Do you struggle to maintain a healthy work/life balance?
If you are working in full-time Christian ministry or a deeply committed leader, you have likely dealt with this tension.
While there is an inevitable adjustment with any job you take (so give yourself some grace if this is your first year), there is a sense in which full-time ministry is unique. Ministry doesn’t have the same natural boundaries as other jobs.
Most marketplace professionals aren’t fielding texts at 9:30 pm because their client’s boyfriend broke up with them and they want to come over to talk.
Ministry never stops because you work with people! People need care and help at all hours of the day.
And you, as the campus laborer, WANT to be there for them!
But, if you’re honest, that lack of clear boundaries makes this job more tiring at times. It makes you crave some clear margin in your schedule between your ministry and the rest of your life.
An even deeper tension…
There is an immediate tension in acknowledging that desire for boundaries.
You know this ISN’T a normal job! All of you took this job because you believe in the power of the vision and the significance of the command to make disciples. How is it okay to take “time off” from the Great Commission?!
So you end up feeling pulled both directions.
You feel like you should always be “on,” but you know there are limits to your capacity. You are passionate about laboring but you still desire rest and time for regular hobbies and relationships outside of campus.
How do you make the most of your calling and maximize your ministry while also having healthy limits and prioritizing the important relationships and friendships in your life?
We have to look to God’s Word…
What does God’s Word say about work-life balance?
It should be pretty obvious, but you don’t find a lot of work-life balance passages in the Bible.
Paul never commands Timothy to make sure he protects his weekends. What you do find is sacrifice!
Think about some of the following statements from the apostle Paul:
- Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. (1 Cor 9:24)
- I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. (2 Cor 12:15)
- Straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil 3:13-14)
He compares the Christian life to that of a suffering soldier, athlete, and hard-working farmer. You don’t often hear a soldier on the front lines asking his commanding officer about work-life balance.
Recognizing the Hardships of the Christian Life
There is a sense in which we must acknowledge the Christian life is hard. It’s tiring.
In following Christ, we have chosen a life of sacrifice. We pour ourselves out in this life for Christ and know that our ultimate reward is in the next life.
That’s a healthy perspective for ALL Christians – not just for those pursuing vocational Christian ministry.
Count Zinzendorf, the founder of the Moravian prayer movement, was responsible for launching out hundreds of missionaries. His philosophy on the Christian life was this, “Preach the Gospel, die, and be forgotten.”
Preach the Gospel, die, and be forgotten. -- Count Zinzendorf Click To TweetThat message doesn’t sit well in our western, cultural mindset—but it should in a humble, Christian mindset.
What really helps this work-life tension
I could keep pounding examples of sacrifice and beat us all over the head with the need for effort. It might motivate us some. But for many, it’s ultimately going to produce guilt. There is a limit!
I don’t believe that’s what most Christian leaders need. You do work hard! You do sacrifice and believe in the vision!
The reason so many feel this work-life tension is because there are ways to live out this sacrificial life in a healthy way and an unhealthy way.
Colossians 3:23-24, provide a helpful perspective:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord and not for men. Since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24
This passage, written to servants, teaches us how to view work—as a means of worship. You are to recognize that your work is “for the Lord and not for men.” Your work is a means to serve and worship Jesus.
Whenever we talk about a healthy view of work, serving and worshipping Jesus is our centerline.
Two Ditches to Avoid
We start to struggle with a healthy view of work when we veer off into one of two ditches.
The most common ditch staff struggle with is the first ditch.
Ditch #1 – Worship Ministry
Instead of “working for the Lord and not for men,” Christians in this ditch work for men and not for the Lord. Instead of worshipping Jesus, you end up worshipping the mission or organization.
Ministry becomes the idol you serve. You worship laboring FOR Christ and not Christ Himself.
You notice this in yourself when you start thinking about competing with your other staff members or ministry leaders. Your value comes from how big your discipleship tree is.
It’s possible to worship and serve the mission of multiplication and totally miss Jesus.
It’s possible to worship and serve the mission of multiplication and totally miss Jesus. Click To TweetOne sign that you are drifting into this ditch is you constantly feel overwhelmed with your ministry.
