After all we are men and women of faith, power, and action! RIGHT?

“The spiritual shepherds of the faithful, are not supposed to burn out. Ministry leaders, the CEO’s in charge of efficient organizations, are not allowed to feel low. Christians, especially Christian leaders, must never be depressed.” Subodh S Lal.

There are articles pointing to this growing problem among the faith-based leaders – New York Times – “Evidence Grows of Problem of Clergy Burnout”, or Paul Tripp’s Gospel Coalition blog post, “Depression and The Ministry.” Thomas Rainer’s Pastor’s Today Blog reports the rate of depression among ministers is growing at a higher rate than the general population.

SO THAT WE ARE CLEAR the ministry is not collapsing in total today.  There is a growing concern that is worthy of dialogue and understanding causes. Here is are some of my thoughts as to cause:

• Spiritual Warfare – we are in a battle, our spiritual enemy does not want us to succeed as effective servants making a difference for the cross. If ministers are to be damaged from his perspective – so be it!
• Unrealistic Expectations – My doctoral research discovered that the average church member today expects their leader to simultaneously manage up to seventeen tasks. This is NOT REAL!
• Sabbath Breaking – A day of rest does not include cutting grass, painting homes, washing vehicles, and power shopping at the mall. It means totally disconnecting from all digital noise and actually RESTING!
• Comparing Ourselves Among Ourselves – There will always be someone better and bigger. Avoid this debilitating mind game.
• Critics Platform – “In the day when ministers used to……” Don’t you love people who believe they are doing God’s work by tearing you down? The critic never offers positive regard for you or your family. NEVER!

This graph shows how a cycle of depression starts. Take notice of the last step before the cycle goes around another time – “Depressive thinking styles.” Albert Einstein stated that you cannot change your circumstances with the same thinking that created it. At some point you MUST get outside of your knowing to allow another person with a fresh perspective to step into your life.

In my next blog post I am going to address some ways to consider on combating depression in the ministry. Let’s start a dialogue on this topic. What trends do you see? I will go first – respond below. Looking froward to the next blog post!

In the first of three articles in this series, we considered the development of mega churches as a result of shifting from a utilitarian function of moving people to a destination beyond themselves to churches functioning more as the destination. The second article focused upon the churches that were attempting to win the “cool factor” of relevance and how that backfires when you make yourself the destination and not the vehicle to take you to a destination.

This article will focus upon the perception of stability. The cruise industry factors the cost per berth in relationship to the number of passengers it can hold. For example the Seabourn Quest with only 450 passengers costs $540,000 per berth. The world’s largest ship, The Allure of the Seas carries ten times that of the Seabourn Quest at a cost per berth that is less than half. The conclusion for this industry is – “BIGGER IS BETTER!”However these vessels are not as nimble in certain sea conditions and cannot react to market changes as fast as smaller vessels. The size of a vessel is quite efficient as long as the market conditions support that size. They trade efficiency for flexibility.

Consider the church world for similar trade offs. In 2005 when Christmas Day was on a Sunday, one mega church admitted that having a service on this Sunday was not a good use of resources. It takes 90 staff and 700 volunteers to equip a service and then factor in the cost of lightening and heat – the conclusion was it is better to cancel this service due to anticipated smaller crowds. What would happen if one generation decided they want to live in the city and not the suburbs? What if one generation spends its resources on technology over vehicles – how will you overcome the barrier of 30 minute drive-times to get to the suburbs? Does multi-cite campuses with live streaming feed from the main campus solve the issue of efficiency and flexibility?

Large churches and multi-cite campuses all suffer from the same dangerous potential – The Lead Pastor! What if the captains name is Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia. What about the recent forced resignation of Mars Hill with its multi-cite campuses? The lead pastor was accused of belligerent leadership and abuse of power. The one glaring issue that “BIG-NESS” over looks is that leadership failure is exacerbated because of the size! The dangerous blind spot is that the larger the operation the more we tend to see it as a “kingdom in and of itself” as opposed nothing more than a vehicle to take us to a destination.

So that I am not misunderstood and so that I will not receive a flood of “hate-mail” from long-time friends allow me to make a few closing remarks. Mega-churches are not going anywhere. They are going to be part of the religious landscape for years to come as the Lord tarries. However, it is not wise to assume that bigger is necessarily better. There are trade-offs and inherent dangers associated with being big. Do not become naive! At the same time allow me to state that smallness is not the zenith of holiness and righteousness. Small churches wrestle with limiting beliefs that prohibits growth and stunts dreams. In either case large or small the church is not the destination, the Cross is! Transformed lives can transform cities before the sounding of the last trumpet of God.

In the first article we examined how that church and the travel industry served a utilitarian function. Utilitarian function gave way to jet airlines and churches became destinations than vehicles. This has led to methodologies of attraction of irreligious consumers that require bigger and bigger everything. The mega-church began and is here to stay. Consider this statistic, in 1970 only 500,000 people took a cruise and there were only ten mega-churches. In 2010 there were 14 million passengers on cruise ships and there were 1500 meg-church options.

If statistical comparisons helps to see the trajectory of the cruise industry and the church, then what are some of the inherent flaws that get overlooked?. Cruise ships today are designed with unbelievable amenities, such as roller0coasters, water theme parks, golf courses, tree-lined boulevards within the ship, and so forth. There are so many amenities within the ship you literally can stay inside for days and never see the main attraction on being on the ship in the first place – THE SEA!

