There’s no verse about burn-out here, because burn-out is not mentioned in the Bible. Yet, the number one reason for pastors leaving the church today is burn-out. Great men of God have been burned alive for their faith but I don’t recall any mention of burning-out for their faith. Burn-out, or any word describing it, is not in the Bible. Not historically speaking either, that I know of. No great man of God who did great things for God ever went down in history as the guy who burned-out. Following the one true God with all your heart and burning-out in the process is impossible. In fact, we’re called to not burn-out.
Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
You faint when only you’re trying hard. I get the most ridiculous advice from people who should know better. I’ve been told, in such a way that implies that to be obedient to God, I needed to go on a sabbatical. Religious words don’t impress me. Sabbath Rest means to go to church, keeping the Sabbath Holy. It is Holy because our rest is in Jesus. It doesn’t mean sleeping all day or binge watching Netflix from your couch in your underwear all day. Missionaries use sabbaticals to go to the states to raise money. I understand needing to raise money, but who needs to take a break from ministering? You need a break from work, but ministry isn’t work. It’s an expression of love. Why do you need a year break from helping the people who follow you as you follow Jesus? If you love them truly, it wouldn’t even occur to you. I remember the sabbath and keep it Holy by the rest I have in Jesus. I remember the sabbath and keep it Holy by ministering to others or catching up on the 20 hours a week of government paperwork required to even be here.
Mark 2:27-28 And he (Jesus) said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
People also say I need to go on vacations, take days off, travel for leisure, even retire. Why do people love to give unsolicited advice? I don’t tell them not to go on vacation or take time off. To each their own. Because they burn-out doesn’t mean I have to. To me, ministry is invigorating. I am in love with Jesus. My reply is always the same to these well meaning advisers, ‘show me that in the Bible’. If God shows me to do stuff like that I will… but He hasn’t yet, and I have zero desire to. God only shows me, with all the tenderness in the world, that time’s running out, both for me physically and for the world. Most of the people I know and love are going to hell. That absolutely terrifies me and breaks my heart. I am sometimes the only saved person they know. I feel God has made me their watchman. I feel personally responsible to do as much as I can.
Ezekiel 33:6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
We work with children being abused and sold into prostitution or muling for cartels. We work with hungry children who are sick and injured. One little girl who broke her arm a month ago needed the cast removed. I had told her when she broke her arm last month, ‘let me know if you need anything’. Well, she came to me and asked for money to remove the cast. I said ‘I don’t have it’ which was the truth. Before I could go on she broke into tears and said ‘but Pastor Dean, you said to let me know if I needed anything!!’
Guess where I went the instant I had money?? Haha. She’s happy now.
People need to eat every day and be seen medically. The needs are always there. There is a difference between working and waiting (as a waiter). I am just a waiter. And I love what I am serving, and I love the people I serve.
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Nope. No mention of burn-out here. Waiting isn’t work, but it requires being alert. Great waiters pay attention, (the Bible word for Hearken). Standing at attention, waiting for the next move. Doing everything FROM God, not FOR God. Listening and watching diligently.
In the army we would stand at attention all day. Someone always fainted. Waiting, like standing at attention, isn’t work, but it does require intentional focused effort. The difference between waiting on the Lord and standing at attention in the Army is that when you are waiting on the Lord, and His people, you are in eager anticipation when doing it for the Lord or His people. God shows me that while waiting for His return, to be even busier serving others, not slowing down. God showed me this year to progress in my faith, and persist in it. To expand and push forward Million Friends for the glory of God. To help more people, not less. Nowhere in the Bible has God told us to regress, but to press on, no matter what common sense, friends or the media tells us.
Exodus 34:24 …enlarge your borders;
I made friends with a missionary. He seemed to have it all. Huge donor base. Beautiful house. Expensive car. Fancy clothes. I asked him what he did, what his mission was? He said with a laugh that his mission was to do as little as possible. Other missionaries heard it and applauded him for his ‘spirituality’. He was gone in less than a month later. Not that I am judging but I still don’t know who his sponsors were or what they thought he was doing. I am pretty sure sending churches would never lay their hands on a missionary to send him out to do as little as possible in order to avoid burning out.
Burnout is commonly described as an exhausted state in which a person loses interest in a particular activity. Not very Good News for people suffering from malnutrition, hurt, or lost. You don’t have to try to ‘avoid burn-out’. Just quit the stuff that is burning you out and you won’t burn out. That easy. Sin and disobedience cause burn out.
Stop sinning. Stop lying. Stop shortcuts. Spend more time in the Word and prayer. Spend time alone with the Lord without even praise music or Bible reading, doing nothing but ‘Practicing God’s presence’. Serve FROM Him not FOR Him. He doesn’t NEED you, you know that right?
One take away. Be interested in others, seek to help them, get involved in others’ lives and you won’t have the time to throw a ‘poor little old me party’. Self pity is pride, and is the root cause of burnout. No mention of burn-out here in the following verses, from the guy that has the most excuses in the world to be burned out. If you burn-out you’re doing it wrong. Be like Paul. Don’t burn-out.
Romans 15:1-7 We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.