Self-Care and Sacrificial Faith in Ministry

As the full-time worker in a very small church plant it's pretty easy to be overwhelmed with work and face the risk of burnout or breakdown. When I first started in ministry, there was something of an attitude of "better to burnout than rust away," but actually (perhaps because there were too many burnouts) that pretty quickly flipped to there being a greater focus on self-care.

While the burnout vs. rust away picture is pretty obviously a false dichotomy, it sounds the warning against a life that risks nothing and gives nothing for the work of the Lord. Actually, I think in the UK, it is a really helpful warning against lacking the willingness to sacrifice in our service of the Lord Jesus. We believe in a Saviour who gave himself for us on the cross (Galatians 2:20) and described his purpose as giving "his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Anyone who wants to be his disciple must "take up his cross and follow [him]" (Mark 8:34) and we see that kind of commitment in the apostle Paul and in other believers in the New Testament (2 Corinthians 4:7-12; 11:23-28; Philippians 2:25-30). I don't think it takes a genius to look at the UK church scene and think we need a bit more self-sacrifice!

The issue, of course, is that burning out is usually just a big mistake rather than self-sacrifice. We too easily get caught in the work patterns of the world and take on responsibilities that aren't really ours (often we try to take on Jesus' role). I think the reason for the flip towards self-care was that many in ministry had sacrificed, but were then wasting the sacrifice by foolishly burning out. In the vast majority of cases, we can be most effective over a long term, well-managed ministry and we shouldn't be ignoring God's intentions for patterns of rest (for example, whatever you think of Sabbath, it would suggest that rest is part of our pattern, even in ministry!). This is still sacrificial!

I hope that captures why this is a false dichotomy.

However, the focus on self-care does, to me, raise some worries. You might have heard the illustration from the airline industry when you're told in the event of an emergency to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting anyone else. Thus, the logic goes, you need to look after yourself before you're in a place to do ministry.

I think there's some truth to this and there are things to be learned. We do need to be really careful that we're not undermining our ministry by overworking. Tiredness, stress and ill-health don't usually improve our ministry, so when they're avoidable, we need to think carefully about what we're doing. It can also be valuable to learn about practices that improve our health etc. to make us more effective. This seems to be wisdom to me. For example, as I get older, I'm a little more focused on the exercise I do and the sleep I get, because I understand how that will affect my health, my concentration and my mind and I want to make the most of what God has given me.

The risks that come with self-care come with the "self" bit. I'm not in ministry to make sure I'm doing great (in fact that not my goal as a Christian)! I'm actually not the focus. We know that of course. My focus is serving God, his people and sharing his good news with the world and that will at times be costly, tiring and not particularly good for me. In that light, it's hard to see Jesus or Paul getting overly wrapped up in self-care. In short, self-care and self-sacrifice are uncomfortable bedfellows.

I wonder if the over-riding issue is that we've allowed ourselves to become a kind of spiritual parody of the world. We see a world where people seem to be trapped between the obsessive need for success and wealth leading to a culture of driveness in work and the collapse of physical and mental health that this often leads to, especially when success isn't forthcoming. Then we've seen the rise of a therapeutic culture to deal with the mess we've made.

Often what we most need to learn from the world is that it's not a good example to follow!

Much of the way of managing the heavy workload and responsibility of church-planting and any kind of church ministry is to seek a more biblical way. We need to be biblical in our understanding of work and rest. We need to be biblical in our understanding of our role and God's. We need to be secure in God's grace and our eternity. We need to be clear of our biblical purpose and how we achieve that biblically. For a Christian, all these things are biblically defined, not defined by our culture and context, but all too often we let our culture define them for us, even if subconsciously.

My challenge to myself is to keep reflecting on what the Bible is telling me about how to faithfully live out my role as a gospel minister and a Christian with the demands that puts upon me in a way that honours God. I increasingly want to be cautious about the influence of the culture I live in on me - especially as that culture doesn't seem to be doing brilliantly!