Why People Burn Out On Ministry

    I was looking today for a way to become fully ordained outside of making payments to an organization. I have worked in church for the last five years as a lay minister or assistant pastor. I ran across this website for burned out Pastors and started reading these sad stories. Wow. I think that many of us have gotten ministry confused with the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not the kingdom of men. Many ministries are just part of the machine that builds the kingdoms of men. This is what sucks the life out of the pastor and congregation. God’s kingdom is not a place here on earth. It is a place in men’s hearts where God has set up His throne and is made Lord over our lives.

    Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”   The Kingdom is within our reach all of the time.  Also, we can see from scripture that the Kingdom is demonstrated in power, “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:7-8 Therefore, God’s Kingdom is mobile and transferable.

The problem here is that our eyes come off of doing the above and the focus shifts to building projects, raising money, programs, advertising instead of protecting the presence of God in our lives. We stop seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness first. We get careless with our salvation because now we stop being concerned about our standards and allowing things to slip by us by making small compromises in our faith.  Holiness gets thrown to the wayside as we focus more on service, recognition and position in church.  Our passion to be right with God gets diminished in light of people’s admiration of our gifts and talents.  The next thing we know, our Christian example has become a mockery before the world. This should not be.

     The ministry is not really the problem it is our heart. More specifically the attitudes and motives of our hearts that have been polluted by our need to be recognized and admired. The gospel message becomes laced with covetousness and greed.  It is our ill financial planning that causes many ministers to start to manipulate people from the pulpit. The next thing you know you are threatening people by telling them that God will curse them if they do not give. This is legalism and extortion my friends. Especially if you feel like you are entitled to indulge yourself on the hard earned money of God's people. We are not entitled to anything! You will not find anywhere in Jesus ministry where he demanded a salary from his followers.  On the other hand if you have the means and are withholding  money from God's harvesters then you will have to explain why you built bigger barns instead of sending people into the harvest fields of souls. Jesus was not hung up on titles. He made his life and ministry about serving others. He went about setting people free, healing them and forgiving them.  He did not sit at an office taking calls. He demonstrated the kingdom and lived his life as an example.

     "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken"; "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame." Hebrews 12:1-2 If you have found any of the above wrong attitudes and motives in your heart I encourage to repent and come back to the true ministry of Christ. If you are under a ministry that is has lost its way I encourage you to build His Kingdom instead of building men's kingdoms. May the Lord guide you by the Spirit of Truth and help you find the true ministry of Christ. 

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Jaziz Gutierrez
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