7 Proven Ways to Kill Your Passion for Ministry
7 Proven Ways to Kill Your Passion for Ministry:
1. Be sure to work 55-60 hours a week with only 2 weeks of vacation a year.
Maintain this schedule for a minimum of 5-7 years consistently for maximize results.
While on vacation, be sure to be thinking about ministry-related stuff.
Also, soak up all the rest and relaxation possible, because back to the rat race when you get home.
2. Take only one full day off of work/ministry a week.
Jam every possible activity within that day, so you can get all your personal stuff done (cut the grass, clean the house, run errands, etc.). After all, you can rest when on vacation.
And if a ministry related phone call or emergency comes up on that day, be sure to say “yes” and take care of it.
3. Work at a church where you can’t financially support your family.
That way, either your spouse has to work to help pay the bills (even though she/he would rather not) OR you suck it up and experience a huge amount of financial pressure.
4. Eat unhealthy food & don’t exercise.
Despite the many health benefits of exercise, ignore those and instead sit in front of a computer 20-30+ hours a week.
Enjoy the many benefits of no exercise & eating unhealthy, including: lack of energy, weight gain, high cholesterol, an overall state of non-well being.
Due to your fast paced lifestyle, be sure to eat fast food a couple of times a week. Nourish your body with a yummy Big Mac, fries, Coke and milkshake.
5. Don’t be involved in any outside interests other than church, family, and/or job.
Be so busy that you don’t have time for other things you enjoy, like painting, playing music, running, biking, etc.
6. Place church activity at the center of your life rather than God.
Spiritualize church activity and replace it at the center of your life. After all, God cares more about “what you do” than “enjoying a relationship with Him”.
7. Minimize how much time you spend nurturing your relationship with God.
Spend most of your personal time in the Bible planning a ministry-related lesson or message.
Ritualize your time with God rather than experiencing God all throughout the day.
Now, let’s talk about ONE THING you can do to keep alive your passion for ministry! Watch the video below (made by me, Nick, the bald guy behind preteenministry.net) where I give you one tip that is guaranteed to keep alive your passion for ministry.
(P.S. – If you don’t see the above video, click here to watch it on YouTube)
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13 Replies to “7 Proven Ways to Kill Your Passion for Ministry”
Marcus Elliott
Great post. Ouch, but good!
ndiliberto
Thanks for the comment Marcus! I’ve been guilty of all seven of these things and it did affect my passion for ministry. But over the past few years have incorporated a lot of changes that have made significant improvements in my ministry/work life and personal life. Been a long journey to get there though!
Jason Craver
Why is it that you know this and are told this but it doesn’t sink in till you do all of them and burn out.
ndiliberto
Jason, oh man, that is sooooo true! Been there, done that! I think we get into ministry and have such a passion to reach students and point them to Jesus. We see the results and get so excited about making a difference in the lives of others. So, we just keep on going ignoring taking care of ourselves. The ugly side of passion is that it will run you into the ground if you let it. Also, we look around us and see everyone else being really busy in ministry, so it becomes the norm. That is, until you burn out! Thanks for the comment 🙂
LaserBees
Seriously? You get a job that requires a private college degree (expensive), then graduate and all the jobs pay 20k-35k. I see blog posts like this regularly, saying you should take such little pay that you can’t provide for your family, but ALL of the student ministry jobs out there only pay so little that you won’t be able to provide for your family. Maybe if you got lucky and your parents were wealthy and they paid for your college, but if you want to pay student loans and want your family taken care of, then either your spouse works and supports your family, or student ministry isn’t the job for you. I hate that it’s that way, but it’s that way.
LaserBees
*shouldn’t
ndiliberto
You are right, the pay isn’t very good for a student ministry pastor and it often requires your spouse to work. I wasn’t saying don’t take a student ministry job if it doesn’t pay well. I was simply acknowledging the pressure that financial decision makes. I know that pressure ALL too well when I was making $35,000/year with a mortgage and three kids under the age of four. My wife couldn’t work because the cost of preschool/childcare was too high. So, I get what that pressure puts on families. I would add this – it is okay to fight for more money in a ministry position, after some time at a church where you prove that you bring tremendous value to the ministry you lead. We often don’t want to rock the boat with this, but I think it is a good idea to ask (and fight for if necessary) a fair salary for the work you do in ministry. I hope that makes sense 🙂
LaserBees
Unfortunately the response you’ll get is that they don’t have it in the budget. But when giving increases they’ll hire more staff or expand the building. I used to think this only happened at churches with unhealthy leadership, but the reality is it’s the good ones too. So even if you’re at a good church with good leadership and good people, you shouldn’t realistically expect a real raise. It doesn’t matter how valuable you are, or how hard you work, or how much success you have in your ministry, simply asking the leadership for a fair salary probably isn’t going to get you anywhere.
Maybe you can show them Group’s salary survey, that might help. Or maybe try to expose them to other churches and leadership that pay their ministers fairly, although I’m not sure how you could go about that in a natural way. I honestly don’t see a realistic solution to this problem. I hate to say it, but at the end of the day ministry is an abusive career, and you can only do it if you have that crazy compulsion to do it despite all the abuse.
ndiliberto
Yes, it is a tough career I agree. And it does come with a lot of sacrifices. I applaud those who have been in ministry for a long time and find a way to thrive 🙂
Angela
I second that, ouch!! Great post. It’s hard to step away and refill myself when there are so many others to pour into. Thanks for thumping me upside the head.
ndiliberto
Glad to do the thumping 🙂
Jodi Fox
Thank you for this post. Seriously – in my prayer time this week God has been pounding these things in my heart! And when God does that it seems to be everywhere – in my life group, in my discussion with pastor, in my bible readings – and this morning this article! Especially this time of year, I feel the stress of ministry. I am getting close to the 5 year mark in ministry and for the first time this summer and fall, I have felt my passion fading to a point that I have been tearfully trying to figure out what God’s plan is for me – really hard stuff. Search me, oh God, and know my heart…..
ndiliberto
Jodi, that is awesome! Sounds totally like a God thing. The benefits of slowing down are amazing…enjoy the journey!
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