Do you feel it?
In an effort to produce more you try to take over God’s “omni” attributes. You want to be omnipotent and do everything for everyone. Or you try to be omniscient and be the one who has all the answers. Lastly, you try to be omnipresent and be the go-to person for everyone in your ministry.
This is a recipe for burnout. It’s exhausting. You can’t maintain this type of pace or attitude in ministry.
When you start to feel overwhelmed, it’s easy to blame “work-life balance” as the culprit. Maybe you begin to compare yourself with your friends with other jobs. “If I just had a normal schedule…” you daydream.
When this happens, you can overcorrect to the other ditch.
Ditch #2 – Worship Comfort
In ditch #1 you worship ministry instead of Jesus. In this ditch, you worship comfort instead of Christ.
Instead of, “It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” In this ditch it is yourself you are serving.
I’ve overcorrected to this ditch before. In the grind of ministry, I can realize I’m unhealthy and start to blame my schedule or superiors. In an effort to protect some time to myself, I’ve cut corners in ministry preparation or been half-hearted in some of my responsibilities. My DOPs (Days of Prayer) are more like DOMe’s – they turn into whatever I want them to be. I’ve daydreamed of other jobs. I’ve spent hours scrolling through my phone looking for things I can buy.
It doesn’t work.
I remember Matt Chandler asking one time, “Have any of you ever come back from vacation more tired than when you left? How can that be? Because time off and an easy schedule don’t nourish your soul.”
You won’t burn out in this ditch, but you will drop out. There is no way to maintain motivation for the vision in this ditch. The desire is gone. It’s not exciting anymore. Life is now about you.
You might notice yourself going back and forth in these two ditches trying to solve the tension you feel in your life and ministry.
How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance?
You don’t.
You don’t need a healthy work-life balance. You need a healthy worship-life balance!
You don’t need a healthy work-life balance. You need a healthy worship-life balance! Click To TweetInstead of focusing on how to balance your schedule, focus on a life that centers on worshipping Jesus. Then you won’t live to please people and you won’t live to please yourself.
How do you live that out?
Put it into Practice:
It’d be easy to make an article like this focus on your schedule. I could get into some practical tips to have clear boundaries between work and home.
You could do things like turn off your notifications, put your phone away, or have a better planning system. Those might help some. But you could just google tips like that. There are plenty of articles.
The real issue isn’t your schedule. A perfect schedule won’t satisfy this tension in your heart.
- Change your vocabulary
Since balance doesn’t exist, quit chasing that. The Bible doesn’t even use that language and you shouldn’t either. Instead of comparing yourself to what the world suggests is healthy, cut that language out of our vocabulary and focus on how to worship Jesus as the motivation of your ministry.
- Hold each other accountable
You’re never going to minister out of perfect motives. Your worship will constantly drift from Christ towards performance or comfort. You need others who will call you out when they notice you drifting. And you need to do the same for them. Use this Scripture and this vocabulary to help bring each other back to centering on Christ.
- Quit your comparisons
Comparison to other staff’s capacity, schedules, or ministry results is not your friend in this life.
God has gifted you in a unique way to fulfill a specific purpose in His kingdom. Some of you might work lots of hours and outperform all the staff on your campus. Some of you might have more boundaries or be in a totally different season of life that requires a different schedule.
You need to discern what your design offers in your service to Christ.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving
This is a heart issue that isn’t solving reading a short article. But you can commit to evaluating yourself when you notice a drift. The next time you feel overwhelmed in ministry try to center yourself back on the worship and service of Jesus.
I don’t want you to labor for a couple of years and burnout or get sidetracked with the world and dropout. I want you to labor for a lifetime with a passion for serving the Lord.
That takes worship. That takes dependence on Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Will you commit to that?
Discussion:
- When are times you’ve felt the tension of having a healthy work/life balance?
- Which of the ditches do you lean towards most (worship of ministry or worship of comfort)? What does that look like?
- What are some ways you can apply Colossians 3:23-24 to keep Christ the focus of your motivation?
