It started with a text message but ended with me reconsidering everything I knew about life and ministry.

It was a surprising text message, but the story surrounding it is all too common. What am I talking about?

Burnout in ministry.

Pause for just a moment and consider how many pastors and leaders you know who have burned themselves out in service for Christ. Maybe you’re that person.

I remember when I was a teenager considering full time ministry. One of the pieces of advice I received was, “If you can do anything else, do that thing.” At the time I didn’t understand it. Ministry seemed like the only logical choice for me. Passionate for Jesus and the Kingdom of God on earth, why would I want to do anything else? Everything else seemed like a waste of time.

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I never thought I was insecure. Until I realized I was human.

But if you want to lead, you can’t stay there. You need to overcome insecurity. Fight it to the death. Be prepared to attack when it rears its ugly head. I’m not being dramatic. If you want to lead, insecurity must die.

Consider the best leader in your life. What made them so effective? Why did you love them? It probably had something to do with how they empowered you to be your best. Not that their coaching and feedback was always easy and stroked your ego, but it was what you needed. And it was delivered in a way that moved you forward, rather than holding you back.

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Remember the feeling when you were called into ministry?

The dreams and visions of reaching the nations and making a difference in the world? Maybe you were at an altar somewhere, crying your eyes out with your friends. “Here I am, send me!”

Something happens between those young moments of emotion to years down the road of working in the local church. Maybe expectations are off. But those dreams of lives changed and preaching the Gospel get overwhelmed by empty events, administrative tasks, & service planning meetings.

Have we lost our focus?

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Just because you’re a leader doesn’t mean you have this. It doesn’t just come with the title.

It also doesn’t just show up because you’re busy. It’s an intentional choice to become this kind of leader.

What kind of a leader, might you ask? An influencing leader.

Have you ever been frustrated in your leadership? Like you wish your team would just “get it”? You’ve seen other great teams and wish yours would get the memo?

If you’re not modeling what you want to see happen, there won’t be congruency in your team.

• If you want a worshiping team, lead the way in intimate, give-it-your-all worship.
• If you want a prepared team, be the leader who is more prepared than anyone else.
• If you want a more creative team, challenge yourself to more personal creative exploration.

Because it comes down to influence. You want to be the kind of person who influences. A great leader will influence their team to prime effectiveness. But not every leader is an influencer. Some leaders actually drive people the other direction because of their distance, lack of personality, terrible communication, or not caring enough.

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Don’t go through the motions. Don’t just wear the mask. Be authentic. Be real.”

We’ve heard all of these axioms, haven’t we? We know worship is a lifestyle and we need to live it before we sing it. These things are easy to preach, fun to write articles about.

It’s easy to toss these statements around to your team. Why? Because you’re a leader. You have to have something to say. You need to lead, have a plan, be in charge.

But many of us are sleepwalking leaders. Our eyes are open but we’re far from awake.

This might not be want you wanted to hear today. What I want to challenge you with isn’t easy. It’s time to step into the fullness of God this year. That’s what I’m doing. What about you?

It’s time to live a faith that costs you. Enough talking. More doing.

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