For those discipled in the evangelical church, it’s clear that salvation is by faith alone, through the grace of God. However, our discussions around spiritual growth tend to be fairly works-based. To be fair, James 2:17 does say, “…faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” The two are meant to intermingle in perfect harmony. But, it’s a tricky balance to find, which can cause spiritual burnout.
Have you ever been swimming underwater for so long that your lungs start to beg for oxygen? You reach the water’s surface and immediately take a huge gasp of air. It’s nearly impossible to breathe a normal breath at this point until your lungs have recalibrated. There have been times when I felt this way in my faith like I had been swimming underwater for too long and needed a huge gasp of grace, rest, and recalibration after nearly suffocating myself with “works.” In moments like these, “holy busyness” can quickly lead to losing oneself or feeling numb in your faith while you serve the needs of others. (Similar to how many moms can feel like they lose a sense of self as they care for their young children.)
In our culture, performance, and production are highly valued, so our well-intentioned participation in church activities can easily stray into overcommitment and perfectionism. We mean well. We want to do good work for God. But because we have an overdeveloped theology of work and an underdeveloped practice of rest, we quickly ride the thin line between “ministry powerhouse” and “burnt out believer.” So, how do we get spiritually burnt out?
What Causes Spiritual Burnout?
The cause of spiritual burnout is different for everyone. However, those in the Western church likely find themselves in this predicament for similar reasons. Since the Industrial Revolution, much of our American culture has revolved around doing things faster, cheaper, and on a larger scale. We want to find the most efficient way to get from point A to point B and then master the systematized technique so we can replicate the same results over and over. This mindset easily seeped into our mindsets about church growth and discipleship.
Think about it: how many books have tried to set out the perfect framework for spiritual growth? Though frameworks can be helpful, they can also have the opposite effect when they cause us to depersonalize our own relationship with God.
The Spiritually Burnt Out Have Something to Prove
Spiritual burnout is caused when we feel we have something to prove or achieve for the approval of fellow believers, spiritual leaders, or God. When we are not good enough as we are, we work harder to prove ourselves worthy. We overcommit ourselves at church, overextend ourselves in our Bible study and prayer life, and overwhelm ourselves with unrealistic expectations about our spiritual growth. This leads us to minimize or suppress questions or doubts that may come up, and the only time we stop to acknowledge them is when they’ve become too loud to ignore. At this point, believers often feel “in too deep” to be asking silly “seeker” questions. They know what the Bible says, and they’ve studied theology, so they can explain it away…most of the time.
The Spiritually Burnt Out Neglect Their Physical Needs
Because they have overidentified themselves with certain faith outcomes, they often neglect self-care practices in other areas of life. It feels more spiritual to stay up late at a worship night, get up early for a worship rehearsal, rush from event to event with just a granola bar between, or maybe joke that “all I need is a little coffee and a whole lotta Jesus.” They may have more frequent “Elijah moments” when their latest life crisis might be easily rectified with just a nap and a snack.
The Spiritually Burnt Out Feel Trapped by Shame
In the beginning stages of burnout, some personalities may feel the need to “power through” in spiritual disciplines even if they aren’t getting anything out of them or feel like God has recently been silent. Other personalities may more quickly abandon spiritual disciplines due to a fear of failure or an internal sense of defeat. When they haven’t read their Bible in a while, they are reluctant to be honest about the state of their spiritual disciplines. Those who find themselves sending ranty texts about a problem before they think to pray about it tend to feel shame and reluctance to admit they didn’t go to Jesus first. They may even doubt He would listen or care. Worse yet, they feel the pressure to overcome doubts of sin struggles alone since they’ve built a “mature Christian” image and don’t want to be seen as a backslider. If they haven’t swung to the other extreme and become addicted to the high of “spiritual trauma dumping,” they may feel trapped by the image they’ve built up and feel an unceasing need to maintain this polished image of themselves, their marriage, or their family.
What Happens to People Who Are Spiritually Burnt Out?
Spiritual burnout shows itself in many ways. Some may see it immediately negatively impact their mental or physical health. Since they don’t have regular patterns of rest and recovery, their bodies may force them to cancel plans due to physical sickness, headaches, colds, flu, or a myriad of physical symptoms that may occur when an individual has pushed themselves past their limits.
Some may experience a range of mental and emotional symptoms in addition to physical symptoms. They may start to feel fatigued, lethargic, apathetic, anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed. There may be an increased emotional sensitivity or irritability. Deep-seated insecurities, old traumas, or childhood wounds may arise with an intensity that becomes harder to suppress. Life satisfaction may diminish, and you may lose your sense of purpose. In burnout, cognitive dissonance may arise, leading to a period of questioning or a crisis of faith.
As personal well-being is impacted, relationships, especially close relationships such as spouses, immediate family, coworkers, or ministry partners, will be affected. There may be a sense that you continue to fail or let people down because you are juggling too many tasks. You may also begin to realize that the high-performing capacity you once could maintain has diminished as your burnout has set in. You now more frequently overbook yourself or say yes to commitments you can’t follow through on. The quality of your work decreases, and your personal leadership skills are negatively impacted. As your “tunnel vision” and survival mode set in, you may be more short or snippy with those you love, leading to relational fallout, conflict, or even broken relationships over time.
What to do if You Have Spiritual Burnout
If you’ve read this far and resonate with any of the symptoms listed, you may be spiritually burnt out. However, though this realization may be discouraging initially, it is not a death sentence. Burnout is fixable when the proper steps are taken and can be prevented further in life. However, it does require the burnt-out person to make significant lifestyle changes. Otherwise, the cycle of burnout will continue.
So, what do you do to heal from burnout?
Start by acknowledging you’re burnt out. This is half the battle. Many people convince themselves they’re fine and don’t realize the burnout has set in until lasting harm has been done to their health, relationships, or faith. When you are honest with yourself and admit you’ve pushed yourself past your limits, you can take the necessary steps to mitigate further harm.
Some of these steps may include:
- Taking a break from overwhelming commitments
- Seeking support from trusted mentors or counselors
- Exploring doubts and questions in a safe environment
- Practicing self-care and setting healthy boundaries
- Rediscovering personal spiritual practices that bring joy and peace
We will explore some of these topics together in future blog posts, so come back each week for more. Recovering from burnout is not a sprint…it’s a marathon. So, your first step today might be sending this blog post to a trusted mentor or friend and inviting them to join you on the journey. Finding your joy again is easier when you’re not walking this path alone. So, who do you want to walk with you?