The church can learn something from this delusion: Relevance backfires when it overlooks your uniqueness. Not every church has succumbed to this temptation. Some churches feel the accolades of relevance too affirming and the pressure to fill thousands of seats every weekend too demanding. The allure to relevance is that many of the sacred icons of the faith are replaced. Crosses, pews, hymns, and even liturgies give way to auditoriums, bands, and coffee houses. Is it possible that an attender can become so enthralled by the experience that we forget scriptural purposes? Barna research has pointed out that the primary reason that millennial’s (30 years of age and under) want to come to church is so they can get closer to God and learn more about Him. Imagine that! Perhaps all of the digital glitz and bling may be a hinderance to those we are attempting to influence.

Let us accept an important truth: No matter how much money, effort and innovation that churches possess, they will never be as cool as the culture. Relevance is a race the church cannot win! Our passion to compete with culture is costing us to loose sight of the only thing of value the church can offer the world – JESSU CHRIST! Take up your cross and follow Christ is still an appropriate challenge to all who come to faith in Christ.

Prior to the 1960’s most American churches were small and provided a very utilitarian function. The church would transport people into communion with God by providing basic necessities for living a Christian life. However, by the late 60’s and 70’s, the Baby Boomer culture had grown up and many had stopped going to church all together. The culture of our country had changed. Secular values, youth culture, and entertainment had taken root in the fabric of our nation and the church could no longer compete. Churches that were built for utility struggled. However, there were some pastors that began to ‘tinker” with the way we have done church up to that point, attempting a “new purpose” for the church.

Allow me to digress and take a snapshot of another industry in this same time period. At one point in American history New York harbor was bustling with activity as ocean-going vessels brought immigrants to America. These ships that transported people served a utilitarian purpose that simply moved people from point A to B – that is why they were called “liners.”

The glory days of ocean liners began to fade in the late 1950’s when the first jetliner traveled in six hours what took ocean vessels six days to travel. Many of the great vessels of the day were being harbored and sold for scrap. People begin to declare this industry to be over. They were severely wrong! Many of the ship owners began to “tinker” with the way this industry had conducted itself up to this point in history.

New ships emerged and now transported people on a “wondering journey” to exotic ports-of-call. A new mindset was established that we are moving from point A to B, rather we are now on an exotic journey wondering the oceans of the world – vacation travel was being born. New innovative ships were being built. The Titanic was the “Oasis of The Seas” in its day.

Like cruise ship owners looking for new markets to explore, “pastorpreneurs” found that people would attend church in a post-Christian culture if it appealed to their “felt-needs.” Instead of seeing the church as a means to an end – the church was now the end itself. If the culture was no longer interested in connecting with God, then perhaps we can get them to connect with their inner-self and desires. Churches began to connect along the lines of building community, kids, marriage retreats/programs, or even Christian entertainment. Perhaps this approach would draw people back to the pew? The result seems to be high-energy music venues, drama, and therapeutic sermons in a hope that people will find God. Here is the million dollar question; “If the church begins with the attendee’s desires in mind, is the church acting just like the early American cruise ship owners who want to take people on an adventure?” If this is true then are we connecting people to God or connecting them to “our ministry”

This realigning of the church has triggered massive growth in the size of congregations. Logic seems to dictate that larger churches, like larger cruise ships, can offer more choices to address needs and desires. Church growth went from a by-word to the missional purpose of the church. What we are watching in the church world was unimaginable only a few years ago. Think about it – gymnasiums, health clubs, production studios, coffee shops, bookstores and more have all radically reshaped our understanding of ministry. Mega churches have flourished in this new religious environment.

Today, it is reported that half of all churchgoers attend the largest 10% of churches. What we seem to overlook is on average 50 churches per week are closing their doors. The church as a destination model has not advanced the church in America, it has consolidated it.

In the next installment of this series, I will examine how relevance can backfire when it overshadows the church uniqueness. LEAVE a comment and begin a dialogue. I will respond to every comment.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated once the only things that can grow are the things we give attention to. Real life is lived in the present moment. While it is necessary to plan ahead with visionary thoughts and dreams, truly the only thing that can be impacted is the present moment of life. We can either create and live life by design or accept life by default! God’s gift to us is more talent than you can use in a lifetime. your gift to God is to use as much of that talent in your lifetime.

4 Steps To Make Time Where There Is No Time 

1. Take Inventory of Your Time.  Create a tracking worksheet to capture everything you are doing. You will discover more time to work with by knowing how to make adjustments.
2. Get Creative. Where in your schedule are the auto-pilot activities? These are the activities that do not require serious conscious awareness in order to perform them (shopping, standing in lines, travel time, etc). You will discover there is at least 45-60 minutes of everyday that you are doing auto-pilot activities. Start listening to good podcasts, training materials, audio books and perhaps turn your car into a mobile university of learning.
3. Exercise The Law of Priority. This is one of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell that states, activity is not progress or accomplishment. Recognize that faith, family and career come before hobbies, Facebook, and television. Do what is required and not so much of what is desired! GET CLARITY! What gives the greatest return and brings the greatest reward?
4. Exercise The Law of Sacrifice. This also is another John Maxwell law that recognizes leaders must give to go up! Sacrifice is a constant in leadership. It is an ongoing process and not a one time payment. There is no success without sacrifice. Many people think that leadership brings freedom and that the perks, power, and prestige are the trophies at the top. The reality is that leadership requires sacrifice – no matter the profession!

I would love to hear your suggestions on how to make time when there is not enough of it . Leave a comment below and I will respond to you.