufficient qualified teachers, then it is not right to have a Children’s class? Unfortunately, the majority of leaders will view themselves and will be viewed by their peers, as failures if they close down an activity for this reason. They return instead to recruitment drives, trying to motivate listeners into becoming more involved.

In a corporate environment, a business will make objective decisions about discontinuing products and services that are not profitable. If money is being lost of producing a certain item, then the logical approach is to review way of improving the process so that money is not lost or failing improvement remove or discontinue the item. I do not advocate that Church should be managed like a business. The Church does not exist to make a profit! It does exist to be profitable in the development of peoples spiritual growth and the evangelism and discipleship of the community. If, due to insufficient qualified workers, this objective is not achieved then there must come a time in the interests of preservation that hard questions must be asked by leaders about whether their efforts could be invested elsewhere. This does not mean that the leadership decision process becomes a cold and dispassionate exercise. There may well be occasions when it is the right thing to press on with a ministry activity in the face of failure. However that situation usually applies when there are sufficient qualified and enthusiastic workers and the activity is not producing any, or very little, visible growth response and the workers are willing and capable of pressing on. When the impact of an activity is compromising the health of the workers then I submit that leaders should reconsider whether that activity is appropriate.