Poured Out, Not Burned Out: A Pastor's Perspective
The same actions yield different results when we consider the source.
I had mentioned in a previous sermon that I want our congregation to be poured out but not burned out. This statement came toward the beginning of a sermon, more of an in-the-moment line than the theme.
A kind reader here asked me to consider going a little further down that path, and I’d be glad to. What follows is not a clinician’s advice, but a pastor’s.
I have friends who have dedicated their lives to pointing people to Jesus in the most difficult and least-reached places in the world. The work is exhausting and often thankless. Years of your life given and perhaps not one conversion. If anything, you’re taken advantage of and mistreated far more than you’re esteemed.
Poured out.
I have other friends who have started a business to serve great coffee and minister and employ internationals here in the States. Competition can get fierce, payroll isn’t always easy to hit, and some years are decidedly better than others, but the store is still open and hearts are fuller than the coffee cups.
Poured out.
And I have you, reader, who is reading or listening to this article with whatever spare moments you have. Soon you’ll go back to whatever your “real job” is.
How will you be when you get back to work?
People use the phrase “burnout” regularly. Even in my own home several months ago Courtney said, “Maybe I’m just burned out.” Those words haven’t been said in our house until that time. Upon further reflection, Courtney redirected to “No, I was probably just depressed.” If you’ve journeyed with us at all, then you know what she’s talking about.
However, “burnout” stands out to me as an interesting phrase. It appears to have replaced many other words we would have more regularly used: exhausted, upset, anxious, bored at work, indifferent, overworked, a little bugged, and many more. If someone comes to me and says they are burned out, I get nervous because that could mean so many different things and the responses can get serious real quick.
For your consideration, I would posit this:
Burnout, while a real experience, is often a symptom of an underlying problem of self-reliance.
Defining Burnout
You cannot define burnout in the Bible, so for the theobros, I’m sorry, you’ll have to go elsewhere.
A definition you can work from is put out by the World Health Organization:
Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. It is characterised by three dimensions: 1) feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; 2) increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job; and 3) a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment. Burn-out refers specifically to phenomena in the occupational context and should not be applied to describe experiences in other areas of life.
If this is burnout, then many of us are burned out.
Who doesn’t have workplace stress? Anyone from the c-suite to the checkout aisle to moms homeschooling their sons and daughters has workplace stress.
Who struggles to appropriately manage that stress? Many of us. I’ve coached middle managers, business owners, company founders, VPs, and people in between jobs. All of them have struggled to one degree or another with self-discipline, healthy habits, and managing their relationships.
Who feels exhausted? In a given 30-day span, probably all of us?
Who feels mental distance from their job or cynicism related to it? I work at a church. You know how many Sundays I wake up and think, “Not sure I want to do it today”? I won’t tell you because I want to stay employed.
Who feels ineffective and unaccomplished in their roles? Also almost anyone I know.
This definition, while relatable, is broad enough to fit numerous situations and emotions into, making it decidedly less helpful for actually addressing any deeper issues.
My friend, who has counseled many people, defines it playfully like this (I’ve slightly modified):
Burnout is when you feel like you hate even people you love.
Funny, and probably somewhat true, but it still doesn’t address what’s going on underneath.
Burnout: Not Fully Biblical
I don’t find burnout to be a biblically helpful idea—though it can be culturally helpful to try and begin to locate other emotions.
Still, I think Scripture gives us better words and better illustrations for these ideas.
Elijah: Fear and Exhaustion
Exhaustion certainly exists. Probably one of the clearest images is Elijah after battling the prophets of Baal and having them get struck down (1 Kgs 18). There’s a threat to Elijah’s life and he flees in fear. We pick up here:
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. (1 Kings 19:4-6)
What we get to see here is a man who, after giving his all, feels threatened and ready to be done living. The response? Elijah takes a nap, God provides him warm bread and water, and then he gets another nap (followed by more food). Elijah isn’t done feeling sorry for himself, but God reminds him of who he is during this entire ordeal.
How many of us would benefit from a nap and a good meal instead of doomscrolling?
Jesus: Troubled in Gethsemane
Before his death, Jesus—who only did what he was 100% supposed to—was troubled.
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” (Matthew 26:36-38)
The disciples don’t remain. They fall asleep. Every time. What does Jesus want in this moment? His closest friends with him, praying.
How many of us would benefit from a few good friends staying awake with and praying for us while we’re overwhelmed and sorrowful?
Galatians: Deeds of the Flesh
A passage that makes me uncomfortable to read in light of the symptoms of burnout comes from Galatians, highlighting the differences of life in the flesh or by the Spirit.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. (Galatians 5:19-21a)
Now I don’t think every one of these words aligns with what we’re discussing, but several stand out: enmity (I hate my boss), strife (why is my co-worker being so difficult), jealousy (why did they get the promotion), fits of anger (how dare you talk to me that way), dissensions (office politics), drunkenness (how you cope with it all), and the lovable “and things like these.”
How many of us would benefit from looking at what is causing the burnout internally instead of pushing it to our circumstances?
Poured Out: A Better Way
When I say “poured out not burned out” I mean living one’s life by God’s Spirit and not by one’s own strength. Both Paul and Jesus demonstrate this idea.
Afflicted and Poured Out
I think often of the laundry list of affliction Paul experienced. Our culture struggles to navigate this language and apply it. Why? We might feel like such a life isn’t “wise” enough.
24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:24-28)
I love the casual, “Not only am I going to be drowned and/or maybe murdered, but I worry about you churches all the time.”
What type of life is that? A life worth living. Listen to how he finishes what is likely his final letter.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
Paul was satisfied because he knew the source: Jesus.
Abiding
Jesus teaches his followers the right way to live a fruitful life—and it isn’t circumstantial; it’s him.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
“Nothing,” huh?
That’s comprehensive.
Maybe “burned out” is actually a codeword for “withered.”
I’d love to hear how you’ve learned to stay poured out instead of burned out. Reply below or reply back to let me know. And if you need help, let me know. I love helping leaders, in particular, get healthy.
In the meantime, consider a song that our family has on repeat:
The sermon